The drama surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers packed its bags and traveled with the team as they made their stops around the country during the seven game Grammy road trip. The road trip started off on a sour note with a give-away loss to the Phoenix Suns, where Dwight Howard also re-aggrevated his shoulder.
With Howard sidelined after receiving some therapy on his shoulder, the Lakers seemed to find solid offensive rhythm over the next three games in Minnesota, Detroit and Brooklyn with Pau Gasol as the starting center. Then, more bad news. In the injury cycle that seems to never ends this season for the Lakers, Gasol tore his plantar fascia, which will sideline him for at least six to eight weeks.
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One blowout loss in Boston, a lackluster game which included a 20 point comeback and a tough loss in Miami later, the Grammy awards have been handed out, signaling that the team can finally return home. The Lakers went 4-3 during the road trip, but still remain under .500 and are still sitting in the tenth spot in the West. So, how do the Lakers sum up the road trip? Steve Nash had the following thoughts:
“It’s not a disastrous trip, but we would have maybe liked to have gotten another one. Probably the Phoenix (loss) is the one that hurts the most. But, you know, we still have a chance to continue this run of form, which has been a little bit better. You know, we get a chance to win two of three or three of four from here on out.”
Kobe Bryant tweeted after the game his sentiments on their road trip along with thoughts from the Miami game on Sunday.
Respect to Wade and James they are both rollin right now. I’m proud of how we battled on this trip. Gotta get these next 2 games
— Kobe Bryant (@kobebryant) February 11, 2013
Mike D’Antoni had a similar sentiment regarding the road trip:
“It’s good. We competed tonight. It’s too bad we blew the one in Phoenix, but other than that, we’re making strides. We can still do this, but (Miami) set the bar and this is what we have to get to. So this is good for us if we use it as a learning experience and iron out the problems.”
However, Metta World Peace, who shot 21-74 (28.3 percent) during the road trip, had a different feeling from his teammates about the road trip.
Metta on trip: “4-3 is successful for losers & for people who think of us as a losing team.” Irony: others on team praised play on trip
— Mark Medina (@MedinaLakersNBA) February 11, 2013
The Lakers are back in action on Tuesday night, as they face the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center. The team faces the Clippers on Thursday night before going into a nearly weeklong break for All-Star weekend. The Lakers have a more favorable schedule after the All-Star break, but the team still must kick it into a higher gear to make a push for a playoff spot.
