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LOS ANGELES -- It was hard for Andrew Goudelock not to smile as he sat in front of his locker, even after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 120-89 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

He wasn’t smiling because he scored 20 points and was the leading scorer on the Lakers for much of the game.

He wasn’t smiling because the D-League MVP trophy he was given before the game was sitting right behind him, placed in a cardboard box that looked like it had just been shipped to him overnight.

And he wasn’t smiling because Metta World Peace was teasing him about being surrounded by dozens of reporters and cameras.

He was smiling because he was simply sitting in an NBA locker room again.

Not bad for a guy who went from making about $475,000 last season to borrowing money from his college girlfriend to pay his bills last month.

“I’m broke,” Goudelock said. “I’m cool. Nobody would know that I’m broke. I just come here with a smile on my face.”

It’s an unusual confession for an NBA player starting in the playoffs to make, but Goudelock wasn’t even in the league two weeks ago.

Goudelock, who was a second-round draft pick of the Lakers in 2011, was cut Oct. 27 prior to the season opener. He ended up being drafted by the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the D-League and later traded to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, where he averaged 21.4 points and won the D-League MVP, an award he didn’t even know existed before he won it.

Less than two weeks ago, the Lakers signed him for the final two games of the regular season and playoffs after Kobe Bryant ruptured his Achilles tendon.

“This business just keeps getting crazier,” Goudelock said. “I wouldn’t think I’d be here two weeks ago. Nothing happens the way it’s supposed to happen. This is a great opportunity, going from the D-League a week and a half ago to starting in the playoffs. It shows you the nature of the business.”

Business wasn’t so good for Goudelock after being cut by the Lakers. Despite playing well in front of dozens of fans in cities like Bakersfield, Calif.; Canton, Ohio; and Erie, Pa., Goudelock was living paycheck to paycheck after finishing up his rookie salary.

“I was so broke I had to borrow money,” he said. “I’ve had the same girlfriend since college, and I had to call her to give me money and she’s still in college, but I didn’t have any other choice. I didn’t want to call my parents. I’m too old for that. Some days I couldn’t even eat, and she sent me money. It’s definitely an experience I’m going to tell my kids about.”

Goudelock made about $1,200 every two weeks while he was in the D-League, and his per diem was $40. Before the Lakers left for San Antonio for a four-day trip, his per diem was slightly different.

“When I got my per diem, I was the happiest guy in the world. It was $500!” Goudelock said. “I took that! That’s like half my check in the D-League. … You go to the D-League, and you basically lose money. I used to tell people I might as well work at Burger King or do something else, but it all pays off.”

Goudelock didn’t want to bother his parents with monetary requests while he was struggling this season, but after he called to let them know he would be starting Friday, they surprised him at the game by getting on the first flight they could from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

“It took them a lot of money to come here, but I’m glad they’re here,” Goudelock said. “I’m glad they got to see me play.”

As Goudelock talked about his experiences on the road, on buses and sleeping on floors, he smiled again as he looked across the locker room at Darius Morris. He and Morris were both selected in the second round of the 2011 NBA draft by the Lakers, five picks apart, but didn’t want to have anything to do with each other when they both got to Los Angeles.

“We really didn’t like each other,” Goudelock said. “We would compete all the time, and we ended up being real good friends. We never thought this would happen.”

No one thought this would happen. Bryant’s injury might have brought Goudelock back to Los Angeles, but injuries to Steve Nash, Steve Blake and Jodie Meeks catapulted him and Morris into the starting lineup Friday. Goudelock had 20 points and three steals while Morris added 24 points and six assists.

“Every time we look at each other we say this is crazy,” Goudelock said. “When we first got here, I don’t even think we spoke to each other. It was a completion thing. In training camp, I said that’s the enemy, but as time went on, we were doing this together and we got really, really close.

"When I was in the D-League, he would text me and call me and ask me about certain situations. He had my back just like I had his. I’m just glad that we get this opportunity to go out and play together.”

This was certainly not the way Goudelock and Morris wanted to get their moment in the playoff spotlight. They began the season as third stringers in a backcourt behind Bryant, Nash, Meeks and Blake, but if this season has taught them anything, it’s that nothing ever goes exactly the way you plan it. Goudelock wouldn’t have it any other way.

"For a guy like me, I've been through so many different types of situations, and it seems like I'm always the one that gets the short end of the stick,” he said. “But, you know, I always just try to keep a smile on my face, keep my head up, and you know you're always going to be where you're supposed to be. If you're working hard, if you're really working hard and you want something, you're going to get there. Nobody is going to be able to stop you from getting there whether you get the short end of the stick or not."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Dwight Howard was the last player on the court after practice Saturday.

He is almost always the last player on the court.

It might not show, but he spends hours working on his free throws with Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person before firing a few shots from beyond the arc as he yells “Sam Perkins!” -- an ode to the former Los Angeles Lakers big man who had a penchant for hitting the deep ball.

Howard, however, did something different Saturday after the Lakers finished their first practice following Kobe Bryant's ruptured Achilles tendon just 12 hours earlier, which will sideline him for the next six to nine months.

With his teammates gathered, Howard stood in front of them and spoke for the first time as the team leader.

“I just told them that [Lakers management] put this team together for a reason, and we all know how to play basketball,” Howard said. “We’ve all done special things in our career before, and it’s time to do it again. We’ve all been blessed to play with Kobe, but we all have talent too, and we have to show it.”

