NBA Fact and Fiction: Are the Los Angeles Lakers Really This Good?
The Los Angeles Lakers have an early season look of a team on a mission, and their 124-105 demolition of the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night provided another illustration of why they will be so tough to beat in June.
Popular theory says the best way to defeat the Lakers will be to turn every contest into a track meet, and the Grizzlies followed that blueprint and were promptly run out of the Staples Center.
Los Angeles led 73-46 at halftime and the 27-point margin at the intermission does little to justify how thoroughly dominant the Lakers were against a pretty good Memphis team.
The strength of the Lakers team is in their frontcourt, and even without the injured Andrew Bynum, the Lakers have been arguably the NBA's top interior team through their first four games.
Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom have averaged a combined 40.4 points and 23.3 rebounds, while shooting an astonishing 62 percent from the field.
As a team the Lakers lead the NBA in scoring at 114.2 points per game, are second in rebounding at 51 per game and are only one of three remaining undefeated teams after the first week of the NBA's regular season.
So, are the Lakers really this good?
Most observers felt Los Angeles entered the 2010-11 season as an improved version of last season's championship team, especially after acquiring key free agents such as point guard Steve Blake and forward Matt Barnes.
But, I'm not sure if anyone anticipated the level of focus and purpose that the Lakers have displayed during the beginning of their quest for a three-peat.
Most concerns about Kobe Bryant's knee have been erased in the face of the Lakers' impressive start, and the loss of Bynum has been an afterthought in the wake of the efforts of a motivated Odom.
Coach Phil Jackson has been able to not only limit Bryant's minutes, but Gasol's and Derek Fisher's as well, and Barnes so far looks like the perfect complementary piece in the Lakers frontcourt.
Last night Barnes scored 16 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, and along with Shannon Brown is one of four Lakers to average double-figure scoring so far this season.
If there are any serious questions about the Lakers they will not be found on the offensive end, as Los Angeles has shot 46.3 percent as a team from the field and 45.6 percent from three-point range.
On defense the Lakers are surrendering 102 points per game which is only seventh in the Western conference, but that number may be a little misleading considering their opponents' combined field goal percentage.
The Lakers have allowed the opposition to shoot 42.9 percent from the field, 37 percent from three-point range and they are dominating the boards by grabbing eight more rebounds than their opponents.
Again, most teams feel the best way to prevail against Los Angeles will be in the open court, and each of their first four opponents have employed that strategy.
Phoenix and Golden State are up-tempo teams by nature, and both are defensively challenged. On the other hand, Houston and Memphis both have strong interior players but couldn't match the talent and depth of the Lakers.
Los Angeles could not have hoped for a better start to the 2010-11 season, but there are a few things to consider before penciling them into this season's NBA Finals.
The Lakers home schedule is not as forgiving as last season's as they must play 11 of their next 20 games on the road, but only four of their 11 road opponents were playoff qualifiers last season.
Two of those teams are Chicago and Milwaukee from the East, and although the Lakers' future schedule does include teams such as Denver, Utah and Phoenix they get the benefit of playing those games at home.
Health could also still factor in to the Lakers' success down the road because the threat of injury with any team is generally an unknown.
More specifically, Bryant seems to be very close to 100 percent, but will Jackson be able to rest him as much later in the season when the games are of more importance?
Blake and Barnes have looked comfortable in the Lakers' first four games, but neither player has really shown any real consistency as of yet, and newcomer Theo Ratliff has played with energy, but seems unsure of himself at times.
Blake has had his moments though and, as evidenced in last night's victory, so has Barnes, and each player's consistency should improve as they get more minutes on the court.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss said during the offseason that this version of his team could be one of the best ever, and although I'm not quite prepared to join him in that assessment, the Lakers are very good and have room for improvement.
There are still numerous obstacles between Los Angeles and their ultimate goal of a three-peat, but if teams can be graded after the first week of the regular season the Lakers definitely get an A+.
