Things appear a bit strained in Los Angeles at the moment.

After dropping the Christmas Day contest at home to hated rival Boston, the Los Angeles Lakers (as of Dec. 27) currently with with a 16-15 record. This puts the team at No. 9 in the Western Conference — only a game ahead of Phoenix. If the playoffs ended today, the Lakers would be forced to participate in the play-in tournament.

While winning the inaugural In-Season Tournament seemed like a step in the right direction, things have fallen off rather quickly over the last couple of weeks.