A Friday night at Staples Center and the stars were out again. Denzel, Seal with Heidi Klum, P. Diddy, Hillary Swank, and Jack of course. Ho-hum, just a few Oscar winners that had come to see the Lakers put on a show. But even if they turn the lights down low, theater style when the Lakers play, the performance was off-broadway at best. Another marginal, scrappy opponent in the form of the New Orleans Hornets, fought to keep it close despite their predictable fate.
Trevor Ariza was back in town to remind the Lakers and their fans that they would've been better off re-signing him than replacing him with Ron Artest. But I guess MItch Kupchak overspent on Sasha Vujacic, who's salary he recently dumped in Jersey, and was wary of overspending on Ariza. To be fair, Ronnie had a decent performance on this occasion, and he does occasionally. However, Ariza is still a better fit in the Lakers' system and outperformed Artest in points, rebounds and assists. Pau Gasol bounced back from his 6 point showing against Phoenix on Wednesday, with a 21 point and 13 rebound performance. Kobe took his season average of 19 shot attempts, making 10 of them, and made it a historic night by passing Oscar Robertson on the NBA all-time scoring list. Chris Paul had a quiet double-double and clearly looked frustrated at times, which concerns me because he is one future trade demand away from shifting the balance of power to one fortuitous franchise. God forbid that should ever be the Lakers in the near future.
Although the Lakers never led by more than 10 points and the Hornets came within 92-95 with a 1:40 to play, the outcome never seemed in doubt. The Lakers beat a team they were supposed to beat. However, they have not fared well against the other championship contenders thus far. It seems the only thing noteworthy besides Kobe passing "The Big O" is that Matt Barnes sprained his right knee and will have an MRI. Facing the Knicks on Sunday should be a lot more interesting since New York recently dropped 128 pts on the league leading Spurs. Amar'e and company blew out the Suns by 25 tonight in his first homecoming since he left Phoenix. Although they currently ride a 3 game winning streak, we will know more of how the Lakers measure up come Sunday. Sleep well Laker fans. Sunday will be here in a New York minute.
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