Trash talking

The Lakers were still answering questions today about the showboating and trash talking done by some of their opponents recently, especially Orlando’s Matt Barnes. Clearly, it has had an impact on them. Lamar Odom complained about Barnes’ antics during the Lakers’ loss to the Magic on Sunday. He spoke about all the talk he heard from the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday. Asked about it today, Kobe Bryant said, “I think teams gain confidence when they see us struggling. It is what it is. It doesn’t matter. When the playoffs come around and you’re playing well, you take that confidence from your opponent as the series goes on. That’s the most important thing, when the playoffs come around, we’re rolling.”