Last night two of the league’s heavyweights, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers, decided to go without their superstars (Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, respectively). This is par for the course as the regular season winds down and playoff positions are already locked.
Of course, this attitude going into the back-end of the regular season can also lead to some less than sublime play. Take for example the Cavs, who tried and failed to win the game (against the Chicago Bulls) on not one, but two Anderson Varejao mid-long-range jumpshot attempts (not exactly who you’d be drafting the play up for come Finals time, right?).
And then of course we had the Denver Nuggets, who managed to defeat the Kobe-less Lakers by two, despite the boys from LA shooting only .366 from the field. You could tell it was going to be a sub-par performance, just on watching the opening possessions. And on that note, I present to you, “How not to start and NBA game — an instructional video.”
