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.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

However you feel about Derek Fisher’s departure from Los Angeles is going to be like a religious argument among Laker fans for eternity. No matter your feelings on the manner in which he was shown the door, in your heart of hearts you’ll never change your opinion of it.

But what makes the game of basketball a beautiful sport is that the truth is displayed live for the world to see…on the court. The truth is revealed before your very eyes.

No disrespect to Fisher at all. He is and always will be a legend among Lakers. Let that sink in for a second and think of all the other names that come up in that conversation.

All that being said the truth is in his first in 19 minutes as a Laker Ramon Sessions made the Lakers a better team. That’s without knowing the offense and not even knowing if he was eligible to play until two hours before tip.

The truth was on display tonight during the Lakers 19^th straight win over Minnesota. The final score of 97-92 doesn’t explain how dominant L.A. was.

The Lakers led from start to finish. The Wolves made their runs but Rick Adelman milking the clock like his team was in trying to stay in the NCAA tourney was why the score was close in the end.

Now I don’t want to mislead you as if Sessions was why the Lakers controlled this contest. Not when Masked Mamba is mauling Minnesota. He lit it up from beyond the arc. Kobe’s stroke from deep has been disappointing this season so to see him sink 5 of 8 from three was a thing of beauty.

There were some of those vintage Mamba moments that KB24 has been busting out this year. A nice baseline throwdown on Nikola Pekovic in the first quarter finished off with the classic spin into a fade jumper in the fourth. On the night Kobe dropped 28 on 20 shots. Smush Parker could be playing point again when Bryant has a night like this and the Lakers can win. That is always going to be advantage: L.A.

One advantage the Lakers usually have is size. Not the case against Minneota.

Pekovic and Kevin Love made life miserable for Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

The Lakers seem to bring out the best in Pekovic who owned the paint with an impressive 20 and 12 night. Dude is a beast that plays physical and runs the court. Match that with K-Love going 27 and 15 all of sudden the combined 32 and 25 by L.A.’s twin towers just didn’t look as nice. Drew just couldn’t handle the double team. All of Minnesota’s size made life miserable for Bynum. He shot an unusually ugly 4 of 13.

Truth be told the Wolves won most of the major battles you need to in order to get Ws in the league. They were better on the boards and won the turnover battle.

What makes Mike Brown ball nice is his style is built to grind out wins even when things aren’t going your way. It’s got a mid-nineties, Indiana Pacer kinda feel to it if I can get all wine snobby about hoops for a minute.

The Lakers did give up another big lead. A very troubling trend. At one point they we were up to 16+ in the lead. So this one did turn into a grind at the end. They will always find ways to win at home in close contests.  It’s doing the same on the road that’s been the problem.

Speaking of problems…Sessions is a problem for opposing defenses. He did things that Derek Fisher or any other player on the roster could never do. On one play in the first half dude was a one-man fast break. He got the ball at midcourt, took two dribbles, blew by J.J. Barea and was at the rim. 7 points, 4 boards and 5 dimes in what was simultaneously his fist practice and game as a Laker. He was just out there playing the game the way he knows how. He pushed the pace of the game getting easy looks for guys like Bryant and Matt Barnes.

Two great things about the now expired trade deadline are the addition of Sessions and the subtraction from Gasol. It’s simple math. I’ll explain.

Ramon + Lakers = Reinvented team

Pau – Trade Drama = A relaxed All-Star

Gasol was aggressive from the jump playing with a confidence we haven’t seen in some time. He put up 17 and 11 with ease. Wait until he gets his fire lit for the playoffs. I’ve got a feeling the Spaniard is about to up his game.

As for the elephant in the room…

Look…no matter how you feel about the Lakers without Fisher is your business. His name is in stone in Laker lore. That will never change.

All I know is that for the first time in 416 games Derek Fisher didn’t start for the Lakers. And for the first time in 416 games the Lakers were actually a better team without him. That would have never been the truth before tonight. Maybe what we don’t see in the locker room is lost. But what we see on the court is a huge gain.

And that is just the truth.