After beginning the season with a string of five consecutive losses against some of the West's best, the Lakers broke through on Sunday with a double-digit victory over Charlotte. Now, the tall task for L.A. is to carry that momentum into a two-game road trip beginning in Memphis Tuesday, where the Grizzlies have won 16 straight games.
According to head coach Byron Scott, L.A.’s success hinges on having a complete team effort, rather than simply relying on having Kobe Bryant handle the brunt of the offensive load.
“When you got a bunch of new guys and you’re playing with a legend, it takes time,” Scott said. “A lot of those guys, they’ve watched Kobe over the years be one of the best players that ever played this game. So, of course, when they throw it to him sometimes they have a tendency to stand around and watch, because they want to see what he’s gonna do.
“So now after about six or seven (games), I think they’re starting to realize that (they) need to help him as much as possible, and that’s a challenge. And if you are a professional basketball player, you like those types of challenges. And I thought our guys last night responded to him well.”
Entering Sunday’s game, Bryant led the league in usage rate by a comfortable margin. Though his 35.8 usage percentage is still the NBA’s highest, it is a bit closer to second-place Rodney Stuckey (34.6) after falling 2.1 points in Sunday’s game.
This drop in reliance on Bryant resulted from players sharing the scoring load against the Hornets, as four other players complemented Bryant’s 21 points by finishing in double figures.
One of those players was Jeremy Lin, who also racked up 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the field.
“It’s one of those things where there’s no specific formula just because every game has its own personality,” he said. “So tomorrow might be Jordan Hill’s night or whatever. So you adjust adjust on the fly or there’s a mismatch or whatever. But in general, we do want to keep everything as balanced as possible.”
That balance was present in the Lakers’ win over Charlotte.
Bryant, Lin, Jordan Hill and Carlos Boozer all took double-digit shots, combining to score 70 points on 28-for-55 (50.9 percent) shooting. Lin, Hill and Ronnie Price each had at least seven assists, while L.A. had 28 total.
Ed Davis also made the most of his limited attempts, making all five shots for 10 points.
“I don’t think we’re satisfied with the win,” Davis said. “But it is sort of a little relief that we got that first one under our belt. … We’re gonna need every guy every night for us to win. That’s how this team is made up. So we’re gonna need efforts like that from everybody every night to continue to have success.”