For the first time since being traded to the Lakers in August, Howard was given the opportunity to lead the team. It’s a position he held with the Orlando Magic for the previous eight seasons and one that he anticipated accepting with the Lakers at some point after Bryant retires.

“That’s why they brought me here,” Howard said.

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LOS ANGELES -- If the Los Angeles Lakers end up making the deep postseason run the team hopes it can, then there might be some help on the way for their depleted bench.

Backup big man Jordan Hill was examined by Dr. Thomas Byrd in Nashville, Tenn., this week and cleared to begin running on an altered-gravity treadmill starting Friday.

The clearance comes just three months after Hill underwent what was considered at the time to be season-ending surgery on his left hip.

Hill will begin running with 70 percent of his body weight, according to the team. He will gradually increase the weight on the treadmill, barring any setbacks, and be cleared for full weight-bearing running and jumping exercises once he reaches 100 percent.

The team estimates it will take another 3-4 weeks of on-court basketball drills before Hill will be able to resume playing in games.

The four-year veteran averaged 6.7 points and 5.7 rebounds in 15.8 minutes per game this season.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- The second quarter was so ugly that Kobe Bryant decided he had seen enough even while there was still time left on the clock.

Bryant left the court and stalked off to the locker room with 0.5 seconds remaining after the Golden State Warriors had upped their already ample 19-point lead to 23 with two tip-ins in the span of 1.4 seconds.

There was a comedy of errors from the Los Angeles Lakers to end the quarter, from Dwight Howard picking up a technical foul after getting smacked in the face by a David Lee elbow (causing a cut to his lip that required three stitches) to Metta World Peace nearly stealing a ball, only to deflect it to a wide-open Klay Thompson for a 3-pointer, to World Peace throwing a full-court inbound pass away, which led to the second of the aforementioned tip-ins by Andrew Bogut.

Sham-mockery, indeed.

The second half was better, as L.A. held Golden State to 44 points after allowing 63 in the first two quarters, but too much damage was done early on.

How it happened: The Warriors used runs of 8-0 and 7-0 in the first quarter to open up a 12-point lead after the first period. That was the closest L.A. would get the rest of the way. The last time the Lakers came to Golden State in December, they erased a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to win. That was not the case Monday. The Lakers attempted a rally, cutting the Warriors' lead all the way down to six, but a win wasn't in the cards.

What it means: "We’re in a fight for our lives, and let’s act on it," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said before the game.

If the Lakers didn't know that going into the night -- having lost consecutive games to the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards -- they should certainly be well aware of it after getting embarrassed by Golden State.

It's the Lakers' first three-game losing streak since that air-it-out meeting they had in Memphis back in late January.

For a team that has said its strategy to get into the postseason is to win three out of every four games the rest of the way, that constitutes a crisis.

As bad as Utah has played, with a 4-9 record in March so far, the Jazz are just a game behind L.A. for the eighth seed in the Western Conference and hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers.

Hits: Dwight Howard had 15 rebounds.

Steve Nash neared a triple-double with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

This dunk by Bryant.

Misses: Three Warriors players -- Lee, Thompson and Stephen Curry -- scored 20 or more points.

Bryant, while scoring a game-high 36 points, shot 11-for-27 overall and 2-for-10 from 3.

Stat of the game: Jarrett Jack, who scored 29 points the last time the Lakers played in Golden State, scored 19 Monday and nearly matched the 21 points scored by the Lakers' bench contingent of Jodie Meeks (13), Antawn Jamison (five), Steve Blake (three) and Earl Clark (zero). The L.A. bench shot 7-for-26 overall while Jack was 9-for-16.

What's next: The Lakers continue their four-game road trip with a back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday in Minnesota and Milwaukee, respectively, and then finish it up in Sacramento on Saturday.

LOS ANGELES -- The restarted season actually seems to have worked this time.

After a winless preseason, coaching change and injuries galore, the Los Angeles Lakers' 2012-13 season finally has some momentum moving in the right direction.

The Lakers still have a lot of work to do at 19-25 to fully get back in the playoff picture, but if they play like this on a consistent basis and stay healthy, that shouldn't be a problem.

How it happened: Quite simply, the Lakers battled. They battled for rebounds (winning the boards 43-39). They battled on defense (holding the Thunder to 44.4 percent shooting overall and 25 percent from 3-point range). They battled all the questions and doubt that has surrounded them to put together their best game of the season.

What it means: If the Lakers stick to the game plan they've employed in their past two games against Utah and Oklahoma City -- digging in on defense and sharing the ball on offense -- playoffs, here they come. They still have a major challenge ahead of them -- taking their 5-15 road record on a seven-game road trip starting Wednesday -- but they have clearly found something that works and have the momentum they need to get some wins away from Staples Center.

Hits: Kobe Bryant (21 points, 14 assists, 9 rebounds) just missed a triple-double for the second straight game and matched his 14-assist total against Utah.

Six Lakers scored in double figures including Bryant, Metta World Peace (15 points), Steve Nash (17), Pau Gasol (16), Earl Clark (11) and even Antawn Jamison, who chipped in 12 points in 13 minutes.

Misses: Dwight Howard got saddled by five fouls and had trouble finding his rhythm, finishing just 3-for-7 from the field and 2-for-10 from the foul line for eight points to go along with 10 rebounds.

