"Guys! Great job!"
On November 28, 2003, the Lakers defeated the league's strongest defensive team, the Indiana Pacers, on the road, remaining undefeated through all sixteen games they had played that month!
16-0!
They had beaten powerhouses such as the Spurs, Grizzlies, Indiana Pacers, Timberwolves, and Kings!
The team's average points per game for a single month set a historical record!
Every player's performance had drawn enormous attention!
People had originally thought the Lakers were merely a Kobe-led one-star team, but after a month, they discovered the Lakers had six cores!
Ben Wallace was the defensive core!
Ginobili was the bench core!
Six players!
Every one of them had performed at an All-Star level or above!
Kobe and Nash were even leading the MVP race!
Kobe's shooting percentages had skyrocketed this year—61.2%, 46.1%, and 90.2%, an unprecedented three-way shooting line!
Nash's passing deserved much of the credit. His 14.5 assists per game had sent the Lakers' offense soaring!
No one had expected the Lakers to take off in this fashion!
Even during the OK Dynasty, the Lakers had gone undefeated for an entire month, but their dominance had been nowhere near what it was this month!
This month's Lakers had crushed nearly every team in their path!
So far, only the Indiana Pacers had given them a little trouble. Ron Artest had completely shut down Carmelo Anthony, while Kidd had locked down Nash.
But Kobe ultimately scored again and again, securing the win without any real danger.
"The Lakers' greatest strength isn't their offense! It's that they have several offensive systems they can switch between at any time! And in every single one of those systems, they're among the best in the league!" Larry Bird shook his head helplessly after the game.
The Indiana Pacers had come thoroughly prepared for