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Rookie Andrew Goudelock began this season as the surprise winner of Kobe Bryant's primary backup at the two-guard. Later, he played some minutes as a quasi-point guard of sorts. He's a considerably more natural scorer than playmaker, but has the literal stature of a lead guard. So what position do the Lakers see him playing sown the road? As it turns out, they may wanna split the difference.

"They see me as a combo guard," explained Goudelock. "They see my size as point guard size but my game as more two-guard. So right now, I'm a two-guard, in the future, I strive to be a point guard who can score. A point guard that can play the two. A better combo guard. I think once I get more comfortable running the point guard position, I didn't run it until this year and I was learning it in the game on the fly. So that's really tough in the NBA. I think once I get more comfortable doing that, I'll be okay.

"One thing that I keep hearing from a lot of people around the league is [I] can shoot really well and there's a need for that. As long as I can shoot, I'm always gonna be okay. But for me to be successful as I wanna be, me tweaking those other areas, it's really important. Nobody wants to be a one-dimensional, two-dimensional player. I strive to be like some of the guys I came up watching. I always watched Allen Iverson, but you know, I don't think my career is gonna be anything like this. You have to be more realistic when you have watch guys and you wanna pattern your game after guys.

"I've always liked Chauncey Billups. Right now that's probably the biggest guy I'm looking to be somewhat like. Just keep trying to get better."

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It was a lively morning on the chat in the wake of Metta World Peace's suspension. Plenty of conversation about the implications going forward, and they are significant. Plus questions about resting starters for Thursday's game, whether Kobe Bryant ought to go for the scoring title, and more.

Here's the link to the transcript.

Over the last week, Lakers headlines have been dominated by issues like Kobe Bryant's shin, otherworldly rebounding from Andrew Bynum, a string of quality performances from Metta World Peace, and the implications of a 20-point loss to Phoenix and a 14-point win over San Antonio, both with The Mamba wearing a well-tailored suit. Such talking points would always feel trenchant, and with the playoffs lurking, the urgency is magnified tenfold. In the meantime, another notable development has surfaced almost entirely absent of hype. Compared to the previously mentioned story lines, under-the-radar status for this trend is understandable, but it nonetheless shouldn't be mistaken as trivial.

Quietly and by any measuring stick, Steve Blake, who's suffered through a largely disappointing season, has played two very good games in a row.

From a statistical standpoint, his numbers are much improved. Over the last two games, he's averaged nine points (53.8 percent from the field/60 percent from deep), 3.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, and .5 turnovers in 28.5 minutes. The stats aren't necessarily eye-popping, but they're perfectly fine from a backup point guard. And against the backdrop of his overall April splits (5.4 ppg, 41.4 FG, 41.2 3pt, 3.0 apg, 1.3 rpg, 1.1 TO), they're practically a revelation. While fellow reserve Matt Barnes has insisted the Lakers bench shouldn't be judged by scoring totals, this entire season has served as proof of how hamstrung the starters become without consistent support. In particular, Blake's cupboard has been bare. Nobody would reasonably expect a dude with a 6.9 ppg career-average to reinvent himself as a purple and gold James Harden, but some firepower off the pine is mandatory. For at least two games, Blake's brought a gun to a gunfight.

Blake's also managed to impact games beyond his numbers. In New Orleans, a pair of charges were drawn and he not only tracked down an otherwise certain turnover, but managed to huck the ball while airborne to Ramon Sessions. The possession ended with Barnes scoring at the rim, but Blake enabled the basket, even as the only principal who didn't enter the box score on the sequence. Against the Spurs, he prevented a fast break by hustling back on transition, squaring up Stephen Jackson and getting his mitts on the ball. Slowed by Blake, Jackson had to take the ball out, and the ensuing possession came up dry.

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Before getting his number called as the surprise starter in place of the injured Kobe Bryant on Saturday, Devin Ebanks had fallen completely out of the Lakers' rotation, not playing more than 10 minutes in a game since Jan. 13 against Cleveland.

Rookie guard Andrew Goudelock is in the same boat. After going through a stretch in late January through early February when he scored in double digits in four out of five games for L.A., Goudelock hasn't sniffed double-digit minutes since March 18 against Utah when he went 1-for-5 in 11 minutes of burn.

