The win was one of those games that the Lakers needed to remind themselves as well as their fans of how good they can be when they commit to playing team defense, knock down their open three-pointers, and get contributions from their bench.
You'd think that a team with 53 wins would at least provide it's fans with 20-25 wins that would allow them to puff out their chests and brag about this team's chances of defending it's title but that hasn't really happened.
At least not yet.
How many really impressive wins could you list off the top of your head? I can think of the Dallas game in early January, the win in Boston, the win a few weeks back in Phoenix, and the three wins in a row against Portland, San Antonio, and Utah without Kobe before the All-Star Break.
That's seven total victories including Wednesday night's game in San Antonio. And even that game looked bleak at times in the first half when George Hill was having his way with them.
Don't get me wrong. They've had wins over impressive teams but many of those weren't impressive victories. The wins earlier in the season against Atlanta and Orlando both got way too close for comfort after big leads nearly evaporated.
Much has been made about Kobe Bryant's heroics this season but in five of the seven games in which Bryant hit a game-winning shot Lakers fans walked away more relieved than overjoyed.
Think about it.
There was the home game against Miami in which the Lakers nearly blew a nine-point lead with 6:24 left in the game.
There was the overtime win against Milwaukee in which the Lakers should have easily handled a Bucks team that wasn't playing nearly as good as they are now.
There was the New Year's Day...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
