A Game-by-Game Breakdown of the Lakers Since All-Star Break

By Craig Kwasniewski Panic is everywhere, people are rioting! Run for your lives! The Lakers are headed for doom... DOOM I tell ya. They can't shoot, they can't defend, they can't beat anybody. How is this team the #1 seed in the Western Conference? How??? All I know is that I'm picking (insert #8 seed here) to upset the Lakers in the first round. AAAANNNNDDDD scene. (But not really.) I've basically summed up all the panic tweets, texts and blogs that I've read in the past few days. Panic is upon all of Lakers fandom, the ill-effects of an extended dog days has left NBA fans convincing themselves that the defending champs are prime for a major upset this spring. One of the most telling stats that was emailed to me was the Lakers record since All-Star break: a very paultry 14-9 with an average margin of victory of 1.2 points. Not really firing on all cylinders heading down the final stretch of the season, are they? But before buying into the panic, let's...