But just because Bryant's 38.4 minutes per game are seemingly up for grabs while he's out, don't expect Goudelock to get back into Mike Brown's mix. While Goudelock's scoring ability could certainly help the Lakers' subs who rank dead last in the league among second units with a 20.2 points per game average, Brown is worried about Goudelock giving up too many points on the other end.

"Goudelock has to be a situational guy," Brown explained. "Because what happens to us when he plays ... For instance, we tried to play (Ramon) Sessions and (Steve) Blake against the Clippers, and if you think about Nick Young’s scoring spurt that he had in that game, it was when we had a point guard guarding him defensively. (Young) scored four or six points in a hurry, just kind of taking Steve down to the right block and turning and shooting over him."

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This was ugly. Really ugly. Like, "the offspring of Medusa and Jabba The Hut" ugly. The important thing is the win, but the second most important thing is the way the win was manufactured. And in this game, a photo finish against a lousy Hornets team rolling out Jarrett Jack, Marco Belinelli, and a bunch of 9th-man/D-League-caliber players constitutes poor manufacturing. Nobody can feel particularly happy about this day.

Here are four takeaways.

1. Something is wrong with Kobe's shot right now.
Yes, Bryant hit the winning 3-pointer and he absolutely deserves credit for maintaining the focus necessary to ride out a brutal afternoon. As the saying goes, that's what makes Kobe the first-ballot Hall of Famer he is. But having acknowledged this, it's a good thing March comes to an end Sunday, because the month has been brutal to The Mamba's percentages from the field. Heading into this game, Bryant had shot 50 percent from the field only once in his past 10 games, and only three times in the entire month. (Truth be told, February was pretty rough, too.) This afternoon, his touch turned especially brutal. Fifteen shots were fired before one finally dropped with 7:30 remaining in the fourth quarter (!), and with his frustration on his sleeve, the Staples crowd began chanting "Kobe" late in the third quarter to get him rolling again. Not "MVP," but "Kobe," just like in 2010's Game 7 against Boston, when they rallied behind their struggling star. Even more disturbing than the misses was the variety of shots refusing to fall. Long jumpers. Catch-and-shoot opportunities from between the circles. Bunnies from nearly point blank. The Mamba couldn't toss a pea into the ocean.

The cause for this slump? Perhaps Kobe's heavy minutes are catching up to him. As of Friday, he led the league in total minutes (1968), and at age 33, 16 seasons into a career, that's got to take a toll. Especially during this compressed schedule, in which days to recover are as rare as a yeti sighting. Bryant even admitted after the game he's feeling tired, and he's as reliable a source as any. Mike Brown said Friday reducing Kobe's PT is a luxury he doesn't have at the moment, but he may need to bite the bullet and find the guy a few extra minutes on the bench, results be damned. Fatigue may also be exacerbated by Kobe's propensity for launching 3s. As of this writing, he's seventh in the league for 3-pointers taken, and has by far the worst percentage among league leaders. Whether that's a matter of too many plays drawn up placing him far from the basket, settling as the result of fatigue, or just Kobe taking advantage of his green light, dialing this back is a must.

Or maybe this is just your garden variety brutal drought.

But whatever the case may be, the Lakers can't continue to survive against mediocre opponents (much less contenders) with Bryant continuing to create so many empty possessions. Hopefully, his touch can be rediscovered, and ASAP.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Last season, even with eventual 6MOY Lamar Odom leading the way, the most reliable element offered by the Lakers' bench was unreliability. With LO in Dallas, the bench predictably floundered most of this season, but slowly experienced an uptick in effectiveness (if not raw numbers) as the trade deadline approached. Enter Ramon Sessions and his instant chemistry with Matt Barnes and Josh McRoberts, and the reserves suddenly resembled a credible unit. When Sessions inevitably was tabbed to start, I was optimistic Steve Blake, who looked stiff as a cadaver among the starters as a transparent place-holder, would regain his comfort level quarterbacking the reserves. Assuming that theory was correct, the second unit might suffer a dip losing the more talented player in Sessions, but would play well enough to avoid being a liability.

As it turns out, we're back to square one. The reserves have regressed to their collectively non-scoring ways. Any lead is jeopardized every time the Lakers roll largely with substitutes. And Blake is way out of sorts, which to me is the single-biggest reason this group is floundering. I asked Mike Brown what he has seen in the point guard that could explain his struggles.

