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Lakers continue big start

While teams in the Atlantic division are atop their division with sub .400 records, about 20 games into the NBA season, and the Eastern conference has only three teams with records better than .500, the Los Angeles Lakers are proving to be contenders. The Kobe Bryant led group is 14-6 so far, half a game ahead of the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific. Even when playing without Bryant, the Lakers squad is 3-0 this season, proving resilience and competitiveness.

On Sunday, the Lakers hosted the San Antonio Spurs, a top favorite to win the league championship this season. The Lakers won 106-99 behind 34 point from Bryant and a near triple-double from Lamar Odom (18 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists). ?I think that?s the best defensive quarter I?ve played in as a Laker,? said Odom about the third quarter. Their "defensive" performance, holding the Spurs to 22 points, was also accompanied by 37 points on offense.

Their defensive play and even scoring (all five starters were in double figures, Bryant`s rather "human" scoring feats (averaging 25.9 point per game) and tough rebounding are a continuation of the Lakers` impressive playoff appearance of last year, in which they were ahead of the Suns 3-1 before losing the final three games and the series. Perhaps Spurs coach Greg Popovich expressed best the Lakers` season thus far when he said "They are much improved over last year on a variety of levels and they are just going to keep getting better."