Photo courtesy of Chris Graythen, Getty Images

They had once led by nine points, and then they fell behind by nine points. Such is life for the Los Angeles Lakers. After dropping the last two games against teams who are either trying to maintain their playoff position or vying for a place in the Western Conference top eight at all, the Lakers had their third meeting with a team who doesn’t have much to fight for, but who fights hard anyway. The New Orleans Hornets have had a tough year – first they lost Chris Paul, which coincided with a failed trade with the Lakers (or perhaps dodging the bullet that is Lamar Odom was a blessing in disguise); they’re still under the management of the league, and at this point in the season, they’re down three of their best players in Eric Gordon, Emeka Okafor and, most recently, Jarrett Jack.

In the two teams’ first meeting, the Lakers came back up from being down 17 points to win in overtime. In their second game, it took a Kobe Bryant clutch three to win at home. Tonight, for the second game in a row, there was no Kobe Bryant, but fortunately for the Lakers, rather up-and-down as their season has been, they’re still equipped with some fine players beyond the Mamba.

Standing in for Bryant in the starting line-up was, again, Devin Ebanks. He scored just half as much as he did subbing in for the Phoenix game, but his efforts early in the first quarter did not go unnoticed. With Pau Gasol’s deflection on a pass, the ball went loose and Ebanks dove for it right through Greivis Vasquez’s legs, and immediately called timeout. That was just a sign of how this game was going to be won, and that would be through the dirty work of everyone in a purple uniform. This would not be a blowout, by either team, though the Hornets’ hot shooting behind the arc begged to differ.

For the third game in a row, the Lakers failed miserably to close in on opposing shooters and they paid for it. Marco Bellinelli hit 4-7 and Vasquez converted 5-6! But instead of responding to what seemed like a barrage of threes by jacking up their own from downtown, the Lakers stuck to their game – inside then out, with a dash of defense, and it worked. Go figure!

“We had no other choice but to get stops,” Gasol told Mike Trudell in his post-game interview. When pressed against the wall, the Lakers can play defense and tonight, they were pinned to one.

After getting outscored 12-4 to close the first half, the Lakers outscored New Orleans 28-19 in the final quarter to take the W.

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It’s April 9, 2012 and the (35-22) Los Angeles Lakers are in the big easy to play the (15-41) New Orleans Hornets. In the first game of a three-game road trip, playing without Kobe Bryant, the Suns (125-105) routed the Lakers. Saturday’s game against the Suns was the Lakers first in two seasons without the services of Kobe Bryant.

Bryant’s absence, due to injury, snapped a string of 138 consecutive regular season games.  Kobe Bryant leads the league in scoring averaging 28.1 points per game, against the Suns his average raises to 38 points, the numbers suggest that if healthy the outcome of Saturday’s game would have been different had the ‘black mamba’ laced up his Nike Kobe System VII Supremes.

Despite the loss, the game provided us with the good, bad & ugly. The good, that the Lakers scored 64 points in the paint, the front line of Andrew Bynum, Pau Gasol and Metta World Peace combined for 72 points, Bynum & Gasol 52 shot attempts, Metta World Peace averaging 21 points two straight games, everyone on the bench played and Devin Ebanks scored a career-high 12 points in 32 minutes.

The bad, Bynum & Gasol made only 24 –of- 52 shot attempts, the Lakers defending the three-point shot. The ugly, reserves scored 10 points, the reserves shooting 4-of-16 from the field, Andrew Goudelock & Darius Morris combining for four minutes, the Lakers shooting 1-of-11 from behind the arc.

Kobe Bryant will miss his second straight game due a sore left shin.

Devin Ebanks is expected to start.

Photo courtesy of Christian Petersen, Getty Images

Kobe Bryant looked sharp on the bench…in his suit and tie that is. Having to sit out this game due to his bruised left shin that has turned into a swollen tendon (see OCRegister story here). Bryant handed off the reigns to the rest of his team. He’d been huge in their four previous wins (and even in yesterday’s loss), but when the Mamba misses just his second game in two seasons, you know it has to be bad.

Getting the starting nod in his absence was Devin Ebanks, and what a great start to the game he had. Of course, the Lakers, as expected, had a great start as a whole, but the Achilles heel for this team has been, for the majority of the season, being unable to follow through in the ensuing three quarters left to play.

The Lakers played a respectable first quarter, outscoring the Suns 32-24, shooting 48% and allowed the home team just 40% shooting rom the field. Pau Gasol was the only player in double figures after 12 minutes and the Lakers went the entire quarter without a single turnover. Up to that point, getting a victory without Kobe Bryant didn’t seem all that difficult…and then the dreaded next three quarters came.