Stat of the night: Russell Westbrook shot just 6-for-22 from the field after starting the game 1-for-13.

What's next: The Lakers host the New Orleans Hornets on Tuesday and expect to get Steve Blake back in the lineup for the first time since Nov. 11 before they head out on the road.

CHICAGO -- To borrow a line from those great ESPN “30 for 30” teasers: What if I told you Dwight Howard would miss zero games because of his surgically repaired back in the first half of the Los Angeles Lakers' 2012-13 season and the team would be 17-24, seven games under .500, at the midway point?

You wouldn't believe it, right?

The Lakers entered the past offseason as an old and slow team but acquired one of the top 10 players in the league, a physical specimen unlike any other, yet here they are getting worse by the day.

Thought Sunday's loss to the Toronto Raptors was bad, when Howard got an unfair shake in the first half by picking up a phantom technical foul (that has since been rescinded by the league) and Kobe Bryant went 10-for-32 shooting and took all the blame?

How about Monday's version of events, when Howard managed just 8 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 30 minutes? He should have come out like a man on fire in making up for the Raptors game, but after the Lakers' 12-point loss to the Bulls he placed the blame anywhere but on himself.

Here's how Howard explained away the result in his postgame interview:

Question: Why couldn't he get going?

Howard: "They made it tough. I missed some shots early, didn't get an opportunity to go to work like I wanted to. But it will be OK."

How do you fix it?

Howard: "Just got to stay together, keep believing. We can't quit on each other. I know how tough it's been for us, but we got to stick together. I hate what we're going through, but it's got to be for a reason. I don't know the reason right now, but everything happens for a reason. And whatever we're going through, we can't lose faith. We just got to stay positive."

Why didn't he have a bounce-back effort like the last time he was ejected from a game, against Denver, then dominated against Portland?

Howard: "Look at the stat sheet."

Fouls?

"No, look at the stat sheet."

Turnovers?

"Look at the stat sheet."

Then a reporter brought up Howard's shot total of five, of which he made two. (Howard shot 4-for-8 from the free throw line, also, so the meager total of five shots is a bit skewed.)

How can you get more shots?

Howard: "You guys know. It's simple. Play inside-out."

What can you do to play inside-out?

Howard: "There's not nothing I can do. Just continue to play. Not get frustrated. As hard as it is, I can't get frustrated."

Will playing inside-out fix things?

Howard: "We just got to play the right way. All I can tell you guys is we just got to keep believing. We can't lose faith in each other. It's tough. The team that we are, we're not built to lose like this. It's frustrating, but we just got to find a way to stick together.”

He continued: "Like I said earlier, everything happens for a reason and there's a reason why we're going through all this failure right now. It seems like the harder we try, the faster we fall. We just got to figure out a way to stay strong throughout all the crap that's keeping us down. It's tough. It's tough as a team. It's tough as individuals, because we want to do so good. But it's frustrating. The only thing we can do is keep looking up and try to pull ourselves up."

The perplexing part is that Howard said the team needs to keep its faith in one another in one breath, then in the next breath he vaguely referred to the stat sheet that saw him go 2-for-5 ... while Bryant shot 7-for-22, extending Bryant's three-game slump to a 25-for-79 total from the field.

Howard didn't explicitly blame Bryant, the way Kobe asked the media to do Sunday, but he might as well have.

Words shouldn't matter at this point. We all know actions are the only way to get the Lakers turned in the right direction -- actions such as protecting the basketball (L.A. had 16 turnovers to Chicago's eight), making shots (L.A. went 3-for-17 from the 3-point line while Chicago was 9-for-17 from 3), sharing the basketball (the Bulls had 25 assists to the Lakers' 15).

But if you're going to talk, it's better not to contradict yourself.

Pau Gasol, a two-time champion with these Lakers and four-time All-Star, had as much reason to whine as any Lakers player (and he did a little) after being reduced to a bench role, but he let his 15 points and 12 rebounds in just 26 minutes say so much more.

When reporters tried to pry quotes out of Gasol about how upset he was with Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni, he kept turning the conversation toward the team instead of himself.

"It starts by us being on the same page, having each other’s back, just being supportive of each other," Gasol said. "Not making excuses. Not pointing fingers. And just owning up to our responsibilities and wanting to get out of this and having the pride necessary that it takes to utilize our talents and go beat the opponent no matter who it is, no matter where we are."

When will Howard own up to his responsibilities? When will he play with the consistency that will be necessary for the Lakers to have a chance to spin things around?

D'Antoni didn't have an answer when asked if he had any explanation for Howard's inconsistency.

"No," D'Antoni said.

Howard's first season in a Lakers uniform is halfway over and there are still more questions than answers.

Will Howard re-sign as a free agent at the end of the season? After a half-season of evidence, will the Lakers want to re-sign him and make him the face of the franchise moving forward once Bryant retires? Can this season possibly take a turn for the better? Or, maybe more aptly, can this season get any worse?

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

CHICAGO -- The Los Angeles Lakers played game No. 41 of their 82-game schedule in near identical fashion to the way they've played most of their games in the first half of this nightmare of a season: fall down early; scramble to get back in the game; get close but not close enough because team cohesion and energy aren't quite there; and lose the game.

Same script, different darn day.

