Panic Button in L.A.? Not Yet!

Los Angeles limbed into the break losing
three-in-a-row for the third time this year.

The two-time defending NBA champions have been a topic of conversation much of the first half, especially after their most recent three-game skid.

It seems as if the Los Angeles Lakers dropped to a new low Wednesday night, losing to the NBA's worst team, the 10-46 Cleveland Cavaliers. Los Angeles embarked on their longest road trip of the season back on Feb. 5 at New Orleans. They started off an impressive 4-0 beating legitimate playoff contenders including the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in consecutive nights.

However, the trip went sour, losing the next three to Orlando and two sub .500 teams, the Bobcats and Cavaliers.

All that being said it is not time to push the panic button in the City of Angels, yet.

Kobe Bryant's minutes are significantly down from a year ago. Bryant averaged 38.8 minutes per game in 2010 compared to the 33.6 he is playing this season, which will all change come playoff time. Coming off his second career knee surgery, Bryant is being rested carefully by head coach Phil Jackson for a deep playoff run into June.

Bryant's 25.1 points per game this season are right at his career average of 25.3. At times the frustrating part this season is their continued losses to teams below .500, seven of their 19 have come at the hands of sub .500 teams.

It seems we can attribute those to Los Angeles being disinterested in their opponent most of the game or just lack of effort.

Back on Feb. 27 of last season Boston lost to the miserable New Jersey Nets at home in TD Garden, a team that finished with 12 wins all season. As we now know, the Celtics positioned themselves for a deep playoff run and came a win away from their second NBA championship in three years, but en route to that, they also lost to the worst team in the NBA a year ago.

Could the Lakers being doing the same?

The Cavaliers were embarrassed by the Lakers back in January at Staples Center, losing by a video game like number, 55 points. You knew if the Lakers did not come out ready to play on Wednesday night, they had a very good chance to lose even to the NBA's worst team. Byron Scott, being a former Laker in his playing days, was not going to let his team come out flat against the defending champions again.

Much has been written about the Lakers inability not to just beat sub .500 teams, but their inability to beat teams above .500. The Lakers have posted a 15-12 record against teams .500 or better and a 23-7 mark against sub .500 in the first half.

The Miami Heat are only 12-13 against the league's elite, but are taking care of business on the other side, beating 29 of the 31 teams they have faced under .500. Yes, the Lakers need to be more consistent and sometimes play with a little more urgency, but by no means is it time to panic in Los Angeles, YET!

Come June, Jackson and Bryant will silence the critics once more.