LA Clippers outplay the star-filled Lakers

Earlier this week, when the Lakers fell to a 0-2 start, we wondered whether it was time or not to set off the panic alarm in the Lakers. Now, it would be a good time to wonder just how bad the situation is for this squad. Let's try to be clear about this one: the Lakers lost all of the eight preseason games they played this year. Now, sure enough no one would be fool enough to believe that losing all of these warm-up games was a sign of deeper and more troubling problems. Truth is, the Lakers preseason could had been taken as a clear prognosis of how things would evolve once they started to play the games that really matter. Kobe Bryant came out to the press before they faced the LA Clippers and said to those criticizing the Lakers to shut up. Now, after their young neighbors outplayed the heck out of them, the press went on and asked Kobe if it now was the time to set off the alarm. Yes, he answered. He said it was a joke, but this joke has to be taken seriously.

For the first time in 34 years, and only the 4th time in Franchise history, the Lakers are off to a 0-3 start. The Clippers younger, and thirstier stars guided the effort with a phenomenal pace. Sure enough Kobe stood up for his team and finished the night with 40 points, but little help came from the rest of the squad. Dwight Howard finished the night with 13 points and 8 rebounds, Pau Gasol chipped in with 10 points and 14 rebounds, but they just looked out of it. The Clippers on the other hand didn't really made a big deal out of Kobe's 40 points for the night. Truth is, with Chris Paul scoring 18 points and dishing out 15 assits for the night and with Jamal Crawford's 21 points coming off from the bench and Blake Griffin's 15 points and 8 rebounds, the Lakers never stood a chance.

Steve Nash sat out the game with a bruised leg. He's point guard ability was greatly missed by these guys. Bryant clocked out at 43 minutes, despite playing with a bruised foot. In the press conference, he had his foot on ice and said that it felt as if it was going to fall off. "We're not supposed to coast and assume things are going to fix themselves," Bryant said. "You've got to push at it. We've just got to keep working on what we do." It seems to me as if head coach Mike Brown has not been able to make things work, click among his players.

And the results are evident. They lack that teamwork efficiency you can spot from a mile away coming from the Clippers. "We're getting better as a team," Griffin said. "It's a great win for us, because they're a great team and they're in our division. I think the biggest difference in these games now ... is when we used to run out that tunnel for the starting lineups, nobody used to boo us. They didn't really care. And now they throw heat a little bit. So I think that says a lot about where we're at."