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New lease of life for Lakers and fan favourite Bryant
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-10-30 09:34 LOS ANGELES - The commanding 96-76 win by the Los Angeles Lakers over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday underlined their remarkable transformation over the last year, on the court and in the eyes of their supporters.
Twelve months ago, All-Star guard Kobe Bryant was loudly booed by his home fans during the pre-game introductions before he scored 45 points in a narrow loss to the Houston Rockets in their NBA season opener. Five months previously, he had rocked the team when he told a local radio station he wanted to be traded, before changing his mind a few hours later. Since then, though, he has become the league MVP for the first time and a firm fan favourite while he and the Lakers soared to the top of the Western Conference, adding Spanish center Pao Gasol to the mix in posting a 57-25 mark. Although the Lakers were outplayed by the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics in the NBA finals, they have been widely tipped to clinch the 2008-09 championship. Gasol has been re-treaded as a power forward and the Lakers are counting on the return of seven-foot centre Andrew Bynum, who missed a large part of last season with a knee injury. A starting five of Bryant, Gasol, Bynum, veteran guard Derek Fisher and Vladimir Radmanovic is backed by the strongest bench in the NBA and the only two areas where the Lakers need to gain stature is in defense and game toughness. DEAFENING CHEERS Bryant, who was greeted by deafening cheers of "MVP MVP" at a sellout Staples Center on Tuesday, was proud of his team's defence against Portland and believes that toughness will come through experience. "We played very well," he told reporters after the Lakers held the Trail Blazers to well below 100 points in their opening game of the season. "This is a team that gives us a lot of trouble and they have a lot of depth. We did a good job. It was our responsibility to try and pick things up. I'm very pleased." Bryant, who registered 23 points and 11 rebounds against Portland, helped the Lakers win three consecutive NBA championships from 2000-2002 and feels the 2008 team has the potential to follow suit. "We probably have more talent on this team, but what we had on that team (from 2000-2002) was inner toughness. That's something that we still have to prove. "Boston was obviously a big challenge for us, a test that we failed. But we're going to get better at it. It comes through experience, through trial and error." Like Bryant, Gasol was delighted with the defensive prowess shown by the Lakers against Portland. "We have worked very hard defensively and we played together as a group," the 28-year-old Barcelona native said. "We had so many weapons to use and we just had that talent that we need to win. "I think we did very well defensively. We were able to extend the lead that we had and it just made the game easier, of course." The Lakers will face much stronger tests of their championship credentials over the coming weeks but, based on their season opener, Staples Center fans have high hopes of a campaign to savour.
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