Biggest Game Lakers Are Losing Is the Mental One

Forget about Kobe Bryant’s relationship with the triangle offense. Forget about Shaquille O’Neal’s lack of explosiveness. Forget about poor-shooting role players.

The Lakers’ biggest problem is mental.

How else can you explain their lack of urgency when the game was on the line in their Christmas Day loss to the Sacramento Kings?

The Lakers certainly didn’t help themselves with a third-quarter collapse, during which the Kings turned a 65-53 deficit into a 77-71 lead, but Los Angeles still had a chance in the fourth quarter.

Then, over the final six minutes, the Lakers simply did not get the job done. It was a complete team effort, which is why the Lakers find themselves in the mud, instead of their normal position at the top of the NBA food chain.

Coach Phil Jackson has played and coached teams that failed to successfully defend NBA titles and he understands as well as anyone that championship runs have to end some time.

And the Lakers can kiss their “four-peat” good-bye if they continue to make plays as they did in crunch time against the Kings.

Here’s a list of their fourth-quarter breakdowns:

No. 1 -- Poor communication between Brian Shaw and Rick Fox on a backdoor cut and layup by Jimmy Jackson that gave the Kings a 90-83 lead with 5:51 remaining.

Sacramento point guard Mike Bibby passed the ball into the right post to forward Chris Webber, who was being guarded by Samaki Walker. After Bibby made his pass, he cut toward Jackson, who stood near the top of the key. But instead of setting a pick for Jackson, Bibby faked and gave the veteran Sacramento swingman enough space to cut to the basket.

That’s when communication between two veterans, Shaw and Fox, broke down for the Lakers.

Shaw, who was on Bibby, initially switched to cover Jackson but he got caught looking at Fox, who faded back from Bibby. This moment of indecision cost the Lakers because by the time Shaw had pushed Fox forward, Webber had completed an easy pass to Jackson, who scored an uncontested basket.

No. 2 -- Weak effort getting back on defense by Walker and Bryant on a fastbreak basket by Jackson that gave the Kings a 95-89 lead with 2:53 remaining.

The Lakers had a chance to cut Sacramento’s lead to two points but Bryant dribbled for 17 seconds against the Kings’ match-up zone. When he finally turned the ball over, Peja Stojakovic picked it up near the Lakers’ free-throw line and started a fastbreak.

While Stojakovic, Jackson and Bibby ran downcourt, only Derek Fisher and Fox made serious efforts to get back to the defensive end. Walker ran, but not hard enough to prevent Jackson from scoring even though he had a chance to possibly stop the Kings’ break.

And Bryant? He never got past half court because after he’d turned the ball over, he stood around sulking, apparently thinking he had been fouled on the play.

No. 3 -- Failure to battle for a key offensive rebound with the Kings ahead, 95-89, with 2:24 remaining.

The Lakers had three chances to make a basket but failed. Fisher had two good looks on perimeter jump shots but missed both times. Fox hustled to get the first rebound and O’Neal pulled down the second, but after O’Neal clanged his shot from the lane, the Lakers were caught flat-footed.

By the time O’Neal missed, Sacramento had the basket surrounded with Webber and Vlade Divac. Because Walker got boxed out, he had to jump around Divac and ended up banging into Fisher and knocking the ball out of bounds.

But Walker was not the only Laker at fault. Either Bryant or Fox, or both, should have been fighting for the rebound instead of staying on the outside.

No. 4 -- Inability to shut down a Sacramento half-court play that ended with Divac’s two-hand dunk, which put the Kings ahead, 99-91, with 1:38 remaining.

One of the Kings’ favorite plays starts with getting the ball into the right post to Webber. From a spread offensive set, which featured Divac above the key, the Kings ran a series of cuts off the ball, with Bibby and Jackson emerging together at the free-throw line. This is where they lost the Lakers.

Fox was caught on a screen by Bibby and by the time Fisher reacted, Jackson had the ball on the right wing with a clear path to the lane. Robert Horry, who had replaced Walker and was guarding Webber, switched outside to Jackson, leaving Fox to front the bigger Sacramento forward.

With a smaller man on him, Webber made a strong cut to the basket after giving the ball to Jackson, which attracted O’Neal to the right side of the lane. That left Divac open and he gathered in a pass from Jackson for a two-hand slam.