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said before they played the Chicago Bulls on Monday that "good" teams in this league lose 26 games in a season, while "bad" teams only manage to win 26.

Well, in order for the 17-24 Lakers to become one of those "good" teams by way of D'Antoni's explanation, they have to go 39-2 over the second half of the year.

Good luck with that.

Here’s a look at the script from Chicago:

How it happened: The Lakers were able to erase an early 11-point deficit to tie the game at six heading into the fourth quarter. Then, it all fell apart. It was a one-possession game with a little more than four minutes remaining, then the Bulls had the lead back up to double digits in the blink of an eye as the Lakers' long-range shots clanked off the rim and Chicago's outside specialists were able to shoot freely against L.A. defenders who were slow to close out.

What it means: The first half of the season was a complete and utter disaster for this Lakers team. They are now 5-14 on the road, with a road-heavy second half of the schedule. It's tough to see them turning it around.

Hits: Steve Nash had 18 points on 7-for-12 shooting, along with six assists. Pau Gasol made the most of his new bench role, putting up 15 points and 12 rebounds as a substitute. And Earl Clark continued his inspired play with 12 points and eight boards.

Misses: After Dwight Howard was ejected Sunday in Toronto, the prevailing thought coming into Monday’s contest with Chicago was the big man would respond with a monster effort versus the Bulls. So much for that theory. During a wildly inconsistent season, Howard added to his puzzling personal tale, accounting for just six points, nine rebounds and two blocks, to go along with his four turnovers and five fouls in 30 minutes.

Kobe Bryant shot 7-for-22 from the field to bring his three-game shooting slump to a deplorable 25-for-79 (31.6 percent) from the field.

Injuries have been a constant refrain for the Lakers this season. But the Bulls were playing without Derrick Rose and Luol Deng. With Kirk Hinrich (22 points on 9-for-11 shooting, eight assists) and Jimmy Butler (10 points, eight rebounds and four assists in 44 energy-infused minutes), the Bulls' offense didn't skip a beat.

Stat of the night: The Bulls shot 9-for-17 from the 3-point line, while the Lakers shot 3-for-17.

What's next: The Lakers have Tuesday off as they travel to Memphis after an 0-2 back-to-back against Toronto and Chicago. They'll close out their three-game road trip against the Grizzlies on Wednesday. It doesn't get any easier after that, with seven out of L.A.'s next 10 games after Memphis coming away from Staples Center.

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Steve Nash was on the "Max & Marcellus Show" on ESPNLA 710 radio on Monday and couldn't help but let out a self-deprecating laugh when Max Kellerman laid out the predicament he's in this season:

Here Nash is, a 38-year-old point guard in his 17th season joining the enemy in the Los Angeles Lakers to try to get a ring after playing with the Phoenix Suns for so long … and right now a championship seems about as far-fetched as Nash winning the dunk contest during All-Star weekend.

While things certainly haven't gone according to plan (at Nash's introductory press conference in July he said, "This is going to be a really exciting chapter of my career," and I'm sure he'd choose a different adjective than "exciting" these days), the former two-time MVP is keeping the team focused on a more humble goal of just qualifying for the postseason.

"Obviously, the goal is to win a championship when you have a team like we have on paper," Nash told the radio station. "Having said that, I think now our goal is to make the playoffs. If we make the playoffs, maybe we can re-adjust our goals. But the goal right now is to make the playoffs.”

"That would be an edit [of expectations], I would say,” Nash said. “I think I would be lying, I think everybody would be lying, if we didn’t admit to that. For me, the goal at this point is to not give up, to not give in, to not allow the disparity in where we are and where our expectations were to immobilize us or limit us. It’s to keep pushing everybody, to keep encouraging, to keep fighting and demanding of each other every day so that when we can look back and say, ‘Look at how far we’ve come,’ regardless of what happens."

Here is a selection of Nash's answers during the 30-minute interview:

On whether he and Kobe Bryant have met privately to discuss how to lead the team:

"We have for sure. We’ve definitely had conversations about how we can move the group forward. I think it’s obviously been a tough start to my career here and it’s been a tough year for everybody -- coaching change, injuries, the record -- so we’re definitely trying everything we can to try to move this thing forward. We’ve had conversations and we just put so much into it. We both prepare every day. We both put this before everything. For the most part, we don’t go home and have too much fun. We go home and do the best we can trying to get ready to be better the next day. When that’s your mentality, you’re not getting a lot of sleep. You’re thinking about the team and how you can help it."

On how the Lakers need a team effort to bounce back:

"The bottom line is, the only way out of this is together, and the only way to get on a roll here is to not worry about anything but sacrificing and giving to the team. I think there have been times where we’ve spent such little time together, so much change and so much stuff to figure out, that we haven’t found that comfort. So then, ‘How can I get comfortable?’ instead of ‘How can I impact this game right now?’ I just think we haven’t really hit the ground running yet."

On treating the rest of the season like a marathon or a sprint:

"If our team was 25-10, or whatever, maybe I would be pacing myself. But we don’t have that luxury, so I think we’re not good enough to be pacing. I think for me, as one of the leaders of the team, I got to give everything. I know you guys in football talk about putting it on the tape. Well, the way this team is, I got to put quality on the tape. Defensively I got to be in the right spot every time. I got to hustle. I got to do all the little things that on better teams maybe isn’t as important, but on this team it’s really important, to send that message and set an example that there is no pacing, there is no conserving energy and there is no missing assignments. I think for me, there’s no question, I can’t really pace myself."

