NBA Pivot Points: Lakers Eschew Defense, Win with Empire State of Mind

It was raining threes at historic Madison Square Garden on Friday night, and the triples were strangely coming from the visiting Los Angeles Lakers rather than the hometown New York Knicks.

That was just one coincidence of an entertaining but weird game that saw the Lakers shoot 50 percent from the field and an astonishing 52 percent from three-point range, simultaneously erasing all vestiges of the superior defensive effort put forth against Cleveland the night before.

The Lakers lead the NBA in defensive point differential and opponent field goal percentage, and they are the No. 1 team at defending the three, but you couldn't glean that from the strong offensive display of the Knicks.

The Knicks shot 45 percent from the field and were the beneficiaries of a dominant 31-point, 17-rebound effort from David Lee, who was the best post player on the court for the majority of the game.

That's another strange anomaly, because the one place the Lakers held a clear advantage in the game was the post due to the presence of seven-footers Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

Bynum looked the part early, as he was an unstoppable force, towering over the smaller Knicks and getting easy buckets at the rim, but Gasol spent most of the first half getting abused by Lee, who was equally comfortable in the paint or perimeter.

The Knicks outrebounded the Lakers and definitely won in the hustle category, as their smaller players challenged Los Angeles in the paint and shot well enough from the outside to keep the outcome of the game in doubt.

Los Angeles prevailed, 115-105, due to its phenomenal team shooting effort and a fourth-quarter surge during which Gasol became assertive in the post and Kobe Bryant scored 13 points to put the game away.

Gasol ended up with 20 points after scoring 10 in the fourth, and Kobe scored 27 despite suffering through another bad shooting night, obviously hampered by his injured finger.

In the past seven games Kobe's shooting percentage has dropped to 38 percent and his scoring average has dipped to 23 points per game; his struggle to persevere has become more apparent by the moment.

Battling back spasms and the pain of his broken digit, Kobe has soldiered on, and since he refuses to miss any time, the injury can't be used as an excuse—plus the Lakers could ill-afford to be minus his presence.

The defense, however, is where the true mystery lies, because I can't understand the lack of defensive aggression after playing at such a high level against the Cavaliers.

The usual problem of Derek Fisher getting beat on the perimeter resurfaced, and if not for the total offensive ineptitude of Knicks guard Chris Duhon and a hamstring injury to Nate Robinson, it could have been an issue for the Lakers.

No matter, because there were other issues abound for the Lakers, like Gasol's inability to guard Lee and the Lakers' tendency to lose players like Wilson Chandler and Danillo Gallinari in the flow of defensive rotations.

Maybe the Lakers were weary due to their game the night before, or maybe the defense just had an off-night, but, in order to be successful on this road trip, they have to find consistency.

Due to Kobe's injuries and the fact they are on the road, the Lakers will have to be able to rely on their defense to carry them through situations when their offense may falter.

Washington and Toronto have offensive players who are superior to the ones on the Knicks roster, and they will put pressure on the Lakers to respond on the defensive end.

The Lakers have to get tougher in the post, and the manner in which their players answer the bell could determine their fate the rest of this road trip—and possibly the season.