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Lakers unimpressive in win over Kings
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AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
Going into the fourth quarter Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers led the Sacramento Kings by 12 points, ready to prove to the world that they have figured out how to blow out bad teams.
Eight minutes later, they were up by just three points and everybody watching the game chanted a chorus of "here we go again" in their minds. A flurry at the end of the game allowed the Lakers to come away with the 112-103 victory, but they did nothing to shed the label of "soft overacheivers."
Thursday night I was able to clearly see the difference between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics. The Celtics led the lowly Washington Wizards by 20 points for most of the game. Late in the third quarter, the Wizards went on a run, cutting the lead to 10. Between the third and fourth quarter, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Sam Cassell got in the team's face as if to say, "are you really gonna let this team compete with us?"
The Celtics came out like a house of fire and had pushed the lead to nearly 30 midway through the fourth quarter. By the end of the fourth, the team was laughing and joking around on the bench.
So what does this prove?
Every team in the NBA, even the bad ones, goes on a run. The sign of an elite team is being able to sustain the run and answer it with a run of your own to put the opponent away. The Lakers don't seem to know how to do that.
Whether it's heart, focus, or just plain effort (maybe all three), something is missing with this team. The Celtics were embarrassed that the Wizards were competing with them. The Lakers were facing a team that dismantled them earlier in the week, and had the opportunity to bury them, show them that they had no place being on the same court as them.
Instead the Kings walk away from the game saying, "hey, we were in it 'til the end."
The Lakers need to get that killer instinct back (if they ever had it to begin with) if they want to have any shot at a championship this season.
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