The Lakers are the best team in the NBA, but on Thursday night on the road against the Cavaliers
REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk
they showed signs of what could be there downfall. The “toughness” of the Lakers is always put in question when they face a Eastern Conference team and are physically outmatched. Pau Gasol is the player the finger points to first, and on thursday he was out rebounded by J.J. Hickson by 6 rebounds. The Lakers bench who shined against Orlando on Monday scoring 42 points was held to only 22 points. An interesting note is the Lakers scored 87 points in both losses to the Cavs this year. LeBron James finished with 37 points and nine rebounds. James has won seven of his last nine head-to-head meetings against Kobe Bryant. Bryant finished with 31 points but was only 4-of-15 in the second half as the Lakers lost the opener of an eight-game road trip. The Lakers will play 7 games in the next 9 days against teams(Knicks, Boston, Memphis) that will be playing the best ball they have played all year due to the defending champs as the opponent.
