In the 113-102 victory against the Kings, the Lakers had six players in double figures, with Antawn Jamison leading the team in scoring with 27. Metta World Peace chipped in with 22 while Steve Nash and Steve Blake combined for 20 assists.
After the game, coach Mike D’Antoni spoke to Kevin Ding of the OC Register and talked about the team’s balanced attack.
[GET $5 FREE WHEN YOU ENTER EARLY FOR SPORTSBOOK’S $100,000 BRACKET CHALLENGE]Mike D’Antoni believes the Lakers should not have to be reliant on Bryant to play one-on-one basketball when he returns, because they have proven to be much more balanced playing together and sharing the ball.
“We don’t have to be one-player dominant,” D’Antoni said. “The ball has to move, and when it does, we’re really good.”
The Lakers often times rely too much on Kobe Bryant on the offensive end of the court and that leads to poor ball movement. The flow becomes stagnated and the team has trouble scoring.
Los Angeles returned to action Monday night against the Suns, and to the of disappointment of D’Antoni, the team could not steal a win. The Lakers did not play well on either end of the court and they once again failed to sweep a back-to-back.
Unlike the win over the Kings, the Lakers were not trusting each other to make shots in Phoenix. There was a lack of confidence on the Lakers’ side and that proved to be fatal against the Suns. Everyone contributed to the victory on Sunday, but the same could not be said about the Monday night performance.
