Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

If you watch the Lakers often enough you’ll notice the patterns emerging. They play down to inferior competition, typically finding creative ways to lose to shorthanded teams. They lose large leads. They have no desire to play defense these days. And if they’re playing the Houston Rockets all of the above rings true plus you can set your watch to Andrew Bynum being ejected.

All of the bad that plagues the Lake Show was on display during tonight’s disappointing 112-107 loss to Houston.

Maybe it’s all that red in the Rockets jerseys that brings Baby Bynum out to play. For the second time in as many games against Houston Bynum has hit the showers early. This time around all it took was a not-so-hard foul by Samuel Dalembert to get Andrew’s fire lit. After that he was seeing red, constantly running smack in the direction of the Houston bench.

Bynum’s first tech was a result of overreacting to a foul. Ok…move on…nothing to see here.

Right?

That would be wrong. Bynum kept running his mouth until the officials had heard enough. He got his second tech, fair or unfair and he got another early exit.

By the time Baby Bynum was sent home all the momentum was with the Rockets. They erased a double digit Laker lead in the third quarter thanks to a 23-10 run. Goran Dragic was controlling the flow as he ran circles around the flimsy Laker defense going off for 26 with 11 dimes.

While Dragic set the table it was Luis Scola that provided the meal. The Argentinian big was unstoppable with Bynum out of the picture. He banged with Pau Gasol, getting the better of the Spaniard and every other Laker that dared check him in the post. Scola’s 25 points were big but the buckets he hit down the stretch were huge.

Behind 28 from Kobe Bryant and an out-of-nowhere 23 from Metta World Peace the Lakers were still in the game late. Matt Barnes banged in a big three to tie this one at 99. Then it all went wrong for the Lakers.

More of the same as bad offense, careless turnovers and a complete lack of interest in playing D spelled their demise.

Another loss in Staples, a building that was a fortress for the Lakers until recently, means there is even more pressure to get back into form on the road. But that too has been a struggle for which Mike Brown has no explanation.

Somebody has got to explain to Bynum that his temper tantrums are getting more costly at this point in the season. Baby Bynum’s selfish ways again put his emotions before the team. There is no excuse for these continued outbursts. Coach Brown can’t keep down playing these problems. It is only a matter of time until Bynum’s immature antics invade the locker room.

With Andrew’s 19 points and 7 boards closed in the box score and another quarter to play you already knew where this one was going. The coaches warned Bynum not to get another tech. He was well aware as were the Rockets. They threw out the bait and the big kid took it.

Credit where credit is due. The Rockets took this one to the Lakers, playing the game at their pace and daring the Lakers to try and run. Just like Bynum, the Lakers fell for the trap. Veteran teams with playoff experience aren’t supposed to constantly meltdown like this. Makes you wonder if the childish nature of Bynum has already done damage to this team’s psyche.

Brett Davis-US PRESSWIRE

The Masked Mamba era is over. So too is the Lakers’ three-game winning streak on the road. One streak that still has legs is L.A.’s two game slide against short handed teams.

I’d call tonight’s 107-104 loss to the Rockets inexplicable but these meltdowns are all too common for Mike Brown’s bunch. Once again the Lakers lost a double-digit lead, coughing up a fourth quarter advantage after losing Andrew Bynum to ejection.

With one minute left in the third, Baby Bynum showed his ugly mug, mouthing off to a ref and getting the double-technical toss. On his way off the court Young Bynum gave the fans in the front row high-fives, smiling the whole way. His immature actions aren’t going away anytime soon. Just like Kobe’s jumper doesn’t look like it will be returning in a timely manner.

Bryant is now mask-less. The nose apparently healed enough that he no longer needs to rock the Rip Hamilton. His shot is still nowhere to be found.

What is also missing from this team is the killer instinct necessary to finish off wounded animals like the Rockets. Without a full compliment of their top players you’d have thought Houston would be easy prey. Not when it comes to these Lakers who lose leads and pray for Mamba to bail them out late.

Kobe took game honors with 29 points but his 10 of 27 shooting wasn’t anything to be proud of. It wasn’t until Houston had all the momentum that KB24 found his rhythm. But for the Lakers Kobe’s clutch scoring was too little too late.

The Lakers came out of the gate strong, scoring 40 in the first. It was looking like they were going to crush the Rockets. Problem was they believed that was going to happen without having to try. After the first quarter the offense was inconsistent and the defense irrelevant.

Goran Dragic was getting into the lane with ease, setting the table with 13 assists one of which found Courtney Lee for a big three that made this a one point contest in the fourth. Not that Houston needed the help but the home scoreboard gifted the Rockets an extra point. A seven minute stoppage to correct the error occurred but by then it was obvious who was going to win this one. Houston ripped off a 13-0 run to take the lead for good.

This disturbing pattern of blowing leads, letting up late and losing to lesser competition has been around all season for the Lake Show. At this point I think we know just who this team is. They’re incapable of playing a focused 48-minutes against opponents they should be beating with ease.

On the glass is where the Lakers almost always have the advantage. Tonight that was not even close to being the case. Pau Gasol was a complete non-factor in the paint. He dropped an efficient 21 points on 14 shots but pulled down a paltry 4 boards.

Bynum’s absence was sorely missed. L.A. could have used a defensive presence in the paint late. Come to think of it they could have used any type of defensive effort at all. All of a sudden the Lakers’ defense that was so stellar is fading away when they need it most during the playoff push.

Ramon Sessions has brought a spark to this team. No denying that. His 14 and 4 off the bench were impressive. However that spark isn’t catching a blaze.

The Lakers are still a flawed team in the clutch, relying on Kobe to do everything while not putting forth any consistent effort on D. It is a formula they’ve mastered, losing leads then praying for Bryant to bail them out. It’s also a recipe for certain disaster. Much like what we saw in Dallas last season. Here’s hoping we won’t have to see it in Dallas again tomorrow night.