After their loss to the Hornets on Monday, Manu Ginobili was gracious enough to say that his San Antonio Spurs (27-10) must play better against the Lakers (15-19), a team, he says, "got heart" and "play hard", in order for them to keep their 10-game winning streak at home alive. Not sure which Lakers team and what season he's pertaining to, but it's good to hear teams still fear the purple and gold.

All kidding aside, Ginobili was doing what he's supposed to do as a sportsman and a leader of his team. The Lakers and us Laker fans don't need any reminder that every team in the NBA almost always bring their A-game when the Lakers come to town or just how pathetic our team has been playing so far this season. But the fact remains that the Lakers must now win at least 30 of their remaining 48 games to qualify for a post-season run. With Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill out for who knows how long, that is going to be a task for the ages for this franchise.

After starting the game with bounce in their steps last night in Houston, the Lakers couldn't sustain their energy and team focus the rest of the way to earn themselves a win that could've injected a spark that they'll be alright without their bigs. But looking at the positives in that game, the younger, less-utilized players showed that they care about winning and willing to do whatever they can to help the team win. The team also, at least, had the concertive focus that they needed to come out swinging from the get-go in order for them to have the chance to get the victory. They have to do that again tonight.

It turns out that the season is still not miserable enough for the Lakers (15-18). Yesterday, the team reported that Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill will be out of commission for several days to to their various injuries. This is coming with the Lakers looking at their toughest stretch of their schedule facing the Spurs, Thunder and Heat in the days ahead. Not to mention that they are riding a 3-game losing streak and trying to keep themselves within arm's length of the 8th seed Nuggets in the west.

But it's still early in January and, believe or not, there's still time for the Lakers to pick themselves up. Tonight would be a good time to do just that.

The Lakers are starting their Texas Two-Step trip against the Houston Rockets (20-14) before heading 200 miles west to San Antonio to take on the Spurs tomorrow night. After starting the season playing like a team trying to find their way, the Rockets have turned a page by winning 11 of their last 14 games since snapping a 3-game snide against the Wizards. A lot of that had to do with James Harden and Omer Asik.

The Lakers are 15-18. They are currently 3 1/2 games below the 8th seed in the west. They head into Houston to try to snap a 3-game skid without their top 3 big men, who are all lost to injuries for at least a week. Mind you that the team is still struggling with their defensive effort and will have to stay as close to the surface of the water as possible while dealing with San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Miami over the course of the next 7 days.

In other words, this might be exactly what the Lakers need.

After 31 games, the Lakers (15-16) are still suffering through the same struggles they've been having the entire season. They looked to have answered a lot of their problems after posting their season-best streak of 6 wins to end the month of December, but they came crashing right back down with one of their most pitiful games against the 76ers at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant sees the team's collective age as their biggest challenge to adjust to while Steve Nash can't help but feel that time is starting to be a factor in terms of their overall improvement while winning enough games to qualify for a playoff spot this year.

But it's really no secret that the Lakers are finding a tough time getting over the hump because they're allowing their situation with having a new coach, a new system and their health dictate the way they give their effort and play the game. In other words, they're more willing to give excuses rather than doing something about their poor performance as a team.

For the second time this season, the Lakers (12-14) are shooting for their 4th win in a row and 3rd straight on the road. They will have to get it against one of the most improved teams in the leauge, the Golden State Warriors (18-9), the team that happens to be sitting in front of the purple and gold for the 2nd spot in the Pacific Division.

The Warriors are playing better team basketball on both ends of the court under 2nd-year head coach Mark Jackson. Last year, they averaged 97.8 points per game while allowing 101.2 from their opponents. This season, however, they are putting up 101.3 points and giving up 99.6 points per outing. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and 4-1 in their last 5 games at the ORACLE Arena.

It's been a hectic 5 weeks for the Lakers after hiring Mike D'Antoni in place of Mike Brown and Bernie Bickerstaff as their head coach. D'Antoni was pretty much thrown into a blaze of fire expected to extinguish it with a bottle of water. But he's getting to it.

While the team is still miles away from becoming a unit consistent with everything necessary to be a championship-caliber team, as they recently displayed against the Bobcats, the Lakers are beginning to develop their defensive identity. Perhaps the chorus of those thunderous boos from the Staples Center crowd during the 3rd quarter against the same Charlotte team pushed them into it or it could have been the constant demand of D'Antoni to keep playing aggressive defense no matter what the numbers are on the scoreboard.

Whatever the case, it's no longer Dwight Howard or Metta World Peace out on the floor making things happen on that end of the court.

For the first time this season, the Lakers won back-to-back games on the road beating Washington and Philadelphia over the weekend. And that was also the first time in a long time Laker fans saw their team put together consistent quarters in a span of 96 minutes.

While the Lakers is still far from becoming a team we can all fully assess, gathering wins is as important as progressing as a team so far this season. Part of the team's struggles is not having Steve Nash and Pau Gasol at their disposal. That could change a bit starting tonight against the reeling Charlotte Bobcats (7-16) at Staples Center.

After practicing with his teammates for the first time in 2 weeks, Gasol is officially listed as a game-time decision. A lot of that has to do with the lack of pain in both of his knees. If there's no setback after today's shootaround, there's a good chance we'll see Pau back on the court.

Despite being the only team in the NBA that have yet to lose at home and being a game and a half in front of the defending champions for the top spot in the east, the New York Knicks (16-5) will not be the subject of conversation for tonight's first matchup with the Lakers (9-13).

Nothing against the Knicks, but that's how it goes when the team that's been synonymous with titles for the past 12 years and features a roster that has Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash is still figuring out how to win as a team after 22 games of the season.

Defense, turnovers, effort and patience have been the common keywords from the purple and gold in every single losses. But you have to wonder, how many more Ls will it take before they resolve their deficiencies?

After a water break at Staples Center last Sunday, the Lakers (9-12) are back out on the road again for the next 5 games starting in Cleveland tonight.

The purple and gold lost their 2nd straight and 7 of their last 10 games against the lukewarm Utah Jazz (12-10) due to their ongoing inability to figure out how to work together on the defensive end of the floor. That and giving up 25 points on 14 turnovers.

Kobe Bryant believes their defensive woes can be blamed on poor floor balance. That may be true in some level, but let's not forget that Mike D'Antoni's system is focused on the perimeter. Much of the shots are taken from behind the 3-point line (hence the 28 3-pointers they shot versus Utah). And as you've heard Stu Lantz say over and over again, "long shots, long rebounds". That would mean perimeter players, like Bryant, would need to box out and grab those missed shots if they also want to prevent quick, easy points from the opposing team because getting to missed shots before the other team can is a better defense to a fast break than simply running back.

Bryant had zero rebounds against the Jazz.

The Lakers (9-10) are 1-1 in this initial 3-game road trip before heading back home for a pit stop on Sunday against Utah. Tonight's opponent is by far the toughest team they'll face away from Staples Center yet.

The purple and gold got their 2nd road win last Wednesday in New Orleans where Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace both made historical achievements. Bryant reached his 30,000 points plateau while World Peace became the 6th player in NBA history to get at least 12,000 points, 4,000 rebounds, 1,000 3-pointers and 1,500 steals.

But individual records don't mean much if the team continue to have a bipolar personality. Against the Oklahoma City Thunder (15-4), anything less than 100% could prove fatal for the Lakers, especially on the defensive end.