Wednesday night's trip to the FedEx Forum was supposed to mark yet another new beginning for the Los Angeles Lakers, a second midseason press of the reset button.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Lakers were left staring in the face of their fourth straight defeat and an uncertain immediate future for Dwight Howard.
The big man would not return to the action, and the extent of the aggravation remained unclear following the night's events.
If Yahoo! Sports NBA scribe Adrian Wojnarowski's source got it right, Laker fans shouldn't have much to worry about:
Howard already missed three games earlier this month after first suffering the injury in the team's Jan. 4 loss to the Denver Nuggets. And he sounded as if the aggravation was a more painful experience than the actual injury itself:
Whether or not it proves to linger this time around won't be L.A.'s biggest concern. It's not as if the team was winning basketball games with him on the floor.
This game was supposed to answer some lingering questions surrounding the plummeting franchise. More than the chance to knock off the Western Conference's fourth-best club and solve some of its recent road struggles (the Lakers entered the contest having dropped six straight away from Staples Center), that team discussion appeared to at least hint that coach Mike D'Antoni was open to modifying his schemes.
But it ended up being nothing more than another glimpse of the players' inability to perform under D'Antoni's direction. The coach appeared to have affected the energy level, but that didn't lead to a different result.
Well, not a different one for this Lakers group. As for the franchise, this ship wasn't headed for entirely uncharted waters, but certainly ones it hadn't visited recently:
What's scary for Laker fans, though, is the fact that no one's sure if this is even rock bottom. We just know it's getting ugly:
Laker fans (and analysts) have long been quick to point out the club's mathematical possibilities for a playoff berth. As it stands now, the team would need to win 28 of its final 40 games to reach 45 wins, which might not even be enough to qualify in the deep Western Conference.
Considering the team has just two winning streaks spanning three games or more on the season, a .700 winning percentage from here on out is more than a long shot. The clock hasn't quite expired on the year, but it will take a Derek Fisher-type miracle to salvage this mess.
Although they've suffered through some hibernating stretches earlier in the year, Wednesday's loss wasn't from a lack of effort.
The reality of the situation is that the right coach isn't calling the shots, but the mismatched roster might be one that's uncoachable. Some of the players would prefer an up-tempo style, others don't have the physical tools, nor the desire to entertain that system.
The Lakers have already committed over $100 million to this roster (via hoopshype.com), so there's an understandable apprehension at taking on any bad contracts in a potential deal involving any of their underperforming stars. Bryant and Nash aren't going anywhere. Howard and Pau Gasol may each hold the lowest trade value of their careers. And frankly, there aren't any other desirable pieces on the roster.
The coaching situation is equally unlikely to change. The organization is still on the hook for eight figures to both D'Antoni and the fired Mike Brown. Any name the Lakers deemed worthy of replacing D'Antoni would certainly command a similar financial commitment.
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