Lakers will regret another poor performance at home. They are rapidly throwing away the advantages the favorable schedule offers to secure homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs! An occasional shooting slump by one or two players is understandable. Being outrebounded 60-38 is unacceptable, as is the poor effort on offense and defense facing a Houston team with no legit center. If the Lakers are lucky enough to make the championship round they will face a difficult task against the Celtics/Magic/Cavs who, including the bench, even on a bad night give 100% effort physically and mentally. The Lakers bench has inconsistant shooters, poor defenders against fast guards and seem mentally fragile. On average scoring 20-30 points less with more turn-overs than contending team benches, coupled with poor defense, will prevent a repeat championship. The main Laker rivals have fewer road games after the first twenty!