There are ugly wins and then there are wins that resemble Clint Howard. The Lakers’ 99-90 win over the Sixers was the latter.
In this league, where anyone can beat anybody on any night, a win is a win. But if the Lakers think they can show the same type of effort against the Nuggets on Sunday then they’re fooling themselves. Even Pau Gasol admitted as much in his post game interview.
Gasol posted some healthy stats (23 points, 11 rebounds) but both he and Andrew Bynum (20 and 13 if ya need him) also allowed Samuel Dalembert to score nearly four times his season average. Dalembeast dominated the low post with a career best 24 points to lead all scorers on the night.
The crowd at Staples was mostly quiet and for good reason. Maybe they should have driven a couple miles down Figueroa to the Galen Center to watch the CIF City Section Division I semi-finals instead. Neither of those games was close but at least they would have seen a couple teams play with passion.
The Lakers were sleepwalking and didn’t show much effort at all until they went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter that effectively ended the game.
Other than the two free tacos from Jack In the Box, the only drama was whether or not the Lake Show would keep Philly in the game long enough to allow Andre Iguodala the chance to hit another crowd silencer in the Downtown Hoops Dojo.
Instead of tacos, maybe the fans at Staples should have demanded a refund.
Sure, a W is a W. But this was not the effort which we expect of champions. Coming off a listless loss in Dallas the Lakers should have been out to prove a point. Instead all they did was give Denver even more reason to believe they can beat L.A. for the third time in as many tries this season.
Lakers! Ready your defense and lower the turnovers. On Sunday you dine in Hell!