Granted, it helps when you outshoot your opponent 55 to 44 percent from the floor and hit 41 percent of your threes.
Is this a sign that the Lakers are finally going to live up to the hype? Or is this the last bit of success before Los Angeles limps through the rest of the season and misses the playoffs for the first time since the 2004-05 season?
As Ramona Shelburne recently tweeted:
Have the Lakers turned it around? That's like predicting the US economy back in 2008 espn.go.com/los-angeles/nb…
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) January 28, 2013
If the Lakers are going to recover and make the postseason, they must take advantage of every opportunity. To that end, Los Angeles must go 5-2 on their upcoming seven-game road trip. That is not an absolute requirement, but it would certainly help their chances.
One assumes that the Lakers can beat the 15-29 New Orleans Hornets when they visit Staples Center on Jan. 29. The Lakers have lost to some subpar teams this year, but they seem to have a much better strategy over the last couple of games.
It would be nice to beat the soon-to-be Pelicans and then come home 25-27.
Road trips can be tough, and on paper the opponents are an interesting mix of competition. At the moment, the records of the road trip opponents are:
Phoenix Suns (15-30)
Minnesota Timberwolves (17-24)
Detroit Pistons (17-27)
Brooklyn Nets (27-18)
Boston Celtics (21-23)
Charlotte Bobcats (11-33)
Miami Heat (28-13)
Phoenix, Charlotte and Detroit should theoretically be beatable. Minnesota does not have a great overall record, but they are 11-7 at home. Brooklyn and Miami will be tough to beat ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
