Are the Los Angeles Lakers Better Than We Thought?

Let's get one thing straight: the Los Angeles Lakers are not going to win more games than the Los Angeles Clippers this year, despite what the former's 116-103 win over the latter would suggest. The Purple and Gold aren't going to enjoy the privilege of playing at home every night, nor can they be counted on to consistently knock down 48.3 percent of their three-point attempts.

And while we're at it, let's get another thing straight: the Lakers' bench is not going to be the best the NBA has to offer. It's great that LA's reserves scored a whopping 76 points—including all 41 of the Lakers' fourth-quarter points—but you're not going to see the starters tethered to the pine in crunch time from game to game.

But—for one night, at least—the Lakers looked pretty darn good, and may well wind up being more competitive than a lot of folks (including yours truly) initially thought.

Mike D'Antoni's knack for turning other teams' trash into his own treasure shone through in a big way on Tuesday, particularly with the play of Xavier Henry. The fourth-year swingman out of Kansas poured in a career-high 22 points, with six rebounds, two assists and a steal to boot.

More importantly, Henry gave his head coach license to sit Nick Young, who hit just 3-of-10 shots from the field in his Lakers debut.



D'Antoni once again had the "audacity" to "bench" Pau Gasol—a move for which the coach was so often maligned last season—but not before the slender Spaniard slipped into the starting lineup at center, and only after he'd chipped in 15 points, four assists and a game-high 13 rebounds in just 24 minutes.

The depth the Lakers displayed on opening night was always going to be part of the plan, though. D'Antoni has said, time and again, that he plans to consistently play 10-to-11 guys, at least until he's sifted through all of his options and sorted out a shorter r...