If we play like this, I don't think we make the Western Finals, forget about Cleveland or Orlando.

Can somebody explain the last minute to me?

1. Bryant AND Fisher brick 3 of 4 free throws. Kobe was short twice. Another couple of inches and it mi9ght have been an airball.

2. Bryant AND Fisher manage to foul Webster when he's in the air on a running three. What kind of defense is that?

Here are your most experienced players and they looked like rookies in the final seconds.

-- Artest was virtually invisible.

-- We got outrebounded and outplayed in the paint.

-- The bench was 3-15 from the field. Just their average day at the office.

The Lakers just gave Portland a nice boost in confidence. They tried hard to win this game and blew it at the end. The script was in and the director was yelling for action...Kobe makes the two free throws and the Lakers hold Portland on its last shot and we win by one -- just like so many times before.

Except that the hero and his sidekick both blow it -- on both ends of the court -- and the villiains prevail.

Need it be mentioned that home court has now been assured to Orlando as well?

Talk about a huge loss.

Folks, this team is in serious trouble and too many of us are repeating the mantra, "What, me worry?"

We're talking about Cleveland never having won anything and how they crack under pressure, and that Lebron is a punk, and all the rest.

It's time to wise up. The Lakers look like a very average team right now and they will have their hands full even getting out of the first round -- even with Bynum.

And before anyone dismisses this as me panicking, take a breath and look at the key factors that were in place last year, and the difference in performance. We're upside down in so many areas right now, it's just not the same situation as either 2008 or 2009.

Gasol is doing nothing

Artest isn't rebounding

Odom isn't scoring

Fisher can't get it done

The other guy's guards are ripping us up

And our bench is again invisible

If it wasn't becoming such a regular occurrence I could just write it off and say that things will be different in the playoffs.

I think we're all kidding ourselves about that.

What we see is what we've got.

They will struggle to win any and every series, right from the start.

If the only time you really show up is when you're behind in a series or the opponent is a Finals-quality team, then something is seriously wrong.

And for those who feel there is nothing left to play for, that is delusional. We still have an edge over Orlando, but probably not for long. If the Magic can again oust the Cavs, we'd have home court for the Finals.

The Lakers are going to have to win almost all of their remaining games to keep that advantage.

He spent the off-season in the weight room, getting stronger. For the most part, that worked. Losing him for six or so games at the end of the season with the achilles issue is better than him going down with a knee injury. We weren't going to catch Cleveland anyway. The Lakers should have enough to maintain the best record in the West.

Looking long term, if the team can have Bynum for an average of 70 or so games per year, that's probably as much as you can expect. Some people are more susceptible to injuries than others, and he's apparently one of them. If he can avoid any more knee problems or a bad high ankle sprain, then 70 games a year is probably realistic.

Mikan was a horse, Wilt was seemingly invulnerable, Kareem was pretty much the same, Shaq rested for half the season until the playoffs, and Bynum gets nicked up a lot. He's going to be here a long time, and we're going to have to get used to this.

For those who want the Lakers to trade him, I don't know what you'd get in return. Who would trade us a top center (there's only a few good ones) for Bynum, straight up? And if we swapped him to some team for a great point guard, then we'd really be changing the entire approach for the team.

He's still just a guppy, in terms of age. If he can stay upright and continue workout regimens to get stronger — as well as improve his game (and he does get better every year) — then we'll have a serious advantage inside for a long time.

Just my .02.

One month to go and the schedule is:

@ phoenix — L
@ golden state
@ sacramento
minnesota
washington
@ san antonio — ?
@ oklahoma city — L
@ houston — ?
@ new orleans
@ atlanta — L
utah — ?
san antonio
@ denver — L
@ minnesota
portland — ?
sacramento
Clippers

You have to figure that we'll drop most of the key road games. We're 17-13 on the road now and have lost all major recent road games except Boston. I can't see us beating Phoenix, San Antonio, OKC, Atlanta, or Denver in their arenas.

I also think we could stumble once or twice against lesser opponents, and probably one of those will come at home.

I'm figuring six more losses, and maybe seven.

That takes us to 58-24, or worse, and we'll lose home court against Dallas, and maybe Denver.

Even if we win a couple of those road games, I have trouble visualizing 60 wins and having a potential seventh game in the West Finals at Staples.

Never mind losing three in a row, the real issue is that our highly vaunted offense is an increasingly distant memory. I don't know if it's Artest that clogs it up, or Bynum and Gasol not communicating, or Kobe taking on the world by himself — but we have to admit that the triangle is not what it used to be.

Teams seem more and more able to disrupt our offensive flow, or we just can't get into one. If what we saw today was any indication, this team isn't the baddest collection of pickup players around. If we just play "whatever" ball, with no scheme, then we're going to get beat.

The ABC-TV crew is really hard to listen to but they made one good point today: Without the 20 turnovers the Magic would have blown the Lakers off the court. This was an easy 110-95 kind of game, but Orlando's bumbling kept us in it.

I don't see us taking down either Cleveland or Orlando, and maybe not even Boston if we manage to get out of the West. That said, I think both Dallas and Denver will beat the Lakers if we continue to play this way. The Lakers might not even have home court throughout the conference playoffs.

The Lakers "aura" is gone now. Everybody knows that they have a chance to win. There won't be any "deer in the headlights" teams this year. We used to win some playoff series before they even began, when there was no hope on the other side. We may still have the best record but, in reality, we're just another contender in the West. It's going to be a monster task just to get to the finals. If we do, what might we have left in the tank?

Fisher looked decent today and Kobe is Kobe. Other than that, WHO IS PLAYING AT PLAYOFF LEVEL???

Jackson has 18 games to figure something out, to get them ready.

This feels pretty good. Three decent teams and three solid wins, when a lot of us saw some losses here, knowing that Kobe and Bynum wouldn't be at full strength or play at all.

Maybe Kobe and 'Drew should relax, fully rest and heal, and then come back.

This has to be just a little scary for the rest of the league, seeing that this team is still one of the best in the league, even without two of the key parts.

Nice.

Well folks, two games without Kobe and two decent wins, this one without Bynum as well.

Hope Kobe is paying attention. We need to share the ball like this the rest of the way. Wonder if the Denver game would have gone different if Kobe had sit out.

Hmmmm.

Wonder if Kobe's ego would ever allow him to back off without trying to make some point, like not shooting at all for a whole game, etc.

At least we know we have other guys who can actually play...well, sometimes.

No Kobe, no Roy, and we blow out the Blazers.

Maybe we should experiment when Kobe gets well; leaving him home the next time we play there.

Maybe we should leave him off for vacation if we meet them in the playoffs.

Obviously, this is just having a good time here.

However, I do hope he gets adequate time to heal. Never mind home court. If this Lakers team is completely healthy, nobody can stay with them — not the Nuggets, not the Spurs, not anybody in the East.

Just be as close to 100% in postseason, and I don't care where the games are played — we'll be hanging up another banner.

If we're still hurt in the playoffs, then home court won't save us.

If Phil and Mitch are smart about this, and order Kobe to back off, it'll pay off in May and June.