Three games hardly matter over the course of an 82-game season.
That is unless the games prior to those three games have left fans feeling like their team is disheartened, uninterested, going through the motions and basically playing at such a lethargic level that even sloths seem more motivated.
So maybe the Lakers haven’t been that off their game, but their recent string of double-digit defeats has left fans flabbergasted. The talk around the water cooler was if the defending champs had lost their will and ability to overpower opponents, night in and night out. Add to that the influx of reports swirling of the Lakers ineptness and the publicized back-and-forth banter between Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant, another loss, double-digit or not would spell disaster for the team.
A 19-point win over the Pistons Tuesday night was great, but it was merely a start. A four-point win over the Suns on the second night of a back-to-back? We’ll take that too. After playing the Hornets and winning their third straight game, it seems the Lakers are back on track.
Victories are nice, but a winning method is twice as nice. It would appear as though the Lakers have found it, or at least have started implementing a strategy to hold them over until they become a fully functional, efficient unit for the full 48 minutes of play. Over the last three games the Lakers have been making progress in the effort and energy department as well.