Joel Huerto is the editor of OneManFastBreak.net and was a news editor at the Los Angeles Times.
As the defending world champs and armed with the deepest and tallest talent pool in the league, each victory for the Los Angeles Lakers is dismissed as a glorified scrimmage and each loss is magnified and deemed catastrophic.
Expectations were so high for the Lakers entering this season that some experts, mainly TNT’s Reggie Miller, thought this team had a chance to challenge the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 victories set in the 1995-96 season.
Kobe Bryant didn’t exactly help matters in terms of tempering expectations when he said his Lakers, with the addition of Ron Artest, are capable of winning 70-plus games. But Bryant threw down the gauntlet partly to keep his troops motivated. This is a Lakers team in years past have struggled to maintain their focus through the malaise of an 82-game regular season, losing to lottery teams such as Sacramento, Indiana and Charlotte (twice) en route to their 65-win season in 2008-09.
The Lakers are 8-3 straight up, 4-7 against the spread and have lost two of their last three heading into tonight’s home game against Chicago.
“You know we're going to get better,” Bryant told the Los Angeles Times. “We know what's at stake. We'll figure our way through this.”
The blowout loss in Denver on Nov. 13 was excusable. It was the second game of a back-to-back set and the Nuggets were energized by the return of J.R. Smith from his suspension. However, the Lakers’ two home losses were head-scratchers. They were throttled by Dallas, 94-80, on Oct. 30 and embarrassed, 101-91, and outrebounded, 60-38, on Nov. 15 by a smaller and less talented Houston squad that was missing its top three scorers from last year.
Winning 72 games was probably an unrealistic goal, especially when All-Star forward Pau Gasol, who missed all of training camp, has yet to play a single minute this season due to a strained hamstring injury.
Las Vegas oddsmakers didn’t buy into the whole 72-win hype as most handicappers had the Lakers well under 70 wins when the season began. Pinnacle Sports had the Lakers at 62 wins, and even though the Las Vegas Hilton posted the Lakers as 2-1 favorites to win the NBA title the Hilton sports book forecasted their season win total at 61.5.
Hilton sports book manager and oddsmaker Jeff Sherman said the 61.5 over/under win total was set with the thought that Gasol was going to miss just the first week of the season. “It didn’t look like he’ll be out that long and he should be back shortly. The information we had was five games. As time went on, it kept getting longer and longer,” Sherman said.
Through the first four weeks of the season, the Lakers are well behind the Bulls' pace. That 1995-’96 Chicago team – which boasted Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman and coached by Phil Jackson – was 10-1 to start the season, didn't lose its third game until game No. 26 and was 41-3 before losing two in a row. At one point, the Bulls were 31-1 during a 32-game stretch.
The Bulls’ 72-10 season is the benchmark for any team trying to make history, and Lamar Odom admitted that the record is on their minds. “We think about it maybe individually, maybe not collectively," Odom told the L.A. Times. “We still think we can do it but I think it’s individual players. Collectively, we try to take it game by game.”
Gasol is expected to return for tonight’s game against the Bulls, and we’ll finally get to see how Artest can mesh with two 7-footers in the starting lineup. The Bulls are not in the Lakers’ class, but this doesn’t mean this game will be a cinch. The under is 9-2 in the last 11 head-to-head meetings between L.A. and Chicago, and the underdog is 10-3 ATS in the past 13 matchups.
Two Points
Cavalier move: Since J.J. Hickson became a starter, the Cavaliers have won five in a row and are 3-2 ATS. In his last three games, the second-year forward from North Carolina State is averaging 19.6 points per game and has given the Cavaliers a more athletic and quicker power forward that can also make the mid-range jump shot, unlikely Anderson Varejao whose range is from 5 feet and in. Hickson’s improved play couldn’t come at a better time with Shaquille O’Neal and Varejao both nicked up. And even if Varejao is healthy, Hickson has showed coach Mike Brown that he is more than capable of handling the added minutes and responsibilities of being a starter.
Big Bucks: Brandon Jennings made his pitch for rookie of the year with his 55-point game on Nov. 14 against the Warriors. Jennings has been everything the Bucks had hoped, and then some. With Michael Redd out with a knee injury, Jennings has picked up the slack and is averaging 25. 5 points per game (eighth in the league) and his 54% 3-point shooting has scouts scratching their heads because he never showed this kind of accuracy during his one-year stint in Europe.
And One
Magic point guard Jameer Nelson underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair a torn meniscus he suffered on Nov. 16 against Charlotte. Team officials estimated that Nelson will miss four to six weeks. Last season, the Magic went 27-13 in the 40 games Nelson missed with a dislocated right shoulder. But that’s because Orlando had backup point guard Rafer Alston as insurance policy and Hedo Turkoglu taking care of the ball handling. The Magic will turn to Jason Williams, a player who retired last year, to run the offense. Nelson’s injury could knock back Orlando's PPG and 6-5 ATS.