Through his first four seasons Ariza has been known primarily for his athleticism, but he's slowly being recognized as one of the league's most underrated defenders. He's the only player in the top 15 in the league in steals who isn't a starter.

Odom's height provides the Lakers with someone who can guard all three frontcourt positions while Ariza's quickness and length enable him to defend point guards or power forwards.

Lesson 3: Win early, win often

Only twice since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 Finals format in 1985 has the team without home-court advantage won all of the middle three games.

That didn't bode well for the Lakers' chances. After going down 0-2 to the Celtics, the Lakers had not only lost whatever momentum they had built up in the first three rounds, they were faced with the arduous task of trying to win four out of five games against a team that had lost only 16 of 82 games during the regular season.

The Lakers are hoping that with the Celtics battling a much-improved Eastern Conference and with a full season of Pau Gasol, they can have home-court advantage the next time around.

There is no doubt that the Celtics and Lakers are keeping an eye on each other in the standings — making the battle for home-court advantage one of the season's more interesting subplots.

Despite their obvious progress in certain areas, the Lakers are still very much a work in progress. The big question is whether they can play consistent defense all season long. After not allowing 100 points to any of their first seven opponents, they've reverted back to last year's defense at times and given up at least 100 points in seven of their past 11 games.

The Christmas Day rematch should provide the first true glimpse into just how much progress the Lakers have made since last June.

Should the Lakers manage to make it to the mountaintop at the end of the season, they can look back and point to the drubbing they took in last year's Finals as the moment when they found their blueprint for success — or should I say green-print.

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