The Los Angeles Lakers shocked the world when they dropped Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs to the New Orleans Hornets after Chris Paul seemed to have all of the answers, but an NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper points out that the loss might not be such a bad thing for the Lakers.
In fact, it might have been just the wake-up call Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the rest of the Lakers’ supporting cast needed.
As L.A. fans might remember, the Lakers were previously challenged in the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets as well as last year against the Oklahoma City Thunder before going on to win the NBA Championship.
It’s tough to say just two games into the series if the Game 1 loss to the Hornets was actually anything more than the Lakers simply overlooking an otherwise undaunting opponent, but there’s a good chance we’ll find out tonight at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN whether the opening-game loss was enough to refocus the Lakers on the way to a fourth-straight Finals appearance.