This is when the Lakers should be cleaning up, not scraping their egos up off the floor. During a stretch in which they will play 17 of their first 21 games at home, they should be resting Kobe Bryant in the fourth quarter because they have put the game out of reach, not because he aggravated a week-old groin strain during the first quarter and had no reason to risk making it worse.

The Lakers' 101-91 loss to Houston on Sunday in front of an unhappy crowd at Staples Center was their second in a row and third this season. That, in itself, is not the big problem. The big problem is they followed a putrid, franchise-worst second half at Denver on Friday with a ragged first half Sunday -- and let that bleed into a rancid third quarter in which Aaron Brooks had 15 points and the Lakers as a team had 19. After scoring only 23 points in the second half at Denver on Friday, the Lakers were outscored, 49-37, in the second half Sunday.

In a season that began with the goal of challenging the 72-10 standard set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the Lakers are looking at their transition defense and finding it wanting and shaking their heads at being outrebounded, 60-38, by a team that starts a 6-6 player at center and lacks Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. The 70-plus win goal came from Kobe Bryant and has taken root in the Lakers' minds, a goal to keep them interested while they slog through the long season. What they might want to do instead is focus on a way to win the next game.

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