Tuesday night should have been another pile-on for the hapless Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers coach Byron Scott decided to rest Kobe Bryant in anticipation of a trip to Chicago to play the Bulls on national television on Christmas Day, the visiting Golden State Warriors had already beaten the Lakers by a combined 44 points spread out over two contests, and the NBA’s best team seemed primed to destroy the Lakers on Los Angeles’ home floor.
Because the NBA is the NBA, though, the obvious storyline took shape.
Los Angeles moved the ball, it ran a semblance of a structured offense, and it downed the Warriors by a 115-105 score. Seven players scored in double digits against the NBA’s best defense so far this season, as the rest of the league rolled its eyes. What a tidy package to behold.
Following the win, Laker guard Nick Young was ebullient in comparing his team and its prospects to two celebrated motion pictures. From ESPN Los Angeles’ Baxter Holmes:
“Some guys just played like ‘Django Unchained' -- they were free tonight,” he said.
And what would Young tell Bryant?
“Pretty much going to have to tell Kobe to pass me the ball, pass us the ball,” Young said. “Tell him to take the backseat for a little bit. He can be ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ and I can be Miss Daisy and drive.”
The Lakers managed 28 assists on 46 field goals, and led by as much as 24 against the NBA’s best team. Vlade Divac even nailed a half-court shot for charity. If this were a one-night treatment pitched to a movie studio, it would be laughed out of the office for reading as too hacky.
Laker guard Jeremy Lin, in his first year with the team, was as circumspect as always in his attempts to sideswipe ripping on Kobe Bryant. From Holmes’ report:
“We learned a lot about ourselves [Tuesday night],” said Lakers guard Jeremy Lin, who finished with 11 points and five assists off the bench.
Such as?
"I think we learned --”
Pause.
“I would say it’s just another stepping stone."
So pile on, righto?
Eh, perhaps.
As Eric Freeman pointed out in the wake of Vlade’s lovely shot, one-game sample-sizes are not to be obsessed over. The Warriors were playing on the second night of a road back to back and hardly had the time to prepare for the Lakers’ newfound spark, as the formerly Kobe-centric offense is easy to load up on as you happily encourage Bryant to fire away from 20 feet. That hacky screenplay treatment isn’t to be trusted, though – the Lakers aren’t going to turn into world-beaters just because big, bad Kobe isn’t stealing all the shots.
Still:
Kobe, for one, sent out yet another salvo that credited the management that handed him $48.5 million for turning things around eventually, even though we’re over six months away from every big free agent turning the Lakers down. From Sam Amick at USA TODAY:
"I really do trust management," he reiterated to USA TODAY Sports. "I mean I really, really do. They'll get things turned around pretty quickly. I'm not really concerned about that."
What’s he going to say, his front office stinks? Kobe’s completely above that.
On Monday we haughtily chided Bryant for betraying his giant basketball brain in his attempts to launch contested 21-footer after contested 21-footer, while pointing out that the team’s loss to Sacramento has to serve as a low point. The win over the Warriors might not be a suitable appreciation of the Lakers’ Kobe-less potential, but both Bryant and borderline-feckless coach Byron Scott have to use this as a teachable moment.
They can fly into Chicago to take on a white-hot Bulls team with a somewhat-rested Bryant, going up against a defense that attempts to ice all movement – one that still has major issues with rim protection despite its top ten defensive ranking. If Bryant gives in, it could be a lay-up line or three-point fest for all involved. Kobe doesn’t have to have 14 assists, and he doesn’t have to have 29 points. He can be part of a team. Part of, say, those seven double-figure scorers.
It’s up to Kobe. Because for one night, at least, the Lakers sure seemed to be having a lot of fun without him.
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