That's understandable, considering the way that the Boston Celtics deftly cut the Lakers' hearts out on national television Thursday night. It wasn't just the 21-point margin of L.A.'s 116-95 dismantling that had people ready to write the Lakers off; it was the way it happened.
That's right; despite the fact that the Celtics played the night before, L.A. took a sound beating in the effort department early on. And it didn't get better from there. After the game, Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrated summed up the overwhelming public sentiment by quoting a surprisingly mathematically inclined Charles Barkley:
It's true; the big picture doesn't look great.
Problems Abound
Pau Gasol is out for at least six weeks with a torn plantar fascia in his right foot, Dwight Howard's ailing shoulder and still-recovering back are clearly hampering him and Mike D'Antoni seems unable to solve L.A.'s disjointed offensive attack.
And then there's the ongoing feud between Bryant and Howard, with the latest salvos in the war centering on Bryant's dissatisfaction with D12's reluctance to play hurt. The 17-year vet told ESPNBoston.com's Jackie MacMullan, "We don't have time for [Howard's shoulder] to heal. We need some urgency."
And later in that same interview, Bryant openly pointed out the flaw that may be at the root of everything that's wrong with his teammate.
Dwight worries too much about what people think. I told him, 'You can't worry about that. It's holding you back.' He says, 'OK, OK, OK, but it's always hovering around him. He just wants people to like him. He doesn't want to let anyone down, and that gets him away from what he should be doing.
A visibly exasperated and irked Ho...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
