The Los Angeles Lakers will look to snap a two game home losing streak when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on New Years Eve. The Lakers ended a three game losing streak with a 103-88 win at New Orleans on Wednesday. The 76ers will look for their second straight win on the road tonight, as [...]
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Tuesday night the surging San Antonio Spurs will host the struggling Los Angeles Lakers. San Antonio comes in with a league-best record of 26-4, while the Lakers are just 21-9 after starting the season 8-0. The Spurs quickly bounced back after falling at Orlando 123-101 last Thursday with a 94-80 win over the Washington Wizards [...]
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The NBA is dishing out big time matchups this Christmas Day, but none is bigger than the game between the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center. While both teams are playing off the hype of this game, there is no question that they are going to bring their best in [...]
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We are one week away from, what could be, the biggest Christmas Day game ever! The Miami Heat (20-8) will be taking on the Los Angeles Lakers (20-7) in Los Angeles. As of December 18, the Heat are sporting an 11 game winning streak and have finally found their groove. LeBron James is dominating like he did in Cleveland, Chris Bosh is scoring like he did in Toronto, and Dwyane Wade is perfectly happy taking a (smaller) role in Miami. [...]
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One thing left in my notebook from the Bulls’ 88-84 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night is a comment from Lakers coach Phil Jackson assessing the Bulls before the game.
“They’ve got the personnel and they seem dedicated to what they’re doing,” Jackson said of the Bulls. “It’s tough sometimes for kids to come in and find a way and get their mind straight and become pros, but this crew seems to be coming to that level of professionalism that it takes to be serious about winning.
“We’ve said they’re gonna be in this top five or six in the East, but right now they look like they’re gonna be above that. They look like they could even be in the three or four spot.”
Bynum could be back in time for Christmas. (Photo: YardBarker.com)
It wasn’t so long ago that I said to rip up the Andrew Bynum timetable. Well, as it turns out I just might need to fish that schedule out of the trashcan. This weekend, Bynum played in 5-on-5 drills for the first time making a mid to late December return a real possibility.
While Phil Jackson isn’t ready to give a date for the return of Drew, there are plenty of indications that he could be on the court in the coming weeks as the Lakers take to the road for a 7 game trip. If Bynum isn’t in the lineup for any of the road stops there is a chance he could be back for the December 21st match up against the Milwaukee Bucks.
If that happens then it would be a slam dunk for Drew to take the court in the highly anticipated Christmas clash with the Miami Hype Heat.
After taking Sunday off to watch a little football and get some much needed rest, the Lake Show are back at it again today as they prepare for the Washington Wizards. Bynum is expected to again participate in 5-on-5’s and we’ll hopefully know more about his status in the coming days.
While his return date is still off in the distance there is hope that Theo Ratliff will make a quicker comeback. Ratliff is reported to be suffering from swelling around his surgically repaired knee but is also working out again.
All this is good news for a team in desperate need of its bigs to come back healthy. After crushing the Kings Pau Gasol and company got some well deserved time off. However, with the schedule ramping up and the road calling, those weary legs won’t be propped up too much longer. The returns of Ratliff and Bynum are highly anticipated in lieu of the Lakers’ recent struggles. Simply put, Christmas can’t get here soon enough.
After watching the Lakers drop their third straight thanks to a 98-96 loss in Memphis a few things became crystal clear. In fact, it’s at the point now where you can just go down a check list of things that go wrong in Lake Show losses.
Let’s see…
Come out of the locker room with little to no energy to start the second half.
Check.
The Lakers were outscored 19-16 in a lackluster third frame.
Allow easy dribble penetration by a quick point guard who gets easy layups thanks to there not being an Andrew Bynum type presence in the middle.
Check.
Mike Conley abused the soft Laker D dropping 28 on a ridiculous 10 of 13 from the field.
Ignore Pau Gasol and instead jack up ill advised long range shots.
Check.
Kobe Bryant was a miserable 9 of 25 from the field scoring a very fool’s gold-esque 29 points.
Phil Jackson leaves Pau on the court for 40+ minutes burning out his best big.
Check.
Gasol punched the clock for another 44 minute night and it showed as he again had a horrible game going 5 of 13 from the field.
Make a run late only to squander a chance to win after a careless mistake by the opponent.
Check.
Conley did everything right until he nearly gave this one away late. Good for him the ball once again found its way into the hands of Ron Artest who for the second straight game hesitated and cost the Lakers any chance at winning or sending this game to OT.
This is getting to be an ugly pattern that could have long lasting effects. Dropping another game to a sub .500 squad doesn’t sting now but it could be haunting come April when homecourt is on the line.
Also, Bynum’s absence is taking its toll as this team has no interior D and Gasol is getting run into the ground and we’re just starting December.
The good news is that there is always tomorrow. The bad news is tomorrow provides no rest and no time to adjust with a stop in Houston before coming home to L.A. City. It’s too early to panic but it’s not too early to be concerned. This teams needs to rediscover its form and it needs to do so in a hurry. From here out the road is only going to get more difficult.