The Not-So-Good L.A. Lakers Good Enough To Beat Boston

It’s a toss up. The Lakers will either win the championship or commit hara-kiri by beating themselves to death.

After watching their play against most teams with winning records, I have been leaning toward the latter. This recent road trip is no exception.

Starting out with losses to good teams like Cleveland and Toronto, I was certain that the Lakers would beat themselves once more in Boston by allowing penetration on defense and not going for more penetration on offense as well as committing turnovers.

That almost happened. The Lakers blew a 13-point first quarter cushion and had to play catchup the rest of the game. But in the end it was Boston that committed more turnovers and settled for too many outside shots.

Although they struggled, the Lakers, and especially Kobe Bryant, were just good enough, and Boston’s Ray Allen wasn’t.

Allen missed a last second jump shot after Kobe Bryant hit his fade away with 7.3 seconds left that allowed the Lakers to prevail 90-89.

Let me correct myself. I should say most of the Lakers were just good enough, but not Andrew Bynum. The Lakers' young center was exceptional.

After missing three easy layups to start the game, Prince Bynum reigned supreme in the paint. He managed another double-double, scoring 19 points and snaring 11 rebounds. He also had two blocks and two steals.

He has started to do something that Lakers fans have been waiting for him to do since he was drafted: dominate.

Prince Bynum has really begun to have dominion over the front court during this road trip. Let’s hope it continues when the Lakers return to Staples Center.

The Lakers are now 5-2 on this trip with one more stop in Memphis tomorrow night before returning to home, but the Grizzlies are no longer what they once were. They are a winning team now (25-21) and could make the playoffs.

So, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers can continue their four-game win streak and come out even (2-2) against teams with winning records on this road trip.