Lakers will face several obstacles on Grammy trip
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will perform at Staples Center on Jan. 26 as part of the earlier-than-usual Grammy Awards, booting the Lakers from their home court for seven games and 12 days.
It probably won’t go down as a magical mystery tour.
The continually short-handed Lakers are 6-13 on the road and have struggled just to get through practices with enough healthy bodies. They recently had only seven players available, forcing them to use such members of the player development staff as Mark Madsen, Larry Lewis and J.J. Outlaw.
A bad time to hit the road?
“Home games are coming at a tough time too,” Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni said Tuesday with a chuckle. “It’s kind of tough sledding right now. Whether it’s on the road or not, we’ve got to worry about us and play hard and play together and try to eke out some wins. There’s no magic potion, we’ve just got to do it.”
The Lakers could be wobbly-legged from the start of the trip, the first game coming against Phoenix on Wednesday after a home game against Cleveland the previous night.
From there, the Lakers will travel to play Boston on Friday, Toronto on Sunday, Chicago on Monday, Miami on Jan. 23, Orlando on Jan. 24 and New York on Jan. 26.
Only three teams the Lakers will face on the trip have winning records, but the Knicks have been playing better lately and the Celtics could have injured point guard Rajon Rondo in their lineup for the first time this season when their archrivals arrive.
Oh, and the Lakers haven’t won in Miami since 2005.
The Lakers will definitely be without guards Kobe Bryant (broken left knee), Steve Nash (back), Steve Blake (elbow) and Jordan Farmar (hamstring). Guard Xavier Henry, who has missed the Lakers’ last seven games because of a strained right knee, is expected to sit out at least another week before being re-evaluated.
Forward Pau Gasol is also playing with a hyperextended big left toe.
If nothing else, history is on the Lakers’ side; They have not posted a losing record on the Grammy trip since going 3-5 during the 2006-07 season. They went 4-3 last season and 3-3 the previous year.
Etc.
D’Antoni, on whether the Princeton offense that former Lakers coach Mike Brown tried to implement last season can work in today’s NBA: “I don’t know. I’m not even an expert on my offense.”
Twitter: @latbbolch
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