Good Start to the Second Half of the Season

February 22, 2011 - After losing their last 3 games, and having a break for the all-star weekend, the Lakers finally showed they were back to their old selves. It was a lopsided game, as Los Angeles beat the Atlanta Hawks 104-80.




Kobe driving to the hole vs. the Hawks

 The two time defending champions put all talks of last week to rest. The first half of the season is over, and those losses to bad teams are over. This is the new, focused Lakers team ready to dish out punishment on the way to their 3rd straight championship. Kobe Bryant led the team with 20 points, as Gasol had 14, and Shannon Brown (who I think should be the starting guard over Fisher) had 15 points. According to nba.com, Kobe had this to say about the game....

"We came out and played hard, did all the right things," Bryant said. "I just felt like our execution defensively was really sharp tonight."

This is exactly right. Not only did they play good defense, but they shot very well for high percentages. They also were in the lead for the entire game. Although the one struggle they had was turnovers. The Lakers had 18 turnovers in the game, which is something that can't be done against excellent teams such as Miami or Boston.

Fisher may be getting old, but he still has some ups.

The Lakers (39-19) will face the Portland Trailblazers (32-24) on the road February 23rd. The Lakers handled them easily in November, beating them 121 to 96.