The Lakers suffered just their 3rd loss since the All-Star break on Wednesday against the injury-riddled Atlanta Hawks, 92-96.

But the entire Lakerdom is still seething about a dangerous play that occurred with 5 seconds left in the 4th quarter as Kobe Bryant, being defended by Dahntay Jones, drove to the right baseline and took a fadeaway shot to try to tie the game at 94. Bryant landed on the back of Jones' right heel and violently twisting his left ankle, as a result. The shot hit the front-end of the rim, and the Lakers failed to capture their 5th-straight win.

That play was replayed and dissected by the media numerous times and became the hottest topic of the night via Twitter, where both Bryant and Jones even addressed what they believe is intentional or not.

A lot of anxiety fell into Dwight Howard prior to the game in Orlando last night. His first visit in the city that he gives credit to for raising him as the player he is today since his rookie year in 2004. But it turned out that Howard managed his emotions real well and led the Lakers (34-31) to their 4th-straight win to reclaim the 8th seed in the west from Utah.

The Lakers are in Atlanta tonight to take on the Hawks (34-29) — a team that has only won once in 7 tries in the month of March and is trying desperately to avoid slipping out of the playoff picture at the 7th spot.

The loss of Lou Williams to a torn ACL and Joe Johnson to a trade with Brooklyn are now coming back to haunt the Hawks. While they still have plenty of talent in Jeff Teague, Al Hordford and Josh Smith, Atlanta is lacking that go-to scorer who can create for himself as well as the team consistently. But that's just one area of why the Hawks have been miserable the past 3 weeks. Still, they are still dangerous enough for the Lakers, especially if they come out with a mindset to make the purple and gold pay for beating them at Staples Center 2 Sundays ago.

Superman is back!

After 8 seasons that include 4 playoff apperances and 1 trip to the NBA Finals, Dwight Howard will be at Amway Center for the first time in purple and gold to take on his former team the Orlando Magic (18-46).

His return will probably prompt a lot of boos from the crowd considering everything that went on the entire "Dwightmare" last season leading to his trade to the Lakers (33-31). Howard had admitted not knowing how he'll react to how Magic fans will welcome him the moment he steps out of that locker room as the visitor. But whatever the emotion he gets from that arena, he has to remember that he and the Lakers are still fighting to stay in the playoff picture.

The Lakers were a team 8 games below .500 and was staring at a possibility of missing the playoffs for only the 6th time in franchise history and the 3rd time since the late Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the team in 1979. But 16 wins and just 6 losses later, the Lakers have taken over the 8th and final spot in the west with 90-81 a victory over the Bulls on Sunday.

If the difference between a superstar and a legend is winning, then Kobe Bryant's legacy in the NBA is far from being written.

His leadership has been criticized but very few realize that, like players and coaches in the NBA, no 2 leaders are alike. It just so happens that Kobe's way isn't about talking but showing his teammates how to conquer adversity. To a certain degree and with the kind of team he has this season, that's all he should be doing.

The Lakers struggled mightily from the very start of the season. In fact, they went through everything that would have probably caused any other franchise to fold many times over. Yet, the weathered warrior looked back at his tired men and pointed up towards the icy pinnacle of the great mountain in front of them and marched forward.

Led by Kobe Bryant on offense and Dwight Howard on defense, the Lakers (31-31) stormed back from a 25-point deficit to defeat the stunned Hornets, 108-102. A loss would have been devastating to their goal of reaching the playoffs, but the purple and gold dugged deep and got themselves within a game and a half of the spiraling Jazz for the 8th spot in the west.

Tonight, they'll have an opportunity to go above the .500 mark against a team that hasn't beaten them at Staples Center since 2001.

Coming into the game, the Toronto Raptors (24-38) have lost 3 of their last 5 road games and 9 of their last 31 outings away from Air Canada Centre. But their inability to win against the Lakers in Los Angeles eclipses whatever record they may have on the road. That is if the Lakers themselves don't let their success against this team dictate how they play tonight.

