A tale of two greats, Miami Heat and the LA Lakers. LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. The Miami Heat extended their winning streak to 27 straight games last night with a 108 – 94 victory over the Orlando Magic. They did this with one of their superstars (Wade) sitting out for the second consecutive game nursing a bad knee. This team is chasing the all time consecutive game win streak held by, you guessed it, the LA Lakers, 33 games accomplished by the 1971 – 72 team. Will the Heat get it done? Watching them you would say it is certainly very possible. Of course, you don’t know when this team of superstars and stars and young talent could slip up and just have an off night. That being said, after the first year in which they needed to learn about each other and how to play together along with adding some key other players, this team has become a juggernaut with King James at the helm. On the flip side…
The LA Lakers continue to struggle and stumble, losing last night at Golden State, 109 – 103. They trailed miserably in the first half; as a Lakers fan, it was downright painful to watch. They did manage to close the gap somewhat in the second half, but not enough to get the win. Things got a bit ugly between Dwight Howard and the Warriors’ David Lee with Howard suffering a lip contusion that required a few stitches. Howard has said he will remember it, and will take care of it. Oh my, I think Howard and the Lakers need to remember the loss and focus on playing a complete game in each of their remaining games as they try to hold onto the one game lead they have sitting in the “coveted” 8th playoff position. Interesting that here again, somewhat like Miami but also different, you have a team that has put together a huge array of talent, a coach who is being criticized and questioned, some young talent on the bench, that has not figured out how to best compliment each other and succeed at the the high level they are capable of. Will be interesting to see what happen not just for the remainder of the season and throughout the playoffs, but in the offseason as they look towards next year. Who will stay and who will go? Or, will they give it another year to try and come together? We shall see…I am still a believer in Kobe and the Lakers, maybe not this year, however.
