Lakers Bench Flipping and Flopping

I have come to praise the Lakers’ bench, not to bury them. No, I have come to bury the Lakers’ bench, not to praise them.

Uh, no, I have come to praise…Wait a second. What day is it?  Thursday. Hmm, then this must be the Palace in Detroit, where the Lakers have failed to win a game in nine straight visits since the 2001-2002 season.

Then I have come to bury them. The bench, that is. And I think Phil Jackson is just about ready to do the same.

In their last game, against the Thunder in Oklahoma City, the bench played lights out at both ends of the court, extending leads and holding them. Tonight, against a Pistons team that took the floor without three starters, including Alan Iverson, the Lakers built up a 13-point first quarter lead, 25-12.

Exit the starting five, enter the bench mob, and the Lakers’ wound up getting mobbed by the undermanned Pistons, 12-0 to start the second quarter.

Re-enter the weary starters early, and the Pistons added five more straight points before Trevor Ariza made a layup.

The Pistons extended their lead to 40-32, before Kobe Bryant and his teammates could whittle the Pistons lead back down to three points at halftime.

During the waning moments of the second quarter, Phil Jackson picked his shots as far as inserting bench players was concerned. He replaced his starters one at a time and did not insert the bench as a unit for the rest of the game.

The third quarter started with the Pistons jumping out to a 10-point lead, 50-40. The Lakers’ starters narrowed the gap to 55-50, then went on a 25-0 run that cemented the Lakers’ 92-77 victory.

It was the Lakers 57^th win of the season, matching their total wins from last season, when they won the Western Conference Title. They still have 11 games left.

They started the night with two monkeys on their back; Detroit where they had lost nine straight and Portland where they have lost seven straight. Now one monkey is gone, yet one more remains.

They will see what they can do about the remaining one in Portland on April 10.

Kobe Bryant had a game-high 30 points along with eight rebounds and seven assists. Derek Fisher wound up with 15 points, nine of them in the Lakers 25-0 third quarter sprint.

Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom each had 12 points. Odom grabbed 10 rebounds and dished off seven assists. Gasol had 11 rebounds.

Trevor Ariza finished with eight points. The entire Lakers’ bench only accounted for 15 of the teams 92 points, while shooting only 33% (6 of 18).

Will Bynum, off the bench for Detroit, had a career-high 25 points and 11 assists. Antonio McDyess also had a strong game with 14 points and 12 rebounds. They were the only two Pistons in double figures.

The Lakers held the Pistons to only 39.5% shooting overall and just 23% from beyond the arc.

Next up for the Lakers are the Nets tomorrow evening in New Jersey. The Lakers will be looking to make it four in a row on their current road trip.