"I haven't specifically asked him about it," Brown said. "I just want him to keep trying to be aggressive and keep trying to run the team in the same breath. The one thing I told him is I'm OK with you being aggressive more than anything else. I thought he played well at the beginning of the season and then he got hurt. And then he came back in basically the same role and there was a stretch where he didn't play as well and he really hasn't consistently gotten back to where he was in the beginning of the year.

"More than anything else, I think it's just him being confident and aggressive is going to play a huge role in that. The last couple of games, I thought he tried to be aggressive. Now, he hadn't made shots yet, but some of the things that he's doing out on the floor have helped a lot in my opinion."

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Ramon Sessions will make his first start for the Lakers on Friday night against the Blazers, but today's news isn't just about who is moving up in the rotation, but who is moving out.

Asked before the game whether the change might have an impact on playing time for Andrew Goudelock -- the logic being with Steve Blake playing again with the second unit, that group might need another guy able to create his own shot -- Mike Brown said it wouldn't.

"That's the first time this came up. I'm not sure you guys have noticed, but Goudelock has not played recently," he said.

We did, but that's neither here nor there. Goudelock, who averaged 13.2 minutes per game in February, played a total of two in L.A.'s most recent games in Houston and Dallas. Brown explained his reasoning, and it had nothing to do with the arrival of Sessions, or the rotation at point guard.

"[Goudelock] didn't [sit] because Ramon was here, he just hadn't played because I increased Metta [World Peace] and Matt Barnes' minutes and played those guys at the 2 and 3 together (Barnes at shooting guard, World Peace at small forward)," Brown said. "What I'm trying to do is it's getting down to stretch time. Goudelock has been good for us. He got some great experience. He needs to keep himself mentally and physically ready in case his number is called, but we're about to get busy right here. If I'm going to do it, I'm going to do it with some guys that have been to the dance before. Matt has been there, and Metta has been there. So we'll see."

At this point, Brown's not looking as far down his bench during games. "We're shrinking [the rotation] a little bit. We're shrinking it a little bit, (yeah)," he said.

For the Lakers, that translates into an 8.5 man rotation, with Barnes, Blake, and some combination of Troy Murphy and/or Josh McRoberts filling in behind Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum depending on performance and matchups. There's always a chance someone like Goudelock or Jordan Hill might steal minutes here or there, but broadly speaking, it looks like Brown has settled on his core group going forward.

Ever since getting swept from the 2011 playoffs, the Lakers have been in search of a championship identity. That quest has looked largely fruitless this season, but recently, reasons for optimism have surfaced. Increasing point totals. Road games turning less treacherous. A quiet string of wins fueling a quiet rise toward the top of the Pacific Division. Still, the Lakers haven't quite looked the part of champions. They've been in need of a signature win, a seminal moment.

Sunday's contest against the Miami Heat theoretically placed such an opportunity in their laps. LeBron James & Co. were predicted by many (including yours truly) to win the whole shebang. They've also spanked the Lakers in the three previous "Big Three"-era games. Another loss, and envisioning the 2012 Larry O'Brien trophy in El Segundo would have required the combined imaginations of Lewis Carroll, Salvador Dali and Tim Burton. Damning evidence can only be viewed so long before being treated as fact.

This importance openly acknowledged, the court on Sunday was taken with a focus, energy and defensive intensity unmatched all season. The Lakers drew first blood, then withstood Miami's second-half charge. But the ensuing 93-83 win came with a caveat. The Heat played without Chris Bosh, which can't be ignored. He's probably the most ridiculed seven-time-running All-Star in NBA history, but Bosh is a highly skilled big man who drastically enhances the effectiveness of Miami's attack.

Thus, the W felt a bit like champagne sitting too long in an uncorked bottle. It still provides a buzz, but nonetheless tastes a little flat. That's not to say it wasn't a quality win. Beating LeBron and D-Wade always matters. But the fine print matters, and in many ways, mirrors how the Lakers' recent success still leaves lingering doubts. Take, for example, their eight wins over the past 10 games ...

1. 94-92 win at Toronto: No Andrea Bargnani, the Raptors are terrible, the Lakers barely won. A long trip only excuses so much.
2. 87-78 win against Atlanta: A solid win.
3. 111-99 win against Phoenix: The Suns aren't very good.
4. 102-90 loss at Phoenix: See above.
5. 103-92 win against Portland: A win that perhaps looked more impressive before reports of a Rip City meltdown.
6. 96-91 win at Dallas: A commendable road victory, but it's worth noting the Mavs went winless in Lamar Odom's absence (irony alert!).
7. 100-85 loss at Oklahoma City: In a vacuum, these things happen. For the purposes of gauging the Lakers' ability to hang with elite teams, it doesn't bolster confidence.
8. 104-85 win against Minnesota: The Wolves were down Kevin Love, arguably enjoying the best season of any power forward in the league.
9. 115-107 win against Sacramento: The Kings are bad.
10. 93-83 win against Miami: Again, no Bosh.

