Los Angeles Lakers’ Road to Three-Peat: Sloppy Night at Staples Center

A sloppy night it was for the Lakers last night as they lost to the Pacers for the first time at  home since moving to the Staples Center. The Pacers played a great game, and had more hustle than the Lakers all night, grabbing offensive rebounds and getting almost every loose ball. The Lakers just couldn't find a rhythm at all in the first three quarters, and they finally picked things up late in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late. 

Kobe Bryant tried to put on the "cape" and offer some fourth quarter heroics, which he did, but one guy can't do it all. He also took 33 shots, which in itself can be bad for his teammates. The Lakers shooting was really sloppy all night, finishing 38 percent from the field.

The bench also disappointed for the second game in a row, only scoring 14 points, compared to their average of 34 points per game. In the end, the Lakers just didn't play nearly up to potential, and seemed to be sleep walking all night.

Final Score: Pacers 95, Lakers 92 (Pacers now 8-7, Lakers now 13-4)

Lakers Player of the Game: Kobe Bryant - 41 points, five rebounds, four assists

Let's take a look at the positives and negatives of this game in my Daily Five:


The Positives

1. Lamar Odom's consistency

This is my lone positive from this game. Lamar Odom has show great consistency and has proved that he can be consistent and not disappear at times. He did what he is expected to last night, scoring 15 points, grabbing 11 rebounds, and shooting 60 percent from the floor.

Odom will be deadly coming off the bench once Bynum returns, and I see things only getting a whole lot better when Bynum does return.



The Negatives

2. Kobe Bryant taking 33 shots

I'm okay with Kobe getting aggressive and taking over the game to get the Lakers back in it, but there needs to be some help there. Pau Gasol had a m...