On being nearly 40 with teammates in their early 20s:

"There is a gap. At the same time, we manage to develop many relationships of that sort here in the locker room and through our career in the locker room. So I think in that respect we can overcome the gap. I think the biggest two things are: One, the commonality of the love for the game. You know, you hope that a young player has that and that lasts no matter if you’re a veteran or a coach or whatever it is; there’s always that commonality. And then I think two for us also we can form bonds with the younger players as far as helping guide them. Helping their game, but also helping them navigate their career. So, I think there’s a lot of ways where it doesn’t have to be as pronounced as me being nearly 39 and someone else being 22 to 23 years old."

On Bryant picking up the opposing point guards on defense moving forward:

"I think for Kobe, he’s our most athletic player and he has the most experience for the most part. And he’s also a guy that takes a challenge and loves a challenge and it gets him engaged and gets his juices flowing. We’re talking about someone that scored 30,000-plus points and is asked to do a lot for us, and the one way to really -- if it’s possible to try to get more out of Kobe, as great as he is -- is to challenge him sometimes. … Throughout my career, I’ve often had the 2 or the 3 or the 4, even, guard me in different situations, and as a point guard, that can be tough to put someone with length on you to force you into picks and into help and to chase you down to come from behind. … So in some ways it’s great to get his athleticism and get that combative nature on somebody with the ball. It’s fantastic for our team. So, it makes a lot of sense I think. I don’t think we’ll do it all the time, but I think more nights than not it will help our team."

On averaging just 7.8 field goal attempts per game, down from his career mark of 10.7 attempts per game:

"Ideally, I’d love to shoot more. I like to shoot. I like to score. I’m competitive. In particularly tight games, I feel an urge to be aggressive and score. At the same time, especially lately with a lot of injuries, it’s almost been the opposite … I can’t be stubborn and just dribble, dribble, dribble through and around double-teams as a point guard. I got to get rid of it early and try to create opportunities, odd-number opportunities on the weakside -- 3-on-2s, 2-on-1s. And, so, I don’t always get the opportunities the way we play, and as a facilitator I think it’s twofold: One, I don’t want to overhunt shots because I think it can disrupt the flow and it can disrupt my teammates. And then the second part is just I’m going to my teammates. I’m trying to keep that harmony and make the right play and right decision and know that in time that will help our team.

"I guess another way to say it is, if we get the ball moving and guys are getting shots and the offense is hitting on all cylinders, it’s going to get a lot more difficult to jump out on pick-and-rolls and draw too much attention to them. They’re going to loosen up a little bit, then I can find opportunities. So, I agree. It would be great. I know I can make shots and theoretically we’d want me to shoot more; at the same time, it’s not always as simple as coming down and jacking a long, early 3. So, the truth is more difficult than it seems. Yes, I would like to get more shots up, but I’m not the type of point guard that’s going to force it."

On what impresses him about Bryant's leadership:

"This is a guy that takes a helicopter to and from [games and practices] sometimes because he wants to save his knees. That’s a sacrifice. … You can say he has all the money in the world, but a [$2,000] pop each way or one way, round-trip -- I don’t know -- just to get to and from because he wants to save his knees? That’s a guy that’s putting a lot into this, and it just signifies the kind of effort and detail he has. So, as a teammate and as a leader, I mean that I think [showing] leadership is about being yourself. If you’re yourself, people will believe in you; they’ll believe in your motive. And then you’re authentic and they trust you. I think this is a guy that people understand his motive. Everyone’s leadership style is different, but as a teammate and as a leader, basketball is something that he puts all his energy into, and you can’t ask for more than that as a teammate."

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES -- Metta World Peace predicted during the summer that the new-look Los Angeles Lakers would give the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls' historic 72-10 record a run for its money.

Oh, how things have changed.

Following the Lakers' 112-105 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday that dropped their record to 15-18, the Lakers weren't talking about the 70-win plateau or even championship aspirations.

The bar has been lowered so far that several members of the team were focusing on using the final 49 games of the season to simply qualify for the postseason.

"I'm concerned," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said after the game. "Everybody's concerned. You say, 'Oh well, we'll turn it around'? Well, we've got to do that. Yeah, there's concern. The hole's not too big. Mathematically, we can still make the playoffs. We just got to figure out our identity and play better. We're just not playing well."

The Lakers are in 11th place in the West and three games behind Portland for the eighth and final playoff spot.

"The West is difficult," Steve Nash said. "We got to find a way to win 45, 46, 47 games. The window is closing."

The Lakers would have to go 30-19 the rest of the way to achieve the minimum amount of games that Nash mentioned.

To go from playing .455 ball through the first 33 games of the season to playing .612 ball during the final 49 games will take getting on the same page, something that appears to be difficult for the Lakers to do at the moment.

"I think it's fine for us to boil over a little bit," Kobe Bryant said. "I think it's fine for us to get a little chippy. I kind of get the sense that in this locker room that's finally starting to happen."

As chippy as things were, most of the talking continued to be to the media rather than to each other in the postgame locker room.

"It was quiet," Nash said. "I think guys are down. … It was quiet."

Dwight Howard said there has been enough of that edginess already this season anyway.

