The two-time defending-champion Lakers aren't doing badly, to be fair. They're 21-8 at the moment, only three games off their pace at this time last year, and they're running away with the Pacific Division. But questions linger about the Lake Show and their inability to beat good teams, and if Kobe Bryant doesn't put an emphatic end to those questions Saturday, it could be a long winter in Southern California.
The Lakers lost by 19 to the Bucks at home on Tuesday. A month ago, they lost four-straight games, which no Phil Jackson-coached team has ever done in a championship season. A Lakers team that prides itself on statement wins has earned very few of them, unless you count their 1-1 split in their season series with the Bulls. L.A. has had a shockingly easy schedule to date, and yet the results have been lackluster. The Lakers were expected to run away with the West this season, but they're currently a distant third behind San Antonio and Dallas.
There are already doubts, and those doubts will only pile higher if the Lakers lose Saturday to LeBron James and the Miami Heat.
But how much does it really mean? What can we glean from one game, or even from two months?
Maybe we should trust the last three years of results and give the Lakers the benefit of the doubt. Whether they're 4.5 games back or 45, they're the team to beat out West until they're knocked out next spring.
The Lakers have had to overcome a lot of adversity this season. They were without Andrew Bynum until last week. They shuffled a lot of guys into unfamiliar positions in his place, like Pau Gasol as a center and Lamar Odom as a starter instead of a sixth man. They endured an epic, hellish shooting slump from Kobe Bryant. They rebuilt their bench entirely, with Shannon Brown playing a bigger role than ever and two newcomers — Steve Blake and Matt Barnes — getting big minutes right away.
It's hard to weather all those changes and keep winning without blinking an eye. The Lakers have had lapses here and there, but that's par for the course in December. By April, they'll have figured it out.
