Lakers spirited practice Thursday leads team into Friday’s second game of season

With Lamar Odom laid up due to a shoulder injury, the Lakers travel to Phoenix for a match-up tonight with the Suns after a productive Thursday practice, according to an article posted on the Official L.A. Lakers Web site. “They’re expecting to win a championship, and they’re a team that really gets under our skin in terms of knocking us out of the playoffs the last two years,” Lakers star point guard Kobe Bryant said. “We’re going to go in there ready to play with a chip on our shoulder and see if we can’t do some damage.”

Although the addition of star player Grant Hill has also given the Suns a bit of an advantage,  the Lakers feel confident from practice in knowing what aspects of their game need to be pushed and emphasized going into tonight’s game, according to the article. Working on staying in front of the ball will help the defense against the Suns and help the Lakers stay on top of their opponents’ speed, according to the article.
“We’ve been doing a pretty good job of staying focused here,” Bryant said in a recent press conference, also answering a question from media about whether trade talks are distracting his teammates: “No, I talk to them,” he replied. “From that standpoint I don’t think it’s that difficult. If I didn’t speak to them or didn’t fill them in on what’s going on, then it’d be a little confusing.”

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