The Lakers Were Stanky, the Warriors Stankier

We pretty much knew this was going to be ragged, yes? The first game back after the long break, having to reintegrate Andrew Bynum and Kobe Bryant.... um. Yeah, about that last part. El Kobester, as we mentioned earlier today, found himself hurting after practicing Monday and thus missed his fourth straight game. After the Lakers won tonight, 104 to 94 over the truly egregious Golden State Warriors, Stu Lantz said there was "no question" Kobe would go Thursday against Boston.

Really, Stu? There's no question, meaning absolute certainty? I know Kobe would hate to miss that game, but... that statement is awfully categorical. Phil Jackson, post-game, was more circumspect, saying that Kobe might practice tomorrow and see how he feels for Thursday.

Anyhoo, back to the Warriors. They blow. You knew that, I knew that, and they reconfirmed it tonight by losing to a Laker team that was way, way off its stride. It didn't help that the Dubs played without an injured Monta Ellis, but hey. They're not the only ones with an out-of-service shooting guard. The whole world got problems.

Both squads were total slop. Of the 205 combined possessions in the game, 18% ended in turnovers. The Lakers pulled out the ugly W by getting to the line over and over and by completely owning the defensive glass. Golden State's not a good rebounding team - in fact they're the worst in the NBA by a huge margin - but allowing them to rebound only 10% of their own misses is still a dominant performance. (The Warriors' season average is 22%.) Lamar Odom, as usual, was a rebounding demon. He had 15 defensive boards on the night and, by my estimate, personally pulled in almost 50% of the available defensive rebounds while he was on the floor.

An unlikely contribution on this front and others came courtesy of Shannon Brown. With 10 rebounds to accompany 27 points, 3 assists, 2 steals and a block (and only one turnover hallelujah!) Shannon had a career night. Tomorrow morning when you're reading newspaper coverage, count how many times it's suggested that he "redeemed himself" from his dunk-contest performance, as if falling short in that carnival sideshow is something that requires redemption.

Bynum looked pretty solid tonight, all considering. After the game he mentioned that he's still feeling pain in his injured hip and that it's impairing his movement, but he scored easily against the feeble Warrior bigs (21 points on 75% True Shooting). Pau Gasol persists both in struggling with his shooting touch (5 for 14 shooting) and producing nicely in other phases (5 assists and 9 boards). Sasha Vujacic and Adam Morrison combined for 24 minutes that did nothing to enhance their trade value.

This game was nasty, but continues the trend of the Kobeless Lakers using excellent D to overcome a less-than-resplendent offensive attack. It didn't tell us anything we didn't already know beforehand. The regular-season win meter simply ticks up one digit higher.  Let's hope the Lakers look a bit more polished when the Celtics show up.

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