"It’s been chippy a lot this year," Howard said. "We don’t want to lose. Our intent is not to go out there and lose every game. This is a tough stretch. We just got to stay together. We can’t point the finger at anybody. This is a team thing."

While it may be a team thing, D'Antoni said that talk and chemistry-building is overrated as long as everybody is playing with maximum effort.

"The only thing we can ask these guys is play as hard as you can," D'Antoni said. "Whether you’re happy or not, it doesn’t really matter. Play as hard as you can. You don’t have to love each other."

Howard, who has been calling for chemistry improvement more than any of his teammates, did not want to respond to D'Antoni's claim after the game.

"This is not a back-and-forth between me and Mike," Howard told reporters. "Whatever he says, that’s how he feels. Whatever I say, that’s how I feel. There’s no need to go back and forth between me and him."

So, Howard was asked, how do you feel?

"I said how I feel," Howard reiterated. "We have to play together. We have to have team chemistry in order for us to win, and that’s how I feel."

And how is that team chemistry right now?

"It has to get better," Howard said.

Howard preached patience in order to make that improvement.

"It takes time," Howard said. "That’s the only thing I can tell you guys. Even the teams nowadays, they don’t get to win right away. Miami didn’t win right away. So, it takes time for all that stuff to come together. We, as players, got to understand that despite what’s going on around us, we have to stay the course and do whatever we do every day to get better and we can’t let anything affect us from the outside."

Yet Nash, as much of a team guy as the Lakers have, seemed to have patience that has been worn thin by this point.

"We should feel we're in a desperate position," Nash said. "It doesn't mean a panic. We got to embrace that. Come out every night and take it as a great opportunity to climb our way out of this hole. That's the way I've always approached pressure or desperation, is to embrace it, enjoy it and really go out there and take it as an opportunity to turn things around and get some positive vibes back. That, in some ways, will be a triumph in itself, and then we can go from there."

Even if they do indeed "go from there," just exactly where is the place they're going?

They might have recalibrated their goal into a postseason berth at this point, and that's no place for a team that came into this thing seeking a ring.

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES -- It was another gut-check game for the Los Angeles Lakers -- against another opponent ahead of them in the Western Conference standings -- and all L.A. did was get punched in the gut again.

Talk of the Lakers' chemistry, or lack thereof, dominated the headlines since their loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday, but coach Mike D'Antoni tried to put it to bed before Sunday night’s tipoff against the Denver Nuggets.

"Everybody’s got a job to do," D'Antoni said. "The only thing we can ask these guys is play as hard as you can. Whether you’re happy or not, it doesn’t really matter. Play as hard as you can. You don’t have to love each other.”

“I’ve been on a lot of championship teams in Europe when there was edges and we didn’t go out to dinner together every night,” he said. “That is not why we’re losing. We’re losing right now because we don’t have a consistent 48 minutes of basketball."

The Lakers might have played harder on Sunday against the Nuggets, but things are still broken in La La Land ... and there doesn't appear to be an easy fix coming anytime soon.

How it happened: The Lakers gave up 34 points to the Nuggets and trailed by as many as nine early on before clawing back. Same script, different day, because L.A. expended so much energy just trying to make a game of it that they let their guard down and allowed Denver to push the lead back up to 10 in the fourth quarter.

L.A. made a last-ditch effort, with Bryant knocking down a 3 to cut the lead to three with 11.2 seconds remaining (his second tough corner 3 in as many possessions at that point); but as has been the case a lot lately with the Lakers, it was too little too late.

What it means: The Lakers have to go 35-14 the rest of the way to get to 50 wins, which is the number you want to hit just to make the playoffs in the West.

Hits: Dwight Howard had a career-high 26 rebounds. Bryant scored 29 points to lead all scorers. Steve Nash had 10 points and 13 assists, racking up his fourth straight game of 10 or more dimes.

Denver coach George Karl selected the Lakers' Earl Clark to check in the game with 1:05 remaining in the fourth quarter after Gasol went out with a bloody nose and could not shoot his free throws. After not playing all game prior to that point, Clark stuck both freebies no problem like he was Sasha Vujacic in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals against Boston.

Misses: The Lakers had 18 turnovers leading to 14 Denver points.

The Nuggets outscored the Lakers 60-38 in the paint and 25-14 on fast-break points.

Stat of the night: All five starters scored in double digits for the Lakers and L.A. assisted on 30 of 38 baskets, and it still didn't matter in the outcome.

Notes: Antawn Jamison played in the first quarter and promptly hit a long jumper, accounting for the first points he's scored for L.A. since Dec. 13. … Chris Duhon returned to court action after missing the past two games because of back spasms.

What's next: The Lakers get a back-to-back in Houston and San Antonio on Tuesday and Wednesday against teams that are decidedly unafraid of the guys in purple and gold. They've now had four losses in their past five games. Include the Texas road trip and the home game against Oklahoma City when they get back from it, and losing seven of eight a real possibility.

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES -- Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard will play against the Denver Nuggets after suffering a minor right shoulder strain Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers, according to the Lakers' coach.

"He's fine. He's good. That's Superman in there," Mike D'Antoni said during his pregame remarks to the media Sunday.

Howard was able to participate in Sunday's shootaround and wore kinesiology tape on his shoulder in the locker room before the game.

The Lakers are describing Howard's injury as a "stinger." He was able to finish the game against the Clippers after sustaining the injury in the third quarter.

