Jan 17 2009
Lakers lose two in a row
After a 1-1 road trip in Texas that ended with a painful loss to San Antonio, the Lakers craved their home court where they had lost only 2 games this entire season: to Detroit and New Orleans.
Waiting for them were the Orlando Magic whose record was only a half game back of the Lakers. At the end of the evening the positions were reversed. The Magic holds the best record in the entire NBA..for now.
As we have seen with Andrew Bynum’s performances this season, the young man blows hot and cold. He disappears on the boards or he isn’t in the flow of the offense to make the Twin Towers concept work.
But more than Bynum’s lack of a total performance last evening, the guard play has become a problem. ‘The Machine’ is back on the court but not in rythym with his shots. Sasah Vujacic missed all of training camp and had only gotten back to where he was a force to be reckoned with at Christmas. Within two weeks he was back on the bench with back spasms. It seems it will take a while for him to regain his form.
The Lakers are hobbled by Jordan Farmar’s absence and Sasha was the go-to guy to spell Derek Fisher. Fisher has played more minutes than he should at this point in the season and when he tweaked his groin in San Antonio the team realized it was playing it close to the vest.
The inability of someone other than Kobe Bryant to step up at the end of a game was a problem against Orlando. The Black Mamba had two chances to tie it up but missed two open three-point attempts. After coming through in the previous three games he is entitled to a miss here and there.
The team was extremely quiet in the locker room afterwards and I’m sure that losing the season series against a likely top contender in the East didn’t sit well with any of them. Final score: 109-103, Orlando
