Was the world shocked that the Los Angeles Lakers did not come out in Game 1 with enough ammo to stop Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets? Of course.
According to the universe, the Lakers should go unbeaten in the regular season as well as the postseason. There is no struggle that they cannot conquer because they are just at that level of superiority.
Sorry to let everyone know, but there is not a team in the NBA that is infallible, including the purple and gold reigning champions. Kobe Bryant can attempt to carry his team through the trenches as much as he pleases, but you must understand that one man cannot win a game.
He may be the leading scorer for more than 90 percent of the Lakers' games, however, there needs to be a valuable effort from each player besides himself on the floor in order for his points not to be in vain. At the end of the day, 34 points means nothing if your team does not have the win.
Even with all of those things brought to light, the Lakers are not worried nor are they shocked about what happened yesterday afternoon against the Hornets.
The audience may have suspected that they would have come out of the gate doubting the potential of New Orleans, but I assure you they did not. As players, there is a huge part of me that suggests that they would stumble in preparation and not observe the height of talent that they were facing in this series.
That would be an extreme misstep for Phil Jackson, in his last season, and the rest of the organization as a whole.
Pau Gasol knows that his level of performance was less than lacking. It was on the back of a milk carton missing. He was 2-of-9 shooting and Kobe candidly spoke about the turn that Gasol needed to take in order for the Lakers to take the rest of the series.
Bryant spoke earlier in the season about the transformation that Gasol needed to take, white swan to black swan, and the next game everyone saw how aggressive he became.
There is nothing wrong with the Lakers that you have not seen in the regular season.
Kobe Bryant takes charge while the rest of the team slacks off; he speaks up about how poorly the team played and they come back out on the court refreshed and ready to go.
There is no fail to the system that the Lakers have been operating under and the first game always gives the underdog of the series a chance to come out and prove to themselves and their opponents that they deserve to be there.
Indiana and the 76ers gave both Chicago and Miami a run for their money, but no one truly expects for either of them to be left when the dust settles in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
If it were not for Dwyane Wade’s acrobatic layup and three more points with 1:34 on the clock, we may have been having a conversation about Miami Heat’s choke in Game 1. Derrick Rose saved Chicago from embarrassment by leading a 10-point charge in the last two minutes of the game to come from five points behind the Pacers to a 104-99 win.
The matchup between Los Angeles and New Orleans is only proving what many already knew: There needs be a younger, quicker point guard in place for Los Angeles when Fisher’s time is up, maybe sooner. Pau Gasol is the X factor in any game and Kobe Bryant, regardless of injury or slip ups, will always play like Kobe Bryant. Expect this series to be over by game six.
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