Someone once said that there are only two certain things in the world: death and taxes. I'm proposing an addition to that list and that is a Los Angeles Lakers loss in Portland.
Even with the best record in the league right now, the Lakers look like playoff wannabe's in the mold of the Charlotte Bobcats or Oklahoma City Thunder whenever they step into the Rose Garden. You could point out that the Lakers didn't have Option Numero Dos in Pau Gasol, but the Blazers were already already hobbling with Greg "Glass" Oden and Joel Przybilla in sickbay.
The Lakers fell flat in the first half and that really hurt them. There's this Blazers player, Jerryd Bayless, who's never in anybody's radar until this game. He burned the Lakers in the first half shooting jumpers and driving to the hoop like it's nobody's business.
Unlike in previous losses, the Lakers shot the ball well for the game, but this time, the other team shot much, much better. The Blazers finished the game shooting a shade over 50%. Another key factor was the aggressiveness of the Blazers that exposed the sloppy defense of the Lakers. The Lakers only took 10 free throw attempts. The Blazers? They took 39. (Yes, 39!)
Like I said in my previous post, it's only going to get worse for the Lakers this week as they have yet to meet the big guns of Texas. The Blazers are just bottle rockets compared to the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs and the Lakers need to step up big time.
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