The Los Angeles Lakers return to action at home Wednesday night versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Before the All-Star break, the Lakers were faced with a difficult stretch of four games in five nights. They beat Portland on Monday night before hitting the road for a back-to-back against Dallas and Oklahoma City. Lakers’ fans have to be pleased with how they performed in Dallas; they were confident, poised, and determined to prove to themselves and the fans that they can win on the road. They led most of the game and were never behind by more than four points. When they did trail, they immediately took back the lead by tightening up their defense and pounding the ball in the post. Despite the horrific free throw shooting, 18-31, and the six straight misses with the game on the line, the Lakers have to feel good about the way they stayed strong and still got the victory.
Another component to the game was the way the rest of the team played, specifically Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, to compensate for the lack of production from Kobe Bryant. While Kobe scored only 15 points, he shot a despicable 4-15 from the floor and had seven turnovers. Gasol led the Lakers in scoring with 24 points and nine rebounds. But the dominance from Andrew Bynum, 19 points and 14 rebounds, and his presence down low was too much for the Mavericks.
The next night in Oklahoma City began very similar to the Dallas game with the Lakers starting strong. Despite that, the Lakers ran out of steam in the second half as the Thunder extended their lead and were never in fear of losing. The shooting woes continued for Kobe Bryant, going 7-24. But he went 10-11 from the free throw line and scored 24. The player of the game in Oklahoma was Pau Gasol, who was playing like he was telling the front office he does not want to leave L.A. He put in 22 points and played strong and confident the whole game. The Lakers played great but showed their weakness, the second game of a back-to-back that is, on the road.
Next Page: The Week Ahead
The Lakers are home for the next three games before a mini road trip to the east coast. They open up the second half of the year against the Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Expect the Lakers to be rusty at the start of the game from having a week off. The break is coming at a great time for the Lakers as it gives them a chance to rest and heal up minor injuries. The Timberwolves are a scrappy team in the sense that they battle hard for 48 minutes. The Lakers are going to have to control the rebounding aspect of the game, limiting the Wolves to one shot per possession. This should be win for the Lakers, if they take care of business, and a good game for them to shake off the rust as they start the second half of the season.
Friday night the Sacramento Kings travel down to take on the Lakers. The Kings are another feisty team but live and die by the three. While they have a great core of young players, this is a team not yet ready to be a contender. They play a perimeter style offense to suit Tyreke Evans and Marcus Thornton. While they do have a solid power forward in DeMarcus Cousins, he has been a bit inconsistent this year. Like the Minnesota game, if the Lakers take care of business and play their game they should beat the Kings.
Sunday afternoon marks the game most Lakers fans circled on their calendar. The Miami Heat and their “Big-3” roll into town for the second meeting between these two teams. The first meeting did not go well at all for the Lakers as they trampled on from the start. This is a must-win game for the Lakers. It not only will give them confidence going into the second half of the season, but it will truly prove not just to themselves but the rest of the league that they are a contending team.
Keys to this game for the Lakers will be controlling the tempo, limiting turnovers and Miami Heat offensive rebounds, rotating on defense quickly and efficiently, and pounding the ball inside to Drew and Pau. The Heat is a team that loves to get out and run, so for the Lakers to slow down the tempo of the game by not rushing on offense and turning the ball over will limit the amount of chances the Heat has to get quick and easy fast break points. The Lakers also must control the boards. If they give up too many offensive rebounds, the Heat will make them pay by converting on the second chance opportunities. Finally, for the Lakers to be victorious, they must feed the post. Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol need to have a lot of touches because they are the strengths of the Lakers offense.
The All-Star break gives an older team like the Lakers the ability to rest up, heal minor injuries, and refuel their tanks as they head into the second half of the season. Two games on Wednesday and Friday against non-playoff contending teams give them opportunity to shake off the rust before they get ready to battle the best team in the east, the Miami Heat.