5 Things We Learned About the Los Angeles Lakers from Their First Game

The Los Angeles Lakers just wrapped up their first game of the 2011-2012 NBA Season, a loss to the Chicago Bulls on Christmas Day.

When's the last time the Lakers lost their first game? A long, long time ago.

There were many questions heading into this game regarding everything from the new coach Mike Brown to Kobe's hurt wrist.

Here's what we learned from the Lakers' first game.

They Didn't Look as Bad as Many Thought They Would

In all honesty, I expected the Lakers to really struggle in that game. 

They didn't do all that bad, especially considering they had only a two-week training camp and some of their major signings happened really late in those two weeks.

Pau Gasol seemed solid out there, except he should have made a couple more free throws and some more of those shots.

The bench also didn't look as shallow as once thought to be. Andrew Goudelock and Steve Blake both made solid contributions from beyond the arc in limited time.

All in all, not that bad of a performance, especially on the defensive side of the ball, where they held the Bulls to only 88 points.

Kobe Bryant Looked Just Fine...

Kobe led the game in scoring, chipping in 28 points in the losing effort.

He was pretty solid from the field, making around 50 percent of the shots he took. He was also aggressive, getting to the line for seven free throws, knocking down six of those attempts.

On defense, he held Richard Hamilton to only six points and only three made field goals, while also not letting him get to the free-throw line.

This year's team is going to rely heavily on Kobe, and he showed tonight that he's still got enough in the tank to carry the team for another year. 

...Except the Rust and the Wrist Might Have Affected Him

Kobe, in all reality, has his weaknesses.

For someone his age, the lockout might have helped rest, but his rustiness showed, committing eight turnovers.

He could have kept that turnover problem in control and should have looked for his teammates a little more instead of trying to force the dribble at times.

The wrist was obviously a problem, too, when it came to the turnovers. You just can't expect his body to keep up forever.

On the bright side, his knees and ankles looked like they weren't problems for him at all tonight.

Metta World Peace Is Really a Non-Factor at This Point

Metta World Peace, formerly known as Ron Artest, really is a head-scratcher now.

Mike Brown says he wants Peace to be the main scoring option off the bench, but does he really expect to get consistent scoring out of this guy?

He's lost his shooting touch, and his ball-handling has become non-existent.

His defense isn't near what it used to be, either. It's the lone bright spot for Peace at this point in his career, as he can still duke it out with the best of them on that side, but he's not close to how good he used to be on that side of the ball.

Peace really needs to get his game together this season, as the Lakers are really counting on him performing off the bench.

They're Still the Best Team in Los Angeles, for Now

The battle for supremacy in Los Angeles is going to be a hard struggle for the rest of the year, but I still see the Lakers coming out on top.

The Los Angeles Clippers have the brighter future right now. The mix of veteran leadership and young talent is too overwhelming for the Lakers, but the Lakers have chemistry built up and they still have great talent.

I mean, really, would you rather have a future of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, or Darius Morris, Andrew Bynum and Devin Ebanks?

For now, it's the Lakers. In a year or two, it's the Clippers.

Expect the Lakers to do better this year just because of Kobe, but they're not going to be on top for much longer.