Big Picture Means More Than a Winning Streak

The Lakers went 14-1 in December, their best December mark since 1971-72, when the Wilt Chamberlain-Jerry West squad went 16-0 on its way to a then-record 69 regular-season victories and an NBA championship.

And, if they sweep their two games against the Clippers on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Lakers will extend their winning streak to 12 games, which would be the franchise’s longest since 1991, when they won 16 in January and February.

But the Lakers know from recent experience that long winning streaks are no guarantee of playoff success.

Last season, they had a 10-game streak in February and March, and they won 11 consecutive to start the 1997-98 season.

Said Shaquille O’Neal, “I think by February or March, we should be able to tell if we have a shot at it or not.”

By then, Coach Phil Jackson and his players say, the team will be deep into the triangle offense, running more cohesively and smartly.

The key part of the current streak, says Kobe Bryant, isn’t the offense at all, it’s the Laker defense, which has not been a point of pride over the last few years.

“It’s defense that’s winning [the games],” Bryant said. “I don’t care what your personnel is, if you have excellent defense, you’re going to win some games. We happen to have a lot of defense and a lot of offensive power. So we’re winning a lot of ballgames. . . .

“We were very inconsistent last year and the years before. . . . There’d be certain spurts, certain ballgames where we’d do a good job defensively, but it wouldn’t be there every night.

“Here, it’s every night. Every night. Whether it’s a back-to-back or four games in five nights, our defense is there.”