I wonder who gets the defensive assignment of guarding Durant tonight? Kobe or Artest? Durant's coming off a terrible game against the Blazers and they'll probably try to get him going early. Will the Lakers play with focus tonight against a sub-par opponent?
Update on Kobe ... Source: LA Times I hope it's Shannon getting the bulk of the minutes and he shows something out there to warrant more minutes.
Lakers starting 5: Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, Ron Artest, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher Important bench players: Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic, Luke Walton, Josh Powell, DJ Mbenga Wow, the Lakers look like they have little depth without Odom as 6th man.
Lakers don't have a depth of talent, but they have a lot of roster flexibility. Most of our guys can play two or three positions on the court effectively which allows PJax a lot of options to exploit mismatches.
At least it isn't a big game. It always seems like Kobe gets sick when there is a major big game matchup like Cleveland. Put Artest on Durant.