Even taking into account NBA wins are rarely easy, the "yeah, but" factor becomes more glaring with those details piled on top of each other. Peel one layer of the proverbial onion, and you realize just how many skins remain. Peeling that onion raises the bigger question of buying into the Lakers as a contender.

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It's been nearly a week since any Laker save Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum dribbled a basketball in a competitive setting, and Drew did so for less than six minutes. The Lakers were also playing a pretty uneven brand of basketball heading into All-Star weekend, which makes a smooth return after a layoff harder to picture. But as fans surely recall, the 2011 squad limped into the break after a Cleveland loss, possibly the worst of Phil Jackson's coaching tenure in L.A. And so, nobody anticipated the next 18 games would result in 17 wins, with Bynum playing the role of a modern day Bill Russell, and the rediscovery of optimism (albeit premature) that came with them. Similarly, this team's unpredictability -- among other pressing issues, like item #1 below -- makes a one-sided win or loss feel equally realistic tonight against Minnesota. That's why we play the games.

Here are three items to be mindful of once the ball is jumped.

1) Kobe Bryant's potential absence
As reported Tuesday, Dwyane Wade's hard foul during the All-Star Game left Bryant with a concussion in addition to a nasal fracture. While he's officially listed as day-to-day, the NBA's new concussion policy makes participation feel like a stretch to me. The final decision isn't Kobe's, so a willingness to play through pain isn't the issue. Doctors are typically cautious, particularly with brain injuries, and the procedure is rigorous. Plus, in a modern sports world hyper-conscious of the long-term effects from concussions, I'd be very surprised if the league risked clearing a player just 24 hours after being diagnosed.

Perhaps Bryant's concussion will be mild enough to prove me wrong, but if he's unable to go, the impact is obviously huge. To begin, who starts at shooting guard? Andrew Goudelock is behind Kobe on the depth chart, and actually matches up a lot better against 6'2" starter Luke Ridnour than 6'7" reserve Martell Webster. However, if Brown wanted to keep the rotation as relatively normal as possible, he could insert a player outside the rotation for Kobe rather than shuffle both units. That being the approach, Jason Kapono or Devin Ebanks (recently recalled from the D-League) would get the nod.

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We've reached the halfway point of the season, people! What do you think of the Lakers with 34 games in the books? What do you think the remaining 32 games have to offer? Brian's doled out mid-term grades, so we hit the studio for further reflection and projection. Among the talking points:



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- Who were the Lakers' most and least valuable players at the mid-point? Who has been the most pleasant surprise? Among the supporting players, who is it most crucial to see step up for this team to become legitimate title contenders?

- How would you evaluate Mike Brown's performance in his first campaign? The conditions under which he has been forced to operate haven't been ideal, but if he's looking to make lemonade from lemons, you could argue he has mishandled opportunities.

- Save an unexpected -- and unrealistic -- collective leap in performance from players 4-12, it's obvious the Lakers need to tweak the roster to make a championship run. Would the Lakers be better off adding pieces to complement the existing Big Three, which almost certainly means sacrificing the draft picks and other assets likely needed to land a superstar? Or do you hoard every asset possible until the 11th hour in an effort to land Dwight Howard and/or Deron Williams, which risks being left high and dry once the deadline passes?

Thursday's loss in Oklahoma City means the Lakers enter the All-Star break at 20-14 (congratulations to anyone winning the office pool), 1.5 games back of the Clippers in the Pacific, and good enough for the fifth seed in the Western Conference. And a hectic 34 games it has been. There has been growth in some areas -- defensively, the Lakers have regained much of the form making them so effective during their title seasons -- and regression in others (see 'offense'), and by now the shortcomings in the team's roster are apparent.

That's big picture group stuff. Individually, how has everyone performed? For that, send everyone back to school. It's report card time.

COACH

Mike Brown

There are totally legitimate questions about how well he's matched his offensive system to his personnel, how he's managed his rotations, and whether he's struck the right balance with a group led by veterans with championship experience used to a culture affording greater freedom and flexibility, just to name a few.

