The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Detroit Pistons might be two very different teams, but the way the Lakers played against each of them this past week has been very similar. Both 1^st quarters were prime examples of how the Lakers should be operating on a regular basis.

During the Thunder game, each of the starters had points within the first couple minutes which created an offense that is very hard to overcome, especially if you are being antagonized on the defensive end as well. Which brings me to my next bit of praise: our defense in the first half has also stepped it up a notch.

During the Pistons game, the Lakers had their best defensive first quarter this season. For this particular game, that was very important. The Pistons have been beating our asses at their arena since January 8^th 2002, it’s about time we put that curse to rest. Besides, the Pistons were lacking 3 key players in their starting line-up (Rasheed Wallace, A.I., and Hannibal Lecter a.k.a Richard Hamilton! Woot Woot!), we had no excuses not to put up a good fight and wrestle out the win. So, despite our 9 game losing streak at The Palace, and the Thunder’s tendency to outboard us on the offensive end, the Lakers still emerged victorious with double digit leads in both games by the final buzzer.

Another trait shared by both games was the lack of control on the part of the second unit for the duration of the second quarter. The first possession for the Pistons in the 2nd ended in an uncontested shot, and who was standing around in the key while the shot was arcing towards the basket? None other than Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton ruining our defensive flow due to their resistance to box out on the defensive end. But it’s not just them, during the second quarter of the Thunder game, the entire second unit just couldn’t seem to get their rhythm off and rolling. Once again, Pau is relied upon much too much, and not getting the right looks caused by a lack of ball movement and offensive help on the weak side. The ravenous, young Thunder team managed to leave a nice open wound on the side of Gasol’s face after an ugly double team below the rim, and as Gasol is curled up underneath the basket, spewing blood out of the side of his face, guess what? No whistle and the Thunder get a point on the other end. I don’t know whether it’s the refs growing old and senile, or their lack of attention towards the key, but WHERE ARE THE FOUL CALLS? I doubt that Gasol scratched himself in the face (and besides, in the replay, you see Russell Westbrook swiping at Gasol from behind like a puma diving out of a tree, an obvious foul left uncalled by refs who need thicker glasses). Same goes for Sasha, he had an excellent drive into the key during the Thunder game as well, where he was obviously fouled but alas, no call.

Trevor Ariza has been quite a contributor in the Lakers starting line as of late. Despite all of the woeful pining for Bynum by the Lakers community, the Lakers are actually doing fairly well without him, especially when Ariza isn’t allowing the offense to revolve around Gasol and Bryant when the first unit is on the floor. Trevor has been on the offensive boards even more so than any other Laker lately. This can be traced to the fact that Trevor follows his shot and aggressively goes back up with it. If you haven’t noticed, Josh Powell seems to be having problems in that area. He has received a traveling call (in some form or another) in the last couple games, and it doesn’t seem to be letting up. Powell shuffles his feet and attempts to put the ball on the floor, but when you are being triple teamed in the key, and you have the type of mass that Powell does, there’s not a lot of room for dribbling and the ball is much more vulnerable to getting stripped if the offense brings it below their shoulders. He should take some notes from Gasol, keep the rebound above his head, and try to use a pump fake, dish it out, or draw the foul, either of those options would be much better than suffering a turn-over and allowing our well-earned lead to diminish.

Throughout the first half of the Pistons game, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom proved to be quite a fearsome team in the paint. Their camaraderie resulted in an increase in successful possessions as well as, offensive help for the both of them lest one be double teamed. Lamar is much more of a threat in the key than he is shooting the perimeter shot, and when he and Gasol have a groove going, they are practically unstoppable. The team effort put forward by these two conjured 24 points in the Pistons game, and enabled Odom to receive his first win as a Laker at The Palace.

The Lakers’ win against the Pistons in Detroit brings Phil Jackson to his 727^th game as Head Coach of the Lakers. He is now tied with Pat Riley for the team record in most games coached. The Lakers now trail the Cavs by one game in the win column and one game in the loss column, but with our hefty wins on the road, we may gain the lead again sooner than anticipated.