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The Lakers season kicked off with an easy win over their little brothers the Clippers with a 99-92 victory
Pau Gasol sat out with a sore right hamstring he suffered in the preseason but that hardly made a difference with Bynum taking charge and asserting his dominance down low with 13 rebounds, 26 points off 9-15 shooting and a steal and a block to top off an all-star performance.
Kobe as always led the game in scoring with 33 points (13 of which came in the 1st quarter) off 11-26 shooting but made up for it at the line with 11-12 free throws and 8 rebounds and 4 steals to boot. MVP MVP MVP.
New acquisition Ron Artest had an OK first game of the regular season and showed some promising signs even though his stats say otherwise. shooting a combined 4-15 from the field and a dismal 3-7 from the charity stripe for 10 points doesn't look too pretty but he did his job on the defensive end which forced 9 Clippers turn overs in the first quarter.
Lamar Odom, my pick as 6th man of the year played well in his starting role with the absence of Pau Gasol with 13 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 16 points off 6-13 shooting.
The final score really doesn't reflect the game at all, if it wasn't for a 3rd quarter collapse by the bench mob, the Lakers could have easily wiped the floor with the Clippers with a 30+ point victory.
The lakers first 21 games of the season:
Clippers: Home-Win
Dallas: Home
Atlanta: Home
Oklahoma city:Away
Houston: Away
Memphis:Home
New Orleans:Home
Phoenix:Home
Denver:Away
Houston: Home
Detroit: Home
Chicago: Home
Oklahoma city: Home
New york: Home
Golden state: Away
New Jersey Home
New Orleans:Home
Miami: Home
Phoenix:Home
Utah: Home
Minnesota: Home
As you can see the Lakers play 17 home games out of there first 21. Last season the Lakers had a home record of 36-5 and a league best away record of 29-12. With Andrew Bynum healthy and a fiery Ron Artest the Lakers will be a nightmare for any team.
All of those games are winnable and Lakers are the clear favorites in all of them. The only threat to winning a clean 21-0 are the nuggets who still have a grudge after getting knocked out of the playoffs by the Lakers last season.
This Lakers team is primed for an amazing season and if they can stay healthy, with Andrew Bynum becoming the all-star center all Laker fans hoped he would become and Kobe being the great leader that he is there's no reason why these Lakers cant go 21-0 and win 70+games.
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