I won’t lie; with a 3 point lead and inbounding the ball with three seconds left, I was terrified of Trevor Ariza swiping the pass like he did a couple years ago in Denver. We all know what he’s capable of, and luckily the Lakers held on. There was a sweet shot of Andrew and Pau smiling with their arms around each other after the final buzzer sounded. As much as it was Kobe’s game for making history yet again, it was really seemed to belong to our giants in the paint- Gasol and Bynum. The purple and gold dominated down low all night, although the rebounds evened out by the end of the contest.
Lamar Odom had a magnificent game and is so far having his most consistent season as a Laker, never mind the fact that is a highly productive season to boot. Joel Meyer mentioned on the telecast that before the game, New Orleans head coach Monty Williams called Lamar the key to the Lakers’ team. He finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, capping his scoring off with a sweet stutter step and lights out basket.
It was so good to get another W, and I really hope things are going to stay like this in Lakerland for the foreseeable future. I always love them, but it’s easier to appreciate the team when they put the effort and right attitude into the game, no matter the outcome. I thought it was particularly poignant that Kobe passed the Big O, Oscar Robertson, on the scoring list tonight. Kobe has openly talked about modeling his game after Robertson, as well as Jerry West and Michael Jordan. All were transcendent guards in the game of basketball, and Kobe wouldn’t be quite the player he is without being a student of the game and revering his predecessors.
He called it a great honor, but when asked by Fox Sports West’s Patrick O’Neal how high he think he can climb the scoring ladder, Kobe smiled and responded, “We’ll see. The ladder I’m more focused on climbing is Bill Russell’s ladder.” The perfect answer from one of the most competitive athletes in sports.
