Then, disaster. After leading late in the game, the Lakers fell apart on Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns. Dwight Howard re-aggravated his labrum injury and had to sit as the Lakers floundered.
The bad news is that this is just the first game of a seven-game road trip. The Grammys have forced the Lakers far from Staples at a particularly precarious time in the season.
Los Angeles has been a miserable 5-16 on the road this year. If you buy that this is a trend and not a fluke, games against Boston, Miami and Brooklyn do not bode well.
The question then is, "Does a season-threatening slump prompt some kind of reaction?" The Lakers have already shown themselves quick to panic, firing Mike Brown five games into the season.
Normally, I would say, "No way, Los Angeles would never overreact to such a small sample size." Firing a coach so soon into the season betrays a lack of stability, though. It puts nearly any eventuality on the table.
The other question is whether or not this is a season worth salvaging. Most logical observers would conclude that this Lakers season is a lost cause, even if they do happen to make the playoffs.
If you subscribe to that notion, then perhaps you endorse making a big, splashy move near the deadline. If you believe that a veteran like Kevin Garnett (should he agree to a trade, given his no-trade clause) can vault this team into contention, then you might support a get-rich-quick scheme.
I don't happen to subscribe to this thinking. The Lakers roster is flawed, even if they do manage to make the playoffs. They feature two centers in a league that's increasingly swinging towards ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
