Like it or not, Lakers are in trouble

Last season, the short-handed Houston Rockets took the eventual defending champion Los Angeles Lakers to seven games in the conference semi-finals, smacking the Lakers around in two of their three wins. Looking at the two rosters, one would figure that Houston had absolutely no business winning more than a game against Los Angeles, never mind three.

The Rockets were without Tracy McGrady for the entire series and without Yao Ming in games four through seven, leaving them with a starting lineup consisting of Chuck Hayes, Luis Scola, Ron Artest (who is now a Laker, ironically enough), Shane Battier, and Aaron Brooks to deal with the likes of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and the rest of the juggernaut Lakers. Yet, Houston still managed to give Los Angeles a fight for its life, prompting questions of whether or not the Lakers truly had the heart and desire to win an NBA championship.

Well, several weeks later, Los Angeles obliterated any notion that it was not ready to win it all, beating the Orlando Magic in five games to win the NBA Finals. However, that was last season; this is this season, and the Lakers find themselves in a fairly similar position; locked in a dogfight with a team that many (myself not included) predicted L.A. would conquer with relative ease: the Oklahoma City Thunder. This time around, though, it's the first round of the playoffs.

The Lakers won the first two games of this series at home, although not in overly impressive fashion. It seems pretty clear that Bryant's injured finger is still a signficiant issue, as the former MVP shot a combined 18-of-47 from the floor in those two contests, good for 38%. This led to some criticism from coach Phil Jackson, as he told Bryant to either "shoot better or shoot less." Well, Kobe didn't exactly oblige in game three, going 10-of-29 in a 101-96 loss at Oklahoma City.

Then came game four. The crowd at Ford Center was just as loud as it was in game three, and the Thunder were as determined as ever to send the series back to California tied 2-2, which they did, annihilating Los Angeles 110-89 in a game that wasn't even that close. From the get-go, Oklahoma City dominated L.A., jumping out to a 29-17 lead after a quarter which saw Kevin Durant throw down two vicious tomahawk jams, one coming off of a nasty crossover that left Artest confuzzled.

Astonishingly, Bryant did not attempt one shot the entire first quarter. Not one. As I witnessed this, I immediately flashed back to the 2006 postseason, when Bryant, to spite Jackson, was essentially uninvolved in the Laker offense in a blowout game seven loss to the Phoenix Suns. Since then, Kobe has matured, finally winning a title without the aid of Shaquille O'Neal and developing into a consummate team leader (or so we thought). Could this first 12 minutes really have been the beginning of Bryant pulling another '06 on Jackson and Los Angeles?

Well, in the case of the Thunder, the onslaught continued in the second period, as their offensive efficiency did not cease and they began to not only get production from Durant and Russell Westbrook, but from bench players James Harden (who converted a four-point play) and Serge Ibaka. Bryant's first shot attempt of the game came at the 9:06 mark of the quarter, a successful three-pointer that would end up being one of his only three field goals in the first half (Bryant had eight points).

Going into halftime, Oklahoma City led 55-42, and the Lakers could not find any kind of rhythm offensively, nor could they stop the Thunder at the other end. The only two Los Angeles players who put forth any kind of notable production in the first half were Gasol and Bynum, and that wasn't nearly enough, as Bryant, Odom, and Artest were all but invisible for the first 24 minutes of the game.

Things only worsened for the Lakers in the third quarter, as Oklahoma City used a 31-point period to extend its lead to 22 heading into the fourth. Bryant would take four shots during this stretch, knocking down two of them. Those would be the final field goal attempts Kobe would take for the game, as, with things basically out of reach for Los Angeles entering the fourth, he would leave the bench and head to the locker room to get treatment for his assortment of nagging injuries (finger, knee, ankle). Bryant's final statline? 12 points off of 5-of-10 shooting, going 1-of-2 from the free throw line. That is clearly not a typical Kobe Bryant night.

So, the question must now be thrown about: was Bryant really just trying to get his teammates involved early, as Jackson stated after the game, or was he letting his ego take control, essentially saying: "You don't want me to shoot? Fine; now watch what happens when I don't." It is pretty sad that this even has to be brought up, but based on Bryant's history, it is a fair argument to quibble over.

Don't get me wrong; I am not solely blaming this loss on Kobe; that is hardly the case. Usually, no matter how poorly a team plays, you can point out some positives or say, "you know what, so-and-so had a solid game," but I can't even do that after this nightmarish game four for the Lakers. Yes, Gasol and Bynum had nice first halves, but they went A.W.O.L. when the ship started to sink. Artest was absolutely awful, finishing 2-of-9 from the floor with five points and three rebounds. Derek Fisher was routinely abused by Westbrook all night as he has been all series long, bringing into play the question of whether or not Jackson would be better off starting the quicker Jordan Farmar for the remainder of the series. Los Angeles laid a collective egg as team; there are no two-ways about it.

I still think the Lakers will win this series in six games as I originally predicted, but don't kid yourself; they are in trouble. The Thunder have just looked faster, quicker, stronger, and hungrier these past two games, and it's the latter of those four that is the most concerning. Once again, Los Angeles' will and desire is being catechized. The Lakers let Oklahoma City run all over them for a good portion of game three and all 48 minutes of game four, and whether or not that is because the Thunder are just too athletic and exuberant for Los Angeles or because the Lakers just don't care right now will be answered after game five.

Like it or not, game five is an absolute must-win for L.A. The Lakers cannot go back to Oklahoma City down 3-2 and expect to force a game seven. I am not saying they can't; I'm just saying that they have to take care of business now before they dig themselves a hole that may be too deep to climb out of. History also doesn't lie, as in series' that are tied at two games apiece, the winner of game five goes on to win the series 83% of the time. Also, in the case of Los Angeles, when it takes game five when tied 2-2 in a playoff series, it is 17-0 in those series'.

What kind of adjustments will the Lakers need to make to win this series? Well, first of all, Bryant cannot just take the night off offensively. I'm not saying that he should jack up 30 shots with complete disregard for the fact that he has four teammates on the floor, but that when he has an opportunity to attack the basket and when things look like they may be slipping away for Los Angeles, he has to take charge.

Also, Artest needs to wake up offensively. Yes, the Lakers did bring him in primarily for his defense so he could deal with players such as Durant in the postseason, but he needs to produce some kind of offense. He is currently 12-of-40 from the floor in this series; that's 30%. Oh, and of those 40 shots, 23 of them have been three-pointers, and of those 23, he has only converted three (13%). Artest is listed at 260 lbs. He should not be spending his time behind the three-point line, especially considering he was never a great outside shooter to begin with. To put it plainly, he needs to get going.

Finally, Los Angeles needs to find a way to slow down Westbrook, and if that means benching Fisher in favor of Farmar for the rest of the series, then so be it. Fisher may hit some big shots, but that is not worth watching him get burnt every time down the floor by the much younger and much quicker Westbrook. We've already seen this movie before; last year, Houston's Brooks made Fisher look foolish all series long. Two years ago, Boston's Rajon Rondo demolished Fisher in the Finals. Jackson needs to make an adjustment here immediataely.

Taking all things into consideration, the Lakers' experience and overall talent should (notice that I said should) be enough to get them over the hump in this series. However, they need to start now, meaning the opening tip of game five. If they don't, they may just find themselves in the position of being on the raw end of arguably the biggest playoff upset in NBA history.