The Lakers are complacent. Kobe is banged up. Los Angeles is too old. Too many egos. Pau Gasol is soft. Phil Jackson doesn’t care anymore.

These are all good excuses for why the Los Angeles Lakers are down 0-2 to the Dallas Mavericks in the Western Conference semifinals. But, unfortunately for the purple and gold, those excuses aren't the real reasons why the defending NBA champs have their backs against the wall.

As a Lakers fan, it sometimes stings to give credit where credit is due – especially when the person deserving said credit is destroying your team. Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki is killing Los Angeles through the first two games.


Dirk scored 28 points in Game 1, along with 14 rebounds and three assists. Then, The Diggler went for 24, 7 and 2 in Game 2, helping Dallas bettors cash in as underdogs both times.

The cherry on top of those numbers is the fact that they’re coming against one of the top defenders in the history of the NBA, Ron Artest. And with Ron-Ron’s clothesline on Jose Barea and ejection from Game 2 leading to a possible suspension, Nowitzki could be faced with a lesser defender for Friday’s Game 3 in Dallas.

I still won’t count out my Lakers, as long as we have hope. But, with the way Dirk is playing and the history going against Los Angeles after dropping the first two games, I need to lineup some better excuses.