The Lakers have the best record in the West and have a fairly comfortable cushion. They have played their past five games without star player Kobe Bryant.
They did lose their last game against the Celtics, albeit by just one point in a hard fought game. However, in the previous four games without Bryant, the Lakers went 4-0, winning by 13.5 points per game.
They took down the Portland Trailblazers by 17. That is impressive in its own right, however, considering that the Lakers had lost nine straight games in Portland (all of which Bryant played in), this game showed what kind of poise this team can have even without its best player.
They followed that up with a 12-point home victory over the always-solid San Antonio Spurs, who had beaten them earlier in the year. They then traveled to Utah to face the Jazz, the NBA’s hottest team at the time, (nine straight wins and 13 out of 14 overall) and held them to 81 points in a 15-point victory.
Finally the Lakers traveled home to face the Golden State Warriors, the NBA’s second best offensive team. L.A. once again won by double digits, but more impressively held the Warriors to just 94 points, more than a dozen points under their season average.
So are the Lakers better without Bryant? No, of course not. In fact, as their loss to the Celtics shows, when in a close game they are a much worse team without their best player. Despite all the talent on L.A.’s roster, they have no one they can go to in crunch time to hit a big shot. Yes, they have Derek Fisher, but he typically is the beneficiary of Bryant driving to the basket, and rarely is able to create his own shot in crunch time.
So what does this...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
