With the San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, and Denver Nuggets on the Lakers plate, the last thing they needed was to be without superstar Kobe Bryant, right? Wrong.
After a loss to Houston, the Lakers went to Phoenix to face the Suns without Kobe for the first time all year, and they got run out of the building. With Kobe listed as day-to-day, they flew to New Orleans to battle the Hornets in a close fought game again without their leader, and pulled away late in the contest. Led by Pau Gasol, 25 points on 10-21 shooting and nine rebounds, the Lakers pulled out the fourth quarter comeback, winning 93-91, and continuing their strong play on the road.
Then came Wednesday night, the first meeting between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. With playoff implications and the game being a huge measuring stick for the Lakers heading into the post-season, of course Kobe Bryant is going to play. Wrong. He sits out for the third straight game with a shin injury, but that did not phase the Lakers one bit.
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From the tip-off the Lakers showed up to play and took it to the Spurs. They came out swinging and hit the Spurs square in the mouth from which they were unable to recover. The Lakers won this game because of their defense and rebounding. Their defense was so efficient; they held the Spurs to only 40.7 percent shooting, only nine free-throw attempts, and 84 points on their home court. They also held Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili to 13 points combined. Daniel Green was the Spurs leading scorer with 22 points.
While their rebounding took care of business by limiting the Spurs to one offensive board all game and winning the category 60-33, Andrew Bynum led this category. Despite scoring just 16 points, he set his career high with 30 rebounds, eight of which were offensive.
The Lakers returned home to face the Nuggets on Friday and the Mavs on Sunday. They would again play both games without star player Kobe Bryant suited up; instead, Kobe played a factor on the bench acting as a fifth coach. With a 103-97 victory over the Nuggets, and a 112-108 overtime victory against the Mavs Sunday, the Lakers improved to 4-1 without Kobe, winners of eight of their last 10, and stayed one game up on the Los Angeles Clippers in the standings. Technically, they are two games ahead of them because the Lakers own the tiebreaker for leader of the Pacific Division. During all of this, the unsung hero has been Metta World Peace, who was averaging 17 points in the five games Kobe has been sidelined.
With five games left on the schedule for the Lakers, the road to the playoffs does not lighten up one bit. They have four of their last five games this week, and three of them are versus the Spurs and Oklahoma City.
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The week kicks off on Tuesday against the Spurs in Los Angeles, a team that is going to want revenge for the last meeting these two teams had. These teams will play again Friday night for the final time in the regular season in San Antonio. The Spurs might have been too confident playing a Kobe-less Lakers team, which resulted in an embarrassing loss. The Lakers played a near perfect game in the first meeting, but can they pull it off again? Do not expect Tony Parker to score just four points this time and/or Manu Ginobili scoring just nine. Ramon Sessions must continue to play aggressive defense against Parker by forcing him into difficult shots, while on the offensive end make him play defense by penetrating and knocking down open shots.
The other key for the Lakers, and the biggest, is that they continue taking advantage of the huge mismatch they have in their frontcourt. Bynum and Gasol are too tall and strong for any player on the Spurs to defend. If they utilize their presence down low while playing solid defense, they will be victorious against the Spurs.
In between the two San Antonio match-ups, the Lakers head to Golden State. The Lakers must not lose focus against the Warriors, as this is the worst time to play a team that is not going to make the playoffs. The Warriors will have nothing at all to lose and, therefore, they will try things they would not normally do in a game that has no importance for them. If the Lakers stick to what they do best, feeding the post and slowing down the tempo of the game against a team that likes to get out on the fast break, they will win.
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The Lakers end the week Sunday returning home after two back-to-back road games for their final game of the regular season at the Staples Center against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This could be a very important game for both teams. The Thunder may need to win to keep their best record in the Western Conference, and the Lakers may need it to stay ahead of the Clippers assuring them the third seed in the West.
This game between the Lakers and Thunder will be a great test for Los Angeles heading into the playoffs. For the Lakers to be successful against the Thunder, they are going to have to keep the guards of the Thunder, Russell Westbrook in particular, out of the key, and not switch the pick-and-rolls. The Lakers get into trouble when they allow Westbrook to attack their defense both from the perimeter and around the basket. If they do not stop his penetration, they must recover to the shooters on the outside quickly and under control.
The other factor the Lakers struggle with against the Thunder is their pick-and-roll defense. The Thunder like to run pick-and-rolls when Westbrook and Kevin Durant have the ball with their two big men Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka. When they do this against the Lakers, Gasol and Bynum tend to switch the pick, leaving them to defend guards one-on-one around the perimeter. This match-up absolutely destroys their defensive strategy. Instead of switching the pick, the Lakers’ big men need to contain the player with the ball until the primary defender can recover eliminating any miss-match.
The Lakers have a tough but good schedule remaining heading into the playoffs. With two games against the Spurs and one versus the Thunder, the Lakers will be able to get acclimated to playoff atmosphere. They must stay focused and continue to grow as a team as the season comes to an end.