The Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks meet in Madison Square Garden tonight at 8 p.m. ET. For Kobe Bryant, it will be one of his last visits to the Garden as the 16-5 Knicks host the future hall of famer and his struggling team.
The Lakers are in disarray and probably hoping they hadn't signed the Knicks' former coach, Mike D'Antoni. The Lakers are currently 9-13 and there is no Showtime in L.A.
Ironically, when Kobe has his best games this season, the team loses. That doesn't spell out very well for the Lakers as Kobe has traditionally been an incredible player in MSG. Currently, the Lakers are 1-10 when Kobe drops more than 30 points on his opponents. So the recipe so far in 2012, the more Kobe makes, the higher the chances are that the Lakers will lose.
Why is playing in MSG bad news for the Lakers?
Since the 2002-2003 season, Kobe has scored 30 or more points in six out of his last eight games played in the world's most famous arena.
Just three years ago, Kobe came into the Garden with his killer mentallity and obliterated the Knicks with a 61-point performance.
The Knicks seem to bring out the best from the best. Michael Jordan and LeBron James are still the only players to score 50-points or more on the KNicks twice in MSG.
Not helping the struggling Lakers, who have lost three consecutive games, is the fact that the Knicks are undefeated at home posting a perfect 8-0 record.
Prediction: The Lakers will have a great game from Kobe, so much so that I think he can score 65 points tonight and still walk out with another loss added to their record.
The Knicks are too strong a team on offense and they play as a unit. The Lakers rely on Kobe way too much and let's be honest, the Black Mamba has never been able to do it alone.
Lakers will lose 108-89.
