Metta World Peace has a way of drawing attention to himself, but his absence in the Lakers' playoff opener Sunday drew attention to his replacements.
Remaining Lakers small forwards Devin Ebanks and Matt Barnes were left to shoulder the load in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center. Ebanks sure was up to the task.
He was the Lakers' leading scorer in the first half, putting up 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting. He did struggle to slow down Denver's Danilo Gallinari, who moved more freely to his favorite spots without World Peace's muscle to push him around.
But Ebanks' early contribution helped the Lakers take control of their playoff opener -- which they won 103-88. He picked up his fourth foul early in the second half, but Barnes pitched in more in the second half and wound up logging 29 minutes with four steals.
Barnes was dealing with the extra element of a sprained right ankle suffered in the Lakers' second-to-last regular-season game. He had declared Saturday there was no doubt about him playing Sunday, though, with World Peace suspended by the NBA for his elbow to Oklahoma City's James Harden.
"There's nothing we can do about it," Barnes said. "We just have to play hard. I want to come in and provide energy and do what I do before I got hurt."
Game 2 is Tuesday night, again at Staples Center. After that game, the Lakers have four more without World Peace's services.
NOTES, QUOTES
Bynum block party part of triple-double
--Here's the context of Andrew Bynum's 10 points, 13 rebounds and 10 blocks Sunday against Denver: Only Mark Eaton and Hakeem Olajuwon have ever had that many blocks in an NBA playoff game, and Olajuwon's also came in triple-double form. Bynum set a new Lakers record for blocks in a playoff game, and as a team the Lakers had a franchise-record 15 blocks.
--The Lakers' 3-point shooting has been an Achilles' heel all season, but they're hoping for a dramatic turnaround in the playoffs. After shooting 32.6 percent on 3-pointers in the regular season, they made 6-of-13 in the postseason opener vs. Denver, if you discount the four misses by Matt Barnes, who played with a sprained right ankle. Steve Blake sank 3-of-6 attempts, and Denver made just 4-of-14 3-point shots.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "He was just there at the exact moment either to change the shot or block it." -- Kobe Bryant on Andrew Bynum's 10-block performance.
ROSTER REPORT
PLAYER NOTES:
--G Kobe Bryant entered the postseason No. 3 on the NBA's all-time playoff scoring list. Only Michael Jordan (5,987) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (5,762) had more playoff points than Bryant (5,280), who scored 31 more in Game 1 against Denver on Sunday.
--F Jordan Hill came out of nowhere to move ahead of Josh McRoberts and Troy Murphy as the primary Lakers backup to Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Hill's breakout game against Oklahoma City in the second-to-last regular-season game catapulted him into a marquee rotation spot, and he kept it up in the playoff opener with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes Sunday vs. Denver.
--C Andrew Bynum said part of the reason for his 10-block explosion against Denver on Sunday was he shifted his focus with the expectation that the Nuggets weren't going to let him score many points. Said Bynum: "The way this team is guarding me, it's definitely possible they take me out of the game offensively with the doubles and triples, so I'm just looking for another way to be effective."
