Two weeks ago, I wrote this little thing called a blog about Why my Lakers won't repeat as NBA Champions. The team looked in complete disarray as they lost Game 4 of their Western Conference first round series to the #8 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder by 21 points. The fire and hunger that were there last season seemed to be missing, and the "new ingredient," one Mr. Ron Artest, seemed to be doing more harm than good.
In the two and a half weeks since that blowout loss though, something has changed. The Lakers have played six straight games without a loss, including three on the road. Last night, they jumped out to a 22 point lead in the second quarter over the Utah Jazz in their Game four second round matchup and never looked back, coasting to a 111-96 win. The four game sweep was especially impressive when you consider that Andrew Bynum was all but absent for the second straight game - six points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes. But Bynum's poor effort was more than made up for by the Lakers tag team of Kobe and Paul. #24 had his fourth straight 30+ point effort, scoring 32, while #16 tallied 33 points and 14 boards. Lamar Odom only scored 10 points, but he made some other contributions as the Lakers were a +30 points in his 25 1/2 minutes of action.
With their impressive win, and their swagger back, the Lakers now get a week to rest. That should give Bynum some time to heal as they prepare to take on the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference final. Game one of the best of seven series is at 6pm next Monday night at Staples Center. In the meantime, I may spend this week off buying myself some crow. Thankfully, this Lakers team seems to have found the "on" switch. I'd be VERY happy to chew on some of that crow in another month or so!
GO LAKERS!
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