Beast or Burden: Running Wild

Boom. In a downright brilliant show, the Lakers dominated the Blazers at both ends of the court last night, picking apart their defense with slick passing and man movement on one and forcing them into long contested jumpers on the other. Needless to say, this is what we expected this team to grow into and is one of the few things we can hang our hat on in hope that this kind of effort and execution shows up as the Lakers battle for playoff seeding. In many ways, this win is reminiscent of the victory against Utah on the final leg of the Lakers' back-to-back-to-back that opened the season, in which the Lakers thoroughly dominated the opposing team after a poor performance the previous night on the road. That the Lakers need to bring that same fire to their road games is another issue entirely, especially with a tough two-fer coming against the Mavericks and the Thunder, but it indicates that Mike Brown's system is settling in and finding a receptive audience. A serviceable point guard and more scoring at the small forward spot is definitely still a need, but at least for the moment, this group seems to be pulling things together.

Beast

• Steve Blake -- This was teed off by Steve Blake, who was en fuego from behind the arc last night, nailing open three after open three off nice ball movement from the bench. He also remains the only guard on the team who is using the pick-and-roll well as a means to create for others -- save for Kobe in stretches -- and he has developed some nice synergy with Matt Barnes, whose cutting has often been rewarded by a nice pinpoint pass from Blake for a layup or dunk. Like the rest of the Laker guards, Blake could stand to throw fewer crazy alley-oop passes that Dwight Howard wouldn't be able to finish, but it emphasizes that Blake is getting everyone in the floor involved in the offense and needless to say, that's what this team needs to win in the long-term. The fact that Blake is having such an effect on the offense when he really is no more than a serviceable backup point guard only makes you wonder more how good this unit would be with a solid point at the helm (cough) Ramon Sessions (cough).

• Andrew Bynum -- The other element in the Lakers' attack was Bynum's utter domination of Portland's frontcourt, abusing his man with his bulk and strength in deep post position or even facing up from the block and showing some nice moves on his way to the rim. Most impressive, however, was some of the sweet passes he has been throwing about lately, a nice contrast from the Bynum who struggled with double teams and similar. His sweet bounce pass to a cutting Troy Murphy -- see it broken down beautifully at Forum Blue and Gold -- was one in particular that stood out, and if Bynum is joining Pau Gasol as another big on the team who can throw passes to cutters, shooters, and help the offense hum, the Lakers will have a dangerous core indeed going forward, assuming Bynum's teammates deign to acknowledge his existence and get him the ball. Last note was Bynum's domination of the interior per usual, as he made life extremely difficult for LaMarcus Aldridge, a solid offensive option in the post, with his length and lateral agility.
• Kobe Bryant -- My honest guess is that the highest praise Kobe Bryant can bestow upon another player is to adopt a part of their game into their own. Well, apparently that is the case for Dirk Nowitzki, as Kobe has added his one-legged stepback jumper to his repertoire, and showed it in full force last night as he wrecked Portland's wing defenders over the course of the game. Moreover, last night saw witness to a Kobe with noticeably more bounce in his step. He was taking defenders off the dribble towards the rim, confusing defenders with misdirection and footwork along the way, and in general, attacking the heart of the Portland defense. This is a much more endearing Kobe than the one who has been scoring on long twos off curls and screens lately, and a source of dribble penetration is something that this roster has been lacking for essentially the entire year. Defenses more sturdy than Portland's will make this much more difficult on Kobe, but he benefits the offense as a whole far more if he is driving towards the hoop than nailing in jumpers from the free throw line extended.
• Honorable mention goes to Metta World Peace, who took Nate McMillan's bizarre strategy to play Hack-a-Peace in stride and nailed most of his free throws. Credit as well to the crowd for recognizing the ploy and supporting MWP with a nice "World Peace!" chant. In a rocky year for MWP, keeping his cool in that situation when other players would have taken offense was something nice to see.