Los Angeles Lakers finally get their first win

Disappointing start

Coming into Sunday night at the Staples Center the Los Angeles Lakers were 0-5 from the first five games of the season, the worst start to the season in franchise history. Their performance in the first two games of the five was just disappointing to watch as they lost by a collective 38 points against opponenets such as the Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns.

Their game had become such a big talking point that the Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said on the show “Inside the NBA” that he would fast till the purple and gold win their first game. Forturnately for the 1993 NBA MVP, he will not have to do anything of that kind as the Lakers finally notched up their first win beating the Charlotte Hornets at home convincingly by 15 points on Sunday night.

Change in momentum

They were so down below on the standings that only the Philadelphia 76ers had a worse record than them. Having said that the last 3 games of the first 5 did see a different team step on the floor. Agaisnt the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and the Suns for a second time, the Lakers were competing closely till their opponents snatched the game late in the fourth quarter.

Their improved play brought hope but wasn’t quite bringing the results that many hoped from them. Despite injury issues if the team can get themselves to play together they can be much better than they were last season. Hopefully this first win will be the motivation they needed to start playing some good team basketball.

Analysis of the first win

Kobe Bryant led the way like he did in all of the previous games with 21 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists yet the talking point of the game was the team’s balanced scoring with four of their five starters finishing the game in double figures. Jeremy Lin did a better job of taking care of his point guard duties today scoring 21 points but more importantly dishing out 7 assists.

Getting more touches on offense during the night, Boozer scored a career high as a Lakers with 15 points while his front court partner Jordan Hill came up big with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists. Their four bench players who took the floor accounted for 32 points on the light with the spotlight undoubtedly on Ed Davis. The big man acquired as a free agent this summer scored 10 points without missing a single shot. He also grabbed 5 rebounds and had a block in 22 minutes of playing time.

A game high 23 points from Hornets center Al Jefferson went in vain as none of his teammates could chip in enough to grab the W. Among the other notable for Charlotte were Lance Stephenson who had 6 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists and Kemba Walker who had 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. The Lakers won this game with their defense but more importantly their huge 23-4 run in the third quarter coming out of the locker room.