Bobcats vs. Lakers: Imbalanced Lakers Struggle As They Hit the Road

It wasn't the daily newspapers that jinxed Los Angeles into a letdown at Staples Center on Tuesday.

For me, it was news on my front that my mother, the rock of my family and my biggest supporter, is suffering from an irregular heartbeat. To be burdened with such a severe health issue as this could mean one thing on my mind—a letdown of the worst timing.

Okay, some of you may pull out the "correlation does not affect causation" card. Guilty as charged. But to this day I curse the very moment when our family doctor diagnosed her with that condition, because it was a sign of things to come at Staples Center.

But that's a different story altogether.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers, who had a modest four-game winning streak on hand after adjusting from giving up key shots against San Antonio and Orlando, saw the crappy shooting rear its ugly head again against the Charlotte Bobcats in a 117-110 double overtime defeat.

What makes the result depressing for Phil Jackson's club is that the next six games are on the road, and to cap off a six-game homestand with a defeat could spell trouble.

With a capital T.

One culprit has been the lack of production from bench players like Lamar Odom. To only have seven points in 33 minutes is a reason why LA struggled against the Bobcats.

Another reason has been lackluster production from starters Pau Gasol and Luke Walton. Gasol only had 10 points, while Walton had only five.

In contrast, the front five of Charlotte had each of its players score at least 15 points, led by Boris Diaw with 23 and Raymond Felton with 22. And Shannon Brown was the catalyst on the bench with 14.

In this league, lacking a front five in which every player scores in bunches translates to losses. The lack of balanced production from LA will not be a good sign when they hit the road. 

As for Charlotte, their record coming in should have suggested that this was a tune-up game before the demanding road stretch for the Lakers heading into the All-Star break.

But if anyone questions whether or not the Bobcats' NBA postseason hopes are gone, this win could be the sparkplug they badly need in what has been another difficult season for Larry Brown's Bobcats.