One Week

The Lakers lost to Boston and San Antonio at home last week, two teams with the top records in their respective conferences, but needed overtime to beat Houston at Staples and barely got by New Orleans on the road.

They played pretty good hoops in all four games but they had their lapses. Life doesn't get any easier for them.

The New Orleans win started a seven-game road trip that includes Memphis tonight, where they typically don't play well, Boston and New York on back-to-back nights Thursday and Friday, and Orlando Sunday afternoon. The trip concludes with a stop in Charlotte next Monday, another place they don't generally play well, and Cleveland next Wednesday, against a Cavs team they walloped by 55 points last month at Staples.

They will need to play better than they have been if they even want to consider finishing above .500 on the trip.

The time is now! Let's rock!