By winning 14 of their next 18 games after losing 4-consecutive games in January, the Lakers (30-30) have climbed their way back to within 2 games of the final spot in the west. The Jazz have slid down as the 8th seed thanks to their 1-4 record over the last 5 games.

Utah and Golden State have been sputtering of late, but the Jazz could have a tougher time recovering as they still have 3 more road games before heading back to Salt Lake City. The Warriors will be at home for their next 6 games. But the Lakers can't worry too much about what those teams do. They still have to win games to get themselves in the playoffs no matter what happens. But tonight's game will be one of their very toughest the rest of the way as they face the Oklahoma City Thunder (43-16) on the road for the last time this season.

The Thunder still owns one of the most impressive home record in the league at 26-4. They've beaten the Lakers at the Chesapeake Energy Arena by an average of 13.6 points since being eliminated in the opening round of the 2010 playoffs.

There's nothing that can change the entire attitude of a team better than winning. The Lakers (29-30) have won 9 of their 13 games in the month of February, including 7 straight games at Staples Center. They'll look for their 8th-straight tonight against the Atlanta Hawks (33-24).

Much of the attention in Atlanta has been focused on Josh Smith and his impending free-agency this coming summer. Trade talks were rampant leading to the trade deadline. Part of those rumors involved Pau Gasol getting dealt for the younger, more athletic forward. But as we all saw, it was much ado about nothing.

Smith leads the Hawks in scoring and in blocks averaging 17.2 points and 2 blocks a game this season. While his quickness and athleticism are going to be reasons for concerns for the Lakers, they can't focus their defensive effort solely on Smith.

“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow." — Thomas Paine

That quote from Thomas Paine seemed to have become the attitude of the Lakers (28-30) since a 119-108 loss in Denver on Monday. They're no longer sulking in the we-should-haves but embracing the challenges that await them in their hunt for a place in the playoffs.

During their interviews in team practice yesterday, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Dwight Howard shared their new philosophy for the rest of the season starting tonight versus the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves (20-34).

Not a lot of people expected the Lakers to beat the Nuggets in Denver, especially on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. But that kind of doubt shouldn't apply to the Lakers themselves. Not now. And not when they're this close to making the 8 teams that are currently in the heirarchy of the playoffs start worrying about facing them.

The Lakers were a game below the .500 mark and had the chance to come within 2 games of the Rockets after losing their 27th game on Saturday. Yet, the purple and gold jog their way into the Pepsi Center court seemingly mentally and physically unprepared to take advantage of such a rare opportunity this year.

The Lakers lost 119-108. What's concerning about it is they allowed the very same things that cost them all of their losses and nearly surrendered some of their wins do it again to them at this stage of the season. Credit the Nuggets for sticking to their gameplan of making the Lakers pay for every mistake and every slow reaction to every play that could have helped change the tide of the game. But the Lakers simply have no reason for the way they turned the ball over, for not sprinting back on defense and for their Big 3 to not do something about making sure the rest of the team don't lose their composure and desire to win the game.

With another impressive victory on the road in Dallas on Sunday, the Lakers (28-29) have fought their way back within a single game of the .500 mark since Dec. 28, 2012. More importantly, they are now within 2 and a half games behind the 8th seed Rockets in the west. But the Lakers don't have time to celebrate their 3rd-straight win yesterday. They'll head to a place where it's hard to win as the visiting team.

The Pepsi Center has been one of those arenas in the NBA that vividly reminds the Lakers that they're not at Staples Center. Since its completion on Oct. 1999, the Lakers are 10-15 in the regular season. In fact, the purple and gold have not beaten the Denver Nuggets (35-22) in this building since Game 4 of the opening round of the 2012 NBA playoffs. It's not something the Lakers would like to reminisce, especially tonight.

Despite winning 11 of their 15 games (including 4 of the last 7 games away from home) since their 4-game losing streak in January, the Lakers have to continue to gather wins in order to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Including tonight, there are only 25 games left in the season. Twelve of those are on the road. If the Lakers are to need at least 45 wins to get the 8th spot, they can't finish the regular season any worse than a 17-8 record.