Don’t look now but the Lake Show has that championship look again. The good thing about road trips is that they are a great way to see where you team stands. Like they’ve done in recent years, the Lakers are coming together on this swing.
Tonight they got a little revenge by rocking the Indiana Pacers to sleep in 6 minutes flat. That’s all the time it took the Lakers to open a double digit lead and never look back. Kobe Bryant didn’t even attempt a field goal by the time the Lake Show were 16 up on the Pacers. In fact, Bryant pretty much took the first half off, happy to let his teammates do their thing.
When the offense is clicking like this there really is no hope for the competition. Sometimes the best thing Kobe can do is just let the ball move and wait for the game to come to him. Tonight was a great example of that.
Pau Gasol took the lead early by dropping 20 of his 28 points in the first half. Not to be forgotten, it was Ron Artest creating turnovers and hitting some big shots early that really set the tone too. Ron Ron now has two straight games of double digit point totals. Lamar Odom had a nice moment of his own too as he broke Tyler Hansbrough’s ankles like they were candy canes in J-LO’s back pocket.
But like I said, this was a revenge game.
Just to drive the point home, Phil Jackson reinserted Bryant late in the fourth with the game well in hand. Bryant finished the contest with a game high 31 points, 25 of which came after halftime. It was one of those nights when Bryant was dropping unstoppable shots against any man in a Pacer uniform that dared to defend him.
After it was all said and done, the Lake Show won in a walk away by the final score of 109-94. Two straight games of inspired hoops have again put the league on alert that this team has been a giant sleepwalking the last few weeks. Andrew Bynum is still working his way back but his presence has certainly given this team a lift.
Up next is Philadelphia but first Kobe Bryant gets a little more inspiration. Bryant is set to be honored by his high school as they’ll unveil Kobe Bryant Gym at Lower Merion High. That can’t bode well for the 76ers.