With Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers turning the corner after the All-Star game and the home stretch of the regular season now upon them, can they continue their improved play in March?
Can Kobe use his MVP All-Star game performance and take that bounce to catapult the Lakers back into championship form?
All indications appear that the Lakers are back on track. There seems to be a refocus and re-commitment, and that translates into the Lakers reasserting themselves as an elite team.
March also looks like we’ll see the return of Matt Barnes after he comes back from midseason knee surgery. His addition back to the bench will only help the Lakers regain their championship-caliber swagger. His energy and versatility also adds to LA’s depth.
While February proved to be another up-and-down month for the Lakers, there seems to be a freshness and excitement that has come back over LA. The NBA trade deadline also passed with the Lakers standing pat, as predicted.
I did okay for the month of February, predicting a 8-5 month which ended up 9-4, better than expected.
I really feel that if the Lakers remain healthy, they will rattle off a long win streak of say seven-plus games, and March could be just the month to do it.
It won’t be easy with games versus Miami, Dallas and San Antonio, but it is also the perfect opportunity to remind everyone else that they are still playing for second place.
So, here are my March predictions.