NEW ORLEANS — They have eight games left in a season that has gone off the rails, eight games to cling to what little hope they truly have, eight games to make rights of what they couldn't do in the first 74 regular season games, eight games for these underachieving Lakers to control their own fate.
And now, after the Lakers suffered a crushing loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in a fight for play-in seeding in the Western Conference, after the Lakers wait to see if LeBron James is healthy enough to keep playing after suffering a nasty left ankle injury Sunday night, the Lakers have indeed reached the crossroads in their season.
"Time's running out," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Sunday night. "We got to get some wins. We got to put some wins together and turn the attention to Dallas. Whatever it takes to beat Dallas, we got to do."
