Things have gone from bad to worse for the Lakers.
Not only is Los Angeles 15-18 and 11th in the Western Conference, decidedly out of the Playoff picture, now come the injuries. The dream season for the Lakers with all the talent brought in through Steve Nash and Dwight Howard.
Dwight Howard, nursing a sore rotator cuff and trying to play through the pain in addition to working his way back from offseason back surgery, received a second opinion and an MRI on his shoulder and discovered he had torn his labrum. Recovery from such an injury could be anywhere from one month to several. Thus, Howard is out indefinitely.
So too is Pau Gasol, who took a nasty elbow to the face late in Los Angeles' loss to Denver on Sunday. He suffered a concussion and will also be out indefinitely.
This decidedly changes the Lakers team and makes their road back to .500 that much more difficult.
Or maybe the team rallies around the injuries and Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant get more freedom to run the offense. It certainly will not help an already porous defense that is struggling to get stops. That is for sure. Lots of guys will need to step up if Los Angeles wants to get back into the Playoff hunt.