I'm not sold, and neither are most fans.

But criticisms of Brown are mitigated by the almost absurd difficulty of the task he inherited. Replacing the most successful coach in the history of modern American team sports in hiring process alienating his star player and coming amid sweeping change poorly handled by management, suffering through a lockout allowing no contact with his new players, starting camp with a trade for a superstar point guard only to have it quickly revoked, watching last season's Sixth Man of the Year traded away without anything coming in return, working through a comically short training camp and preseason during which his roster was totally in flux, then absorbing what was the NBA's most difficult early season schedule, affording him almost no time on the practice court to implement his system and improve the team's rhythm.

That, and a roster poorly constructed for his style sporting holes large enough to fit an SUV. It's not fair to expect Brown to overcome all that in 34 games.

Watching how Brown evolves -- or doesn't -- over the final 32 will be interesting, noting adjustments he makes with better understanding of his personnel, and if he can get the Lakers playing at their best heading into the playoffs. It still likely won't mean a championship, but would go a long way towards establishing him as the right guy for the gig long term.

Maybe I'm grading the circumstances more than the man, but for a guy so firmly put behind the 8-ball, he's doing pretty well.

GRADE: B

STARTERS

Kobe Bryant

February hasn't treated him well, and Bryant goes into the break on a low note following tough outings in Dallas and Oklahoma City. The eternal arguments about shot selection and ball dominance remain (otherwise they wouldn't be eternal). But big picture, who can complain about the quality of Bryant's play this season? 28.5 points, along with a hair under five boards and six assists per night, a PER over 23.5 and a shooting percentage (43.9) not substantively below his career average (45.4), despite this month's slump.

He's playing very, very well.

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The Lakers may have won by a dozen, and may have broken 100 (on 53 percent shooting!) for the first time since the Stone Age. But the victory doesn't necessarily leave a great taste in anybody's mouth. A double-digit lead was squandered down to the bone before eventually being built back up, and far more work than necessary was required against a tired, decidedly inferior opponent. At the end of the day, the Lakers notched the W, and maintained what has been a very strong home record. But this group just has a habit of provoking skepticism, even in the face of victory.

Here are five takeaways from the game.

1) Kobe Bryant owned the third quarter.
The night actually began in fairly unassuming fashion for The Mamba. Six shots were required for seven first-quarter points, and he turned the ball over twice. By halftime, he'd notched 14 points and appeared to have righted the ship, but an explosion didn't necessarily feel in the works. But if I've learned anything over the years, it's that an attempt to predict anything with Kobe is often an exercise in failure. To paraphrase Rowdy Roddy Piper, just when they think they know the answers, Bryant changes the questions.

Not that 24 going crazy over a 12 minute stretch is necessarily an unheard-of development, but this eruption nonetheless went from 0-60 in the blink of an eye.

Bryant's 18-point quarter was a "best of" showcase for his scoring prowess, which is always a treat for fans. Baby and long jumpers alike found bottom. A flyby was avoided at the rim, allowing him to convert a zippy feed inside from Pau Gasol at the rim. He backed down Jared Dudley in the lane, then spun, converting a reverse layup while absorbing contact. And then there was my favorite basket, a lefty hook shot launched between the circles after drifting left upon losing Grant Hill on a crossover. Absolutely gorgeous.

Even Kobe’s mishaps were spun into gold. An air-balled J landed in Gasol's hands, who proceeded to throw a no-look pass to set up Matt Barnes with an easy score at the rim. No harm, no foul. And as if to reassure us this roll was going to continue without a hitch, Bryant followed up that gaffe by drilling a transition three-ball after securing the rebound from a Marcin Gortat miss.

Bryant's third-quarter numbers -- 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, three assists, four rebounds, a steal and zero turnovers -- helped push the lead to 20 late in the frame, and should have laid the foundation for a blowout victory. Unfortunately, as has been the case for this team throughout the season, easy living either ain't to their liking or consistently within their capabilities. That Kobe had to go to serious work to offset a fourth-quarter collapse against a (now) 12-19 visiting team is, on its best day, a disappointing development.

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Nick Van Exel was drafted by the Lakers with the No. 37 pick in the second round in 1993 and played five seasons in L.A. before he was traded to Denver for Tony Battie and Tyronn Lue. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound guard went on to play 13 seasons with six NBA teams before calling it a career after the 2005-06 season. Van Exel ranks No. 14 on the NBA's all-time 3-pointers made list with 1,528. He is now an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and ESPNLA.com caught up with him before the Hawks played the Lakers earlier this week.

