Empty the Bench

As long as the Los Angeles Lakers survive through the 2008 NBA playoffs, Empty the Bench’s West Coast correspondent Christopher Thell will be submitting a local fan’s take on his beloved Lakers postseason trials, tribulations and successes. In this first edition he discusses what went right and wrong in Sunday’s victory over the Denver Nuggets.

Let me preface this postseason journey by saying just how gosh darn nice it is that Smush Parker no longer plays point guard for the Lakers. How sweet and truly wonderful. Regardless of what happens, whether the Lakers choke and lose to the Nuggets in the first round – or whether they summon all of their collective courage and acumen to win the title – I don’t have to watch Smush Parker anymore. The fact that he ended this season with the Clippers is not only fitting, but seems to point toward an unmistakable order in the universe.

That said, wow – what a great first-round game to be a Lakers fan.

True, the Lakers were sloppy at times and didn’t impress with their defensive intensity, but at no point during today’s game - even when the Lakers trailed by as many as nine in the second quarter, or when the Nuggets cut a 19 point lead down to ten in the fourth quarter - did I ever feel like a Lakers victory was in doubt.

I mean, when you get 16 points from Fluke Walton, you know things are going the Lakers way.

More on the Lakers Game 1 victory after the jump…

And yes, Gasol was great (36 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 blocks), Kobe superb when he needed to be in the fourth (scoring 18 of his 32 in the last eight minutes), and Odom extremely solid (17 points, 14 rebounds). But the most important moment of the night might be, if you’re an optimistic Lakers fan expecting a deep run in the playoffs, the technical foul Kobe picked up for jawing with Kenyon Martin when the game was already decided.

Players are only allowed six techs before they are suspended a game in the playoffs. Knowing Kobe’s demonstrative ways and penchant for complaining (he was one T away from a one-game suspension in the regular season, leading the league with 15 techs assessed), it’s imperative Kobe wield those T’s in a more sagacious manner. Blowing one on the foolish Martin was beyond silly.

It displayed a momentary and inexcusable lapse in judgment and vision because the real question of this series is not whether the Lakers will win, but how many games will it take for the Lakers to dispatch Denver?

If the Lakers are serious title contenders, they’ll get it done in five. If they win it in six, they’ll lose in the Western Conference finals. And if it takes them seven games to vanquish the Nuggets, there’s no hope for the Lakers to get out of the second round.

That’s my prediction.

Tags: Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets