Tim's Two Cents-January 22

Cavs Sweep Season Series With Lakers.  It is just me, or do the Lakers seem to be playing like they did two seasons ago when they lost to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals?  They just don't seem to have the same intensity and focus as last year. 

It was nice to see Kobe Bryant become the youngest player ever to reach 25,000 career points against the Cleveland Cavaliers.  If he stays reasonably healthy, he has a chance to become the league's all-time leading scorer.  The only problem was that LeBron James put up better numbers once again with 37 points compared to Bryant's 31 in a 93 to 87 loss.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Lakers will do reasonably well come playoff time, but it is becoming quite clear that they need to ramp up their intensity and focus in their overall game.  Otherwise this season will end as a failure.  Playing for home court advantage throughout the playoffs would certainly help. 

Photo courtesy:
Wikimedia Commons and Keith Allison under CC-SA 2.0 License