Jordan Hill, who suffered a sprained right ankle in the Clippers game, also is available to play Sunday.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- In the aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 107-102 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers Friday night that dropped them to 15-17 on the season, Kobe Bryant was feeling a bit introspective.

"Thoughts of self doubt...Am I done? Is this how my career will end?? I REFUSE to give in to these thoughts. #strongwill #countonchallenges," Bryant tweeted after the game.

Wait, Kobe Bryant tweeted that?

For a guy who joined Twitter earlier in the day with a simple, "The antisocial has become social #mambatweets" tweet, this was a pretty big leap into a new social medium.

But a day later, Bryant said to expect that kind of honesty to continue.

"I think it's important on platforms to have a level of transparency," Bryant said of his foray into social media this year. "If you're going to do it, I think that makes it more interesting, instead of being on there and talking about trivial things or giving generic, standard answers. I think that's boring and not real. If you're going to do it, you may as well be real and be honest. It is what it is."

So Kobe Bryant really was doubting himself after the game?

"You've heard me say it before," he said. "I think it just gets drowned out in how I respond to it. I say self-doubt and then you see 81 and then you forget I say self-doubt."

Bryant said he wanted to open up a little in part to show some vulnerability to his teammates, letting them know it was OK to feel that way so long as you respond to it well.

"I think it's good for them, especially for them to know I have those moments, as well," Bryant said. "I'm sure they've had them. I don't know how they respond to them. Maybe in certain instances, maybe they let the self-doubt get the best of them. I refuse to let that happen. I think it's good for us."

So what other times has Bryant doubted himself?

"That's not the first time I had self-doubt," he said. "You start back to my rookie year as far as whether or not I was going to make it in this league. But the way I go about dealing with it is not capitulating into those doubts. I face them, embrace and take it as a personal challenge. With social platforms, it's a good way to voice that and hopefully inspire others to do the same."

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni isn't into social media. He doesn't follow Bryant on Twitter. But he'd have a hard time understanding where the self-doubt was coming from after Friday's game.

"I thought last night Kobe's performance, and I've coached awhile and played awhile, was one of the best I've ever seen," D'Antoni said of Bryant, who scored 38 points on 15-for-25 shooting and defended Clippers point guard Chris Paul much of the night.

"In the sense of both sides, what he did for 43 minutes -- and Chris Paul played great and he is great -- but I thought Kobe did an unbelievable job on him, getting through pick-and-rolls,” he said. “And then what he did offensively. I'm sitting there going, 'Wow, this is good.'"

D'Antoni is worried, though, about asking too much of Bryant early in the season.

"I'm already wearing him out," D'Antoni said. "But we've got to get out of this rut. And I hope not to kill him and rely so much on him to do so many things. But right now, if we're trying to get a quick win, that's the best way to go."

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard said he is unsure if he'll be able to play in Sunday's game against the Denver Nuggets after suffering a sprained rotator cuff in the Lakers’ 107-102 loss Friday to the Los Angeles Clippers.

"I thought it was a stinger. It kept hurting the whole rest of the game, but my adrenaline was pumping," Howard said after sitting out of the Lakers’ practice Saturday. "But last night, it was killing me. And I was in a lot of pain this morning. I couldn't put my clothes on.

"Hopefully it feels better so I can play, but if not, I'll have to sit down."

Howard was injured in the third quarter when he was fouled by Clippers forward Caron Butler while attempting a dunk.

Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said there was a good chance Howard would be available Sunday.

Jordan Hill (ankle) was able to practice and will be available Sunday.

 

LOS ANGELES -- It had the feeling of a letdown game when you saw it on the schedule. What was going to wake up the Lakers for a game on New Year's Day against a sub-.500, Andrew Bynum-less Philadelphia 76ers team that L.A. just beat in Philly about two weeks ago with relative ease?

"It’s always a tricky game on a holiday," Pau Gasol warned at practice Monday. "So it’s a game that we need, and then we’ll think about the next one when we get to it."

Turns out that road win against the Sixers was a bit misleading, because UCLA product Jrue Holiday wasn't playing. With Holiday's 26 points and 10 assists, Philadelphia was a whole different animal on Tuesday.

How it happened: After falling behind by 11 early, the Lakers let a four-point halftime deficit swell to eight headed into the fourth quarter. Kobe Bryant and Metta World Peace tried to shoot the Lakers back into the game in the fourth quarter, but the closest L.A. would come was within two points after a Bryant 3-pointer, which was immediately followed by a Spencer Hawes jumper to bump it back to four points.

What it means: Consistent energy and effort have been elusive mistresses for the Lakers this season. As 2013 begins, they'll have to try to find that six-of-seven-wins momentum they had at the end of 2012.

Hits: Kobe Bryant got back on the 30-point train with 36 points on 14-for-29 shooting to lead all scorers.

Jordan Hill had 10 points and eight rebounds in 19 minutes, but eight of those points and six of those boards came in the eight minutes he played in the first quarter.

Misses: It took Dwight Howard until 6:15 remained in the third quarter before he scored his first field goal after starting the game 0-for-5. He managed to chip in 14 rebounds and five blocks, but his mobility didn't seem to be there as he finished with just seven points (1-for-7 from the field and 5-for-10 from the line). Gasol had 11 points and nine rebounds, but his accuracy wasn't much better (2-for-12 overall, 0-for-2 from 3).

