The Los Angeles Lakers have been in a rocky situation the last few games as LeBron James is sidelined with an abdominal strain.
Los Angeles blew a 19-point lead to the Oklahoma City Thunder and followed it with an effortless performance against the Portland Trail Blazers that was essentially over after the first quarter.
In Cody Taylor of Rookie Wire’s latest NBA power rankings, Taylor has the Lakers at No. 16, a five-spot drop from last week’s ranking:
Last Rank: 11
Want to play a game? Take a drink every time Dwight Howard mentions “effort” below. Actually, we advise against that, but the moral of the story is the Lakers haven’t played with purpose after dropping back-to-back games against the Thunder and Trail Blazers. They may get a small pass considering LeBron James is out, but they still have players capable of beating the Thunder and Trail Blazers.
The caveat is this ranking came out just before the Lakers defeated the Charlotte Hornets, the team that came in at No. 15 in the ranking. If the Lakers can have a better week than the previous one, maybe an move up is on the horizon.