What’s your favorite memory from your time with the Lakers?

"Favorite memory? Hmm. I’ll probably say two. Just the draft night, being drafted by the Lakers was special coming from where I had come from -- a small town in Wisconsin. It was a pretty big event for me. I’ll say three [memories]. Of course, making big shots in the playoffs, just the excitement, you hear the crowd and probably being on the team when Magic [Johnson] returned. That was special."

You were a second-round draft pick, so there was nothing guaranteed to you. Looking back at that time, was there anybody in the organization that was really backing you or helping you and pushing for your success?

"Yes, the head man, Jerry West. The Logo. He was really a big fan. I can remember playing down in, I want to say Irvine, Calif., for the rookie summer league games and I played terrible. I played terrible and I thought, ‘Man, I may not make the team!’ I really didn’t know much about the NBA. I played so bad that they signed me after like the third or fourth game [because they kept waiting for me to play better]. I was playing so bad. Definitely Jerry West had my back."

Through your scouting you might have heard of Andrew Goudelock, a rookie on this Lakers team. Your name has been attached to him a little bit in terms of being a high-scoring guard, a second-round draft pick with nothing guaranteed. Is there something about the character of a guy to be able to do that? To make it when the odds are against you?

"I really believe it’s just no fear, man. For me, I never thought I would fail. Every shot I took, I thought it was going in. Even when I was in the second round, a lot of people didn’t know if I would make it or not, I never questioned whether I would make it the team or anything like that. So, I think with him, it seems he has that no-fear attitude. When you can go out there and come off a pick-and-roll and just pull up for 3 when you got Kobe [Bryant] on the court with you, you’ve definitely got a no-fear mentality."

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The middle two quarters may have been the ugliest I've ever seen, as the Hawks and Lakers combined -- combined! -- for 59 points. Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol couldn't buy a bucket, and collectively the teams seemed determined to punish fans for shelling out their hard earned money for something as frivilous as basketball tickets.

But in the end, the Lakers got it together, going on a run to finish the third and pulling away down the stretch. Here are five takeaways...

1. Matt Barnes had some hop.

The Lakers are not a swift, dynamic bunch. Barnes is one of the few guys on the roster who makes things happen with movement, and Tuesday he absolutely energized the team (to whatever degree this game had energy) doing the stuff he does best. Slicing through the lane, he converted a nice pass from Bryant into points, then later got up the floor and, like the standout wide receiver he once was, hauled in a long bomb from Steve Blake for an easy deuce. Even on the ball, not generally his strength, Barnes found ways to produce. In the first half, with the shot clock running down, he put the ball on the floor from the top of the key, then wrapped a nice pass to Troy Murphy for a corner 3.

Throughout the game, Barnes was constantly moving towards the rim, running the wing, and aggressively closing on perimeter shooters. He finished with seven points and five rebounds, plus one assist, steal, and block each.

2. So did Metta World Peace.

Maybe he should pop off at the coach more often?

Whatever the cause, MWP was very active tonight, not just defensively, where he spent a lot of time against Joe Johnson with very positive effects, but also on the other end. He closed the first half with a 3-pointer from the right corner that the Hawks, to put it mildly, let him take. (Had they simply left the floor before the horn, World Peace wouldn't have been more open.) The second half brought another triple, and even a thunderous drive through the paint, capped by a dunk. Then he dunked again! One-dunk MWP games are a rarity these days. Double dunk games generally arrive at the arena saddled up on a unicorn.

He finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

World Peace's days as a premier player are gone, but it makes a significant difference for the Lakers when he's not a liability. When he's actually a positive influence, it's even better.

POSTGAME UPDATE: Apparently, World Peace switched from high tops to low tops at halftime. Perhaps that explains his burst in the third and fourth quarters. Less weight keeping him down.

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In the newest edition of The Forum, we take a look at the Lakers' bench with 710 ESPN hoops analyst Dave Miller. What impact does the consistently thin production from the reserves have on a game in, game out basis?

Factoring in the similarly dismal output from the small forward and point guard spots, the picture becomes clear. L.A.'s problems aren't about their Big Three, but the 11 guys working behind them, something made pretty clear in Boston last night, despite the big win.