Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Lakers: Preseason Preview

Indiana Pacers vs Los Angeles Lakers

Apr 29, 2012; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) on the court after a dunk in the second half of game against the Denver Nuggets during the Western Conference quarterfinals of the 2012 NBA Playoffs at the Staples Center. Lakers won 103-88. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Los Angeles Lakers Off Season Recap

Well if you’ve paid attention to the NBA this summer, you know what the Lakers have picked up this off season, Dwight Howard.   So finally, that saga is over, and we don’t have to hear about whether he stays or goes.  Personally, I thought he was long gone, so this wasn’t a big surprise.  He ends up with the Lakers, a big market team, so that wasn’t a surprise either.  Dwight Howard wasn’t the only big off season pick up made by the Lakers as they got Steve Nash as well.  They finally have a point guard in who knows how long that will run the point the way the Lakers want to run the point. He’s a guy that only has a few years left in him, but he should do enough to make the Lakers contenders in the Western Conference.

The Lakers will still contend with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but these teams are about as equal as could be.  The Thunder have some youth on their team that could give the Lakers problems.  If Dwight Howard, Steve Nash, and Kobe Bryant work well together that could give the problems right back to the Thunder.  Either way, the West will go through one of those teams.

Indiana Pacers vs Los Angeles Lakers Match up

This is a great test for the Pacers to take on a team that’s going to contend.  The Pacers should be contending in the East, but they still want to beat some West teams to put themselves back on the map.  The Pacers got the best of the match up last season, and actually have won two in a row at Los Angeles after never winning in the Staples Center.  Nice to have some history on the side.

But this should be a great series of games between the two teams.  How does George Hill tangle with Steve Nash?  How about the center position with Roy Hibbert and Dwight Howard? That’s a great test for Hibbert to see what he’s made of against the top center in the game.

There’s always the Kobe Bryant factor as well.  Does Danny Granger or Paul George guard him?  I think Granger likes taking on that type of battle, so I would think he ends up guarding Bryant.  It could be a good time for Paul George to step up and show he’s a good shooting guard.

Once again, like the other LA match up I can see the teams splitting the season series.  For the Pacers, the win would be much more important to their overall turnaround that’s started last season. Win a game against the Lakers, and put the league on notice that they can beat one of the top teams in the NBA.