Sometimes a man just needs to leave his home in order to clear his head. Often in sports you’ll find that holds equally true. For the Los Angeles Lakers and their early season soul searching that adage had better be fact.
We all know of the doom and gloom surrounding the cluster porn-star-activity that is this season. What we don’t know is how concerned the team truly is.
Kobe Bryant isn’t one to hide his frustration but he rarely if ever divulges how he’s truly feeling about something. Dwight Howard is new to the pressures of wearing Purple and Gold so the deer in the headlights look has become common place.
Mike D’Antoni is as clueless as some of us expected so that’s nothing new.
On the agenda for the coming week are four games away from Staples that will hopefully provide an opportunity for the Lake Show to get its head right. Being three games under .500 this far into the season is beyond unacceptable. This team really needs to get into a groove yesterday. All this waiting for Steve Nash to return mentality will only dig an even bigger hole to climb out of later.
Tonight presents the first test as the Lakers take the court in Cleveland. On paper this would appear to be a confidence builder for the struggling Lakers. The Cavs have just four wins in 21 contests including 5 losses in a row. But because it’s the Lakers’ luck they’re getting Cleveland just as Kyrie Irving returns.
Beyond Cleveland the Lakers head to New York where the resurrected Knicks await then it’s off to the Nation’s capital before the trip concludes in Philly on Sunday.
By no means are any of these games a given. Let’s not forget how the Lakers blew a big lead in their most embarrassing loss of the season last year against the Wizards.
The reality is this road trip could be an early breaking point in this season. A lackluster showing will ensure that something drastic has to happen. Whether that’s a major trade or yet another failed coaching search is unknown and hopefully unnecessary. A solid showing with positive results will help to reassure us all that things are improving. Either way this is a critical juncture in a season that is slipping away with each uninspired effort.