The squad has shown sparks of promise. Recent narrow losses against the Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, and Miami Heat provided glimpses of hope. The litmus test will be how they perform from now until the All-Star break. Home games against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 27 and Clippers on Feb. 14 will be key matchups.
More importantly, though, will be how the Lakers can handle themselves on the road. They need to take care of business against teams with losing records at Toronto (Jan. 20), Phoenix (Jan. 30), Minnesota (Feb. 1), Detroit (Feb. 3), and Charlotte (Feb. 8). However, the dates that Lakers fans have circled on their calendars are Feb. 7 and Feb. 10, when the Lakers travel to Boston and Miami, respectively. Those are monumental, momentum-shifting victories if the Lakers can seize them.
At this point, the Lakers must find a way to effectively utilize the pieces they have since there are not many trade options available. Bryant must continue to guard the opposing team's best backcourt player. This strategy has proven successful against the Clippers and Heat, when Bryant contained Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade, respectively. Nash must continue observing the styles of his teammates to find them when they're open, but also be more assertive with regard to scoring.
Earl Clark has become the team's X-factor. The sky is the limit for him. Coach Mike D'Antoni must find a way to harness Clark's skills but also keep an increasingly unhappy Pau Gasol focused. Howard will obviously continue to practice his free-throw shooting but the Lakers may want to explore other strategies for late-game situations since Howard's free-throw shooting has undoubtedly cost the Lakers some games.
Collectively, the Lakers need to step up offensively. As great as he is, Bryant cannot single-handedly guide the Lakers to victories against elite teams. What Bryant can do, as a 12-time All-Defensive player is provide stops and buckets here and there. But he desperately needs his teammates to share the offensive load.
For now, we must sit back and see how the Lakers perform in this next stretch of games.