Is This Real Life?

February 16, 2011 - The Los Angeles Lakers have come to the low point of their season. They lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-99, ending their vicious 7-game road trip in which they lost the last 3 games. The Cavs are the league's worst team, with a now record of 10-46. The Lakers are now 38-19 on the season.

Here a Cavs player drives to the basket on the Lakers who played terrible as at least Lamar Odom is giving some effort, since Bynum showed none.

In a very disappointing and embarrassing loss, the team looked very lackadaisical. Not only did they take the Cavaliers lightly, they completely gave up on the end of their road trip. Pau Gasol led the team with 30 points, and the old man Derek Fisher had a surprising 19 points while Kobe had 17.

The Lakers failed in so many ways in this game, it seems they gave no effort. They took terrible shots, shooting 42% from the field. Kobe was 8-24 shooting, Bynum did terrible going 2-12 in FG, and Artest was 0-1 shooting with only 1 point in the game. The team also had a terrible night with turnovers, giving up 19 of them. Phil Jackson was not his usual calm self, as you could clearly see him yelling at his sloppy players on the sideline.

Shannon Brown makes plays, scoring 15 on the night in a sloppy performance by the Lakers as a whole.

We all know that this has got to spark some trade rumors with the team. In my personal opinion, Bynum has got to go. He is injury prone and the team must get some value for him while they still can. Dwight Howard would be the ideal player to trade him for. I would even give Bynum and a 1st round pick for Howard, who is not only an intense and physical player, but someone who could bring a spark to this lifeless Lakers team at the moment. Forget Carmelo Anthony, the LAke Show needs some strong players inside they can count on. I believe Howard would be the best fit for that.

Either way, something has to be done with the team right now. This is the worst Lakers stretch of bad performances I think I have ever seen. Someone has to step up, be a leader, and get the team to start playing with some intensity and drive. The road to the 3-Peat will be very hard with the guys playing the way they have been.