Steve Blake Steps Up For Lakers

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

No Kobe. No problem…at least for one night.

With the Lake Show minus a Mamba you already knew it was going to take contributions from some unusual suspects in order to notch a W in Indiana. Mission accomplished thanks in very large part to Steve Blake.

Largely a disappointment since signing with the Lakers, Blake has come to life playing in the point guard friendly Mike D’Anotni system with his best performance coming when the Lakers needed it most.

Bryant was only able to give the Lakers a scoreless first quarter before departing early from Indiana.  Not to worry though. Blake played up in a big way dropping 18 while dishing out 7 dimes in 35 minutes of burn.  Oh, and for good measure he got bragging rights over Chris Duhon as Blake’s alma mater Maryland knocked Duhon’s Duke squad out of the ACC tourney.

Not a bad night by any measure.

Going forward the Lakers are going to need more performances of the Blake kind in order to get wins without the full services of KB24.