Lakers Drop Celtics in Heated Overtime Shootout

Last night, the Lakers proved why they're the best team in the League. They played a tough, physical game; they were able to fight down the stretch; didn't let the crowd take them out of the game; and they stole a victory from the defending champion Celtics.

In just their third game without Andrew Bynum, who'd started every game this season, the Lakers proved that they could take on the League's toughest teams even when they're hampered by major injuries. Stepping up the most has been Lamar Odom. He's a terror off the dribble, and at 6'10", he's always a match-up problem for defenders. In Andrew's absence Lamar's also stepped it up on defensive end and in rebounding. His 20 points against Boston came on only 10 attempts, and his late free throws won the game for L.A.

My column isn't a recap station, so I'll leave the descriptive analysis to links to other sites. A good write up is the February 6 page of espn.com's Daily Dime.

I'll tell you what I saw from my futon. I saw a Los Angeles Lakers team that found a way to win using all the weapons it had. Kobe unleashed a barrage of threes that pulled them back in the game. Pau played tough inside, grabbed 14 boards, and caused Garnett to foul out. Lamar did his thug-dizzle and won the game for us. Fisher played well and Jordan Farmer was smooth as eggs as a backup. The best part about all of these individual components is that they have an astute sense of timing.

They toughed it out. Nobody played a particularly good game, but when the final buzzer sounded, they knew they'd be on top because they wanted it more. And what makes this so critical is that the Lakers lacked a similar level of heart and desire during the finals last season. To see that hunger in them now is inspiring, and I hope it's lifted the bar in the locker room.