LOS ANGELES — Every game, someone new steps into the comfortable spotlight for the Los Angeles Lakers, a group becoming more confident in itself by the game.
Every game, someone with the champion Golden State Warriors seems to wilt under the pressure of defending a title, creating a new issue for Steve Kerr and Stephen Curry to manage.
The Lakers are proving to be something greater than your average seventh seed, no longer a happy-to-be-here outfit, and moved one step closer to eliminating the champions by way of a nail-biting 104-101 win at Crypto.