Lakers verse Hornets

If last night’s narrow victory told us anything about the Lakers, it told us that there are a couple of holes in the Lakers new and league best defense. For one, they are susceptible to the 3-point shot. The way their defense is devised, they allow for the weak side to shoot the corner three, though they still try to get back and contest the shot. Point is, that shot is available. Another thing that was obvious (see Erick Dampier’s 12 offensive rebounds) is that when they do try and defend that corner shot, they allow a lot of offensive rebounds to guys willing to put in the work. Last night, Damp put in the work and was rewarded. Tonight, Tyson Chandler, who always puts in the work, will kill the O boards if the Lakers aren’t careful. In fact, because they are coming off a tightly contested game last night, I think the Lakers might have a dogfight on their hands tonight. They are susceptible to the corner 3 and the offensive rebound, two things the Hornets excel at. Still think the Lakers will win, just because David West will play Mr. Invisible man tonight getting lost and bothered amidst the Lakers height and length. That added with the fact that the Lakers bench is actually playing better than the starters the last couple of games (they came in both against Dallas and Houston and got the team back on track after the starters fell behind early) and the Hornets’ nonexistent bench, make this a tight-but in the end, comfortable win for the Lakers. Of course, if Chandler tops 20 boards and Peja goes off, the Lakers could have their first blemish on their perfect record.