Lakers Back in Championship Shape?

                      What happened to the Spurs? They got Lakered!!! Yeah, that's a word. Lakers dominated the Spurs 99-83. The game was one-sided from start to finish. Knowing their advantage in length, knowing that they needed to limit their turnovers, they were ready to win right from the get go. Amazing performance by the Lakers this afternoon. They had an advantage on the boards, and more importantly they weren't missing. Shooting at 46% from the field and just committing 7 turnovers.

Kobe set them on fire with his consistent scoring having scored 26points shooting 12 for 25, 17 points in the 1st half alone.
The biggest factor in this game? The youngest player ever to play in the league Andrew Bynum with 17 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Not only that, he poses a threat down the paint. The Spurs guards are having a hard time getting their shots off down the block with young Bynum just standing by to alter or block each and every one of them.
Great overall performance by the Lakers with each player contributing to the huge win. The only thing right now is to continue to focus and be hungry. These guys have targets on their backs and they know it. Phil Jackson must be enthusiastic about this win.

As Magic Johnson said during the interview "this is the best game the Lakers have played, as a collective team this season". But are they in championship shape? Were they just lucky to get most of their shots to go down early? On great teams the shots doesn't matter as much as defense, and tonight, we saw the Laker defense and rebounding power against the undersized Spurs. I can't say if they really are in their championship state yet but they certainly are moving in the right direction. Truly amazing to watch for Laker fans. If they continue to perform this well on the defensive end and continue to dominate the boards, a 3-peat is going to be big possibility.

The Lakers played to prove something tonight and they put a stamp on this game directly indicating that "only because they had the best record doesn't mean they are the better team". Can't wait for the Lakers vs Heat on thursday!!!