When you allow a team to score 75 points in two quarters, it doesn’t usually bode well for the victory hopes, yet that is exactly what the Lakers did for the Suns. After scoring just 24 points in the first quarter, Phoenix scored 38 in the second and then 37 in the third to take a commanding 16-point lead going into the final 12 minutes. And unlike the Lakers, they actually know how to hold on to their double-digit advantage. Unfortunately, the Lakers couldn’t figure out how to dig themselves out of that hole, completely unable to control the Suns’ hot shooting from behind the arc. Phoenix led by as much as 22 points before finishing off the visitors by 20.

Photo by Getty Images

It’s April 7, 2012 and the (35-21) Los Angeles Lakers are in the desert, dealing with 90-degree weather, looking to bounce back for last night’s loss against the (28-27) Phoenix Suns. The Lakers had their four-game winning streak snapped in the 112-107 loss to the Rockets.

Although the loss was disappointing, the way the Lakers have performed defensively as of late, the outcome should not be a total shock. The Lakers showed early in the season that they can be a solid defensive team.

It is imperative that Kobe Bryant, the leader of the team, pulls Andrew Bynum aside and informs him that he is an integral part of this team, that he will receive his touches and that the Lakers are at their best with him on the floor.

Regarding Bynum, and his transgressions, the consensus has been that he is immature or that he needs to find a balance. There is some truth in those statements, but the fact of the matter is that Bynum is a seven-year veteran that is being defiant. There is no need to treat a 25-year old like a teenager.

Bynum has developed into a dominant force; anchor of the defense, the number two scoring option on the team capable of carrying the team although now is not the time to draw a line in the sand and prove that point. As talented, as Bynum is it is better for the team if he ‘stays in his lane’ as opposed to demanding to be the main cannon.

The Lakers pattern of starting fast, establishing a lead with solid ball movement, excellent player movement then letting the lead and game get away from them has to stop.

Photo courtesy of Harry How, Getty Images

In the Eastern Conference, the best center in the league is (unsuccessfully) trying to avoid looking like the bad guy. In the Western Conference, arguably the second best center in the league is doing one hell of a job reaching that reputation himself.

There is a laundry list of reasons why the Lakers lost tonight – it was their fifth game in seven days and Houston hasn’t played since Monday so the Lakers’ lack of energy was a factor; the lack of energy affected both their sloppy offense and barely-noticeable defense; Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ramon Sessions and Metta World Peace are all nursing somewhat mild injuries to various body parts. Bottom line: other than the injuries, all the other sources for this loss are fixable, but the ejected center who was producing before he got his second technical foul of the game? Who but Andrew Bynum himself could fix that?

Before he was ejected, Bynum had chipped in 19 points on 6-11 from the field and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds and two blocks. Having a great game himself tonight was Metta World Peace. With a slow start to Gasol’s night, not to mention Sessions, World Peace was a strong gust of fresh air in an otherwise stagnant game for the home team.

The Lakers did end the first half on a 10-2 run, however, and it appeared they finally got that surge of energy they needed to close out this game, but they got as far as a 63-52 lead to begin the second half, but were then outscored in the third quarter 34-22 with the help of Houston’s 5-6 from downtown. By the time the fourth quarter came around, the Lakers’ 11-point lead had turned into a four-point deficit.

After Bynum was ejected from the game, the Laker offense went south (as did their defense), scoring 26 points on an awful 8-26 from the field – 31%, and allowed Houston to shoot 50%. They lost this game after giving up that large lead…again.

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Lakers guard Kobe Bryant joined the Dan Patrick Radio Show to talk about where the team currently stands, the dunk heard ‘round the world against the Clippers on Wednesday night, Mike Brown and more. Here a few highlights from the interview:

On whether he took it personal that the Clippers were the media darlings at the start of the season…

As a group we used that to motivate us. We haven’t been in the position of being the underdog in our championship runs…and we kind of use that as fuel.”

On the how the schedule has affected him…

I find myself getting a little bit more rest than before. Its funny remembering back to when I was 23 and 22 [years old] I’d just bounce back and all of a sudden the injuries that you have don’t linger as long…now I find myself constantly taking care of my body, having to watch what I eat and all this stuff, its pretty crazy.”

On if there are any parallels between Andrew Bynum and Kobe when he was Bynum’s age…

The thing that we both have in common when I was his age is he has the drive to prove himself, you know on the court he’s very hungry to prove that he’s one of the top players and he goes out every night and tries to do that. You can tell when he plays he plays with confidence, he plays with determination no matter who he’s matched up against to prove night in and night out that he’s one of the best.”

On whether Andrew needs to be handled/motivated….

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Voice of the Nation hosts, David Brickley, Jason Riley and Kevin Figgers discuss the Lakers top story-lines of the 2011-12 NBA Season.

Rundown

• Mike Brown Losing the Lakers Locker Room?

Question of the Show: Is Mike Brown losing the locker room? (Comment Below)

Videographer: Ryan King