The Lakers shot just 3-for-22 as a team from 3-point range (13.6 percent).

Notes: Antawn Jamison received a DNP-CD for the sixth straight game. … Chris Duhon did not play because of back spasms. He said he will "definitely" be ready for the Lakers' next game Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers.

Stat of the night: Don't blame this one on turnovers. The Lakers had just seven of them, leading to six Philly points.

What's next: The Lakers-Clippers rivalry has certainly picked up in recent seasons, with Blake Griffin making the Lakers' Staples Center cohabitants relevant again and the Chris Paul trade fiasco adding fuel to the fire. The Clippers won't be coming into Friday's game riding a long winning streak (it ended at 17 with a loss in Denver on Tuesday), but it should be a great test for the Lakers regardless. The schedule also gives the Lakers a break -- two days without a game before the Clippers matchup. The Lakers have an off day Wednesday and get a practice in Thursday before the game.

Dave McMenamin covers the Lakers for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers on Friday retired the jersey of Jamaal Wilkes, a.k.a. “the other guy” on those early 1980s championship teams that starred Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but never would have won all those titles without “Silk” in the mix.

Before the Lakers went out and beat the Portland Trail Blazers 104-87 at Staples Center, Wilkes was asked what message he’d like to impart to the current crop of Lakers who have the same championship expectation as his teams three decades ago, but haven’t been showing the promise.

“My message would be five to 10 years from now, whatever you feel now, five to 10 years from now you’re going to look back and feel differently,” Wilkes said. “They have a great opportunity and I would just encourage them to do whatever it takes. If you got to learn how to play differently or whatever, do whatever it takes to help this team be as successful as they can be. Ultimately, that will be their legacy.”

Learn how to play differently.

It was almost as if Wilkes was speaking directly to the “other guy” on these Lakers, Pau Gasol, who doesn’t get nearly the same billing that Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash do.

Gasol has had plenty of reason to be frustrated with how this season has gone. From being left twisting in the trade winds a season ago to becoming a spare part in coach Mike D’Antoni’s offense this year, there’s been little solid ground for the four-time All-Star to feel comfortable digging in.

Slowly but surely, he’s learned to move with the changing landscape.

“I’m figuring out where I’m going to get my opportunities and where I’m going to get my looks, whether they’re 3s or anywhere else,” said Gasol after putting up 15 points on 6-for-9 shooting to go with nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks.

“I just have to keep working on positions where I’m going to be mostly during the games and try to be effective from whichever place.”

Gasol went 2-for-3 from 3-point land, marking the first time in his 12-year, 818-game career that he has hit a 3-pointer in three consecutive games. It also was the first time that he has hit multiple 3s in consecutive games (he was 2-for-3 in the loss to Denver).

When Gasol was putting the finishing touches on his night in the fourth quarter with a dead-on 3-pointer followed by a pump-fake, turnaround drop shot on a subsequent possession, there wasn’t anybody in the house as happy as Bryant and Howard, who were watching from the bench.

“He went from Pau Nowitzki to Pau Olajuwon, so that’s pretty good in one day,” said Howard.

“He has the talent to be able to add to his game and that’s what he’s doing,” Bryant added. “We’ll get him down low, we’ll put him on the elbow as well, but he has the talent to knock down 3-point shots. That’s something he’s accepted. That’s something that he’s worked on and it’s given us an added threat.”

While Nash has received a lot of the credit for the Lakers’ 3-1 record in the four games since he returned from his left leg injury, don’t forget the Lakers are actually 4-1 in the five games since Gasol returned from missing eight games because of knee tendinitis. Gasol has five assists or more in each of those five games, while shooting 5-for-10 from the 3-point line.

“That’s a good stat,” Gasol said of his assists. “I like that a lot. I like that more so than the 3s. I like getting my teammates easy looks and just moving the ball.”

Nash, the master of moving the ball, approves as well.

“It feels good,” Nash said of watching Gasol’s growth. “Obviously he hasn’t been himself this season, and tonight you saw a pretty dynamic display. He did a bit of everything and it was just fun to watch. He had a lot of energy and passion, and that’s key.”

Just how much does the Spaniard mean to the Canadian? Nash confirmed a report by Comcast SportsNet Bay Area’s Ric Bucher that he expressed the importance of the Lakers keeping Gasol before agreeing to join the purple and gold.

“I didn’t want to come here if they were going to trade away the frontcourt,” Nash told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I definitely wanted Pau to stay.”

Gasol is increasing his staying power with every game alongside Nash, growing into an invaluable piece to the puzzle -- even while dealing with painful plantar fasciitis in his right foot that left him celebrating his breakout game against the Blazers hunched in a chair in front of his locker with his leg in a bucket of ice at night’s end.

It was the same stance reporters have gotten used to seeing Bryant in after games this season, as ice has become a best friend to the 34-year-old star in his 17th season.

And Wilkes’ words rang true for Bryant, just as they did for Gasol.

“That’s great advice, and it’s extremely true,” Bryant said. “You don’t want to look back at your career and think, ‘Well, maybe if I sacrificed a little bit of this, sacrificed a little bit of that we would have been much better off. We would have had much better careers.’”

Gasol may have sacrificed being the player he once was in the past, but he’s working to become the player the Lakers need him to be in the future.