The Lakers are just 77 wins away from that perfect record.  So far no one has really challenged them yet, but the Lakers have a ways to go before the season is over.  The Rockets still don’t seem to have their act together, but I do think that eventually they will be a force down the stretch.  Here’s a recap of the game:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2008110913

The final score didn’t reflect how close this game actually was.  The teams were neck and neck all the way to the middle of the 3rd quarter, when the Lakers sparked at 22-0 run that sealed the game.  I wasn’t able to watch it, but it seemed like the Lakers didn’t shoot particularly well and both Bynum and Pau were neutralized offensively.  It appears that the Lakers second unit, led by Lamar Odom, had to come out and save the day in the end.  If I had to guess, the Clippers lost steam at the end, which gave the Laker backups a chance to go on a dominant run.

Here’s the box score.

The Lakers shot 37% from the field, yet were still able to beat the Nuggets 104-97.  The Nuggets shot 46%, but lost because they took 13 less shots than the Lakers.  A few things to take away from last night:

1) Kobe is a cold-blooded assassin.  His team struggling in the fourth, Kobe took over and sealed the game.  There’s a reason beyond his stats that make him the number one player in the league.

2) The Lakers are a great rebounding team.  Because of this, even when they are shooting poorly, they can still stay in the game because they take a lot more shots than their opponents.

Here’s an article with a recap of the game.

Andrew Bynum’s going to be around for at least four more years.  We’ll see if he sticks around after he already has 5 rings after the Lakers pull off the 5-peat .  Here’s the story

In their first “away” game against the Clippers at the Staples Center, the Lakers continued their fast start by rolling over their hallway rivals.  Once again the defense of the Lakers showed as they were able to keep the Clippers to 17 and 13 points in the second and third quarters respectively.  I watched the entire game (which I need to stop doing since the games start at 10:30pm out here on the East Coast), but I really didn’t need to because the game was over by mid-third quarter.  The Clippers were most impressive in the first quarter when they came back from a double-digit deficit early sparked by their recent acquisition, Baron Davis.  The game was all tied up towards the end of the first quarter, but a last minute three by Trevor Ariza kept the Lakers ahead by 3.

What makes this Lakers team so dangerous is their depth.  They had 7 players in double-figures (including Chris Mihm) and every single player on the team scored (albeit, a few of them in the quarter and a half of garbage time).  The Lakers bench scored 55 of the 117 points that the Lakers scored during the course of the game.  Against a worthy opponent, I would say that this translates to about 25-30 points a game (which is HUGE!).  Obviously the starters would carry much more of the load against the better opponents, but to have a 6 man bench that can come in and play without a serious drop in talent and intensity is pretty ridiculous.

When the Clippers started to make their “comeback” in the first quarter, and even after they had taken the lead, I was not nervous at all.  Even if the Clippers were to go ahead 15 points in the first quarter, I still don’t think I would have been nervous (though maybe a bit surprised).  Why wasn’t I nervous?  Because I know that the Lakers strength lies in their ability to maintain the focus and energy through the end of the game.  The Lakers are going to use their entire rotation to wear down teams in the first half and then pull away in the second half when their opponents are tired.

By the way, did you know that there are three players with the last name “Davis” on the Clippers?  Baron Davis, Ricky Davis, and Paul Davis.  Now if they can just somehow trade for Glen “Big Baby” Davis from the Celtics, then they could have a starting lineup of four people with the name Davis and make it really confusing for the commentators and the refs.  If they could also somehow get the three Wallace’s (Ben, Gerald, and Rasheed)…

Lastly, I just have to say that it is pretty fun to watch the Lakers these days (even when they’re dominating their opponents).  They look extremely smooth on both ends of the floor and their passing ability is definitely one of the best, if not the best, in the NBA.  And by passing ability, I mean as an entire team (since I acknowledge that there are individual players that are sick passers e.g. Kidd, Nash, CP3, etc.).

I look forward to their next game on Saturday against the Nuggets.

Wow, the Lakers looked pretty good tonight.  The Blazers didn’t put up much of a fight tonight as the Lakers pretty much cruised to an easy victory.  Greg Oden didn’t do much damage (0 points) as he picked up a few pick fouls and was benched early.  Then, he got injured and when he landed on someone’s foot and had to leave the game.

Everyone seemed pretty comfortable with their roles.  The starting lineup was Kobe, Pau, Bynum, Fisher, and Radmanovic.  The starters quickly ran up the score and the bench mob, led by an energetic Lamar Odom, helped to defend the lead.  The Lakers led by 15 at the half.  One interesting thing about this game was the tempo.  The Lakers almost looked like the Phoenix Suns of old with their quick inbound passes and running game.  The fast tempo also led to some silly turnovers as some of their passes were intercepted by wandering Trailblazers.  One of the best moments was when Lamar Odom had the ball in the middle and passed it to a wide open Sasha Vujacic, who was unfortunately still in his sweats and standing on the sidelines.

The best part of the game was during the third quarter.  The Lakers had allowed their lead to slip to 8, and, not wanting to let the game get away from them, Kobe turned into a cold-hearted assassin.  He also may have been motivated by a hard foul by Przybilla.  Twisting, turning, diving, and dunking, Kobe quickly went to work and carried the Lakers back to a comfortable double-digit lead.  It is because of his ability to take over a game that makes Kobe the most dangerous man on the team.  He has become an all-around good player, having improved his passing game greatly by driving into the lane and then passing the ball out to his open teammates.  But even if he doesn’t score a single point in the first half, nobody ever forgets that he is still around and can turn on the jets in the second half.  It seems that the new Laker strategy is to have the rest of the team shoulder most of the load in the first half if they can, and then to unleash Kobe in the second half.

In any case, it was a great first game and I can’t wait to watch as they (hopefully) win at least 70 games this season (a bold prediction).

To kick off the 2008-2009 season, check out this video featuring Kobe and a few other sports stars: