Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

With drama swirling around Frank Vogel, Russell Westbrook and the team's future, the Lakers head out on the road

If Wednesday's happenings against the Pacers at the Crypt weren't enough for you -- a big, embarrassing loss for the Lakers to a slumping Indiana team with Russell Westbrook being benched in the fourth quarter and Frank Vogel explaining why with a pretty undiplomatic single sentence followed by a report after the game from Yahoo!'s Chris Haynes that Vogel's job was safe at least for one more game -- the drama only heightened later in the evening...

What. A. Mess. In one of the strangest games of the season (not a low bar to clear, by the way), the Lakers fell to a badly slumping Indiana Pacers squad, 111-104 at crypto.com Arena. With Frank Vogel's job security dominating the headlines, it felt a times like Vogel was coaching to prove a point to the front office as much as win the game, and that includes benching Russell Westbrook down the stretch of the fourth quarter...

Things are coming to a boil in LA. Following a strong win vs. Utah, the Lakers fall apart against a sub-.500 Pacers team

Frank Vogel may have rescued his job with Monday's win over Utah... at least for a game or two.

On Tuesday's show, we noted how Monday's win over Utah was arguably the most impressive of the season for the Lakers. For Frank Vogel, it might have been the most important, too. Tuesday, multiple basketball insiders reported that the Lakers were on the verge of firing their head coach, if the Lakers would have been blown out by the Jazz in similar fashion to their previous three games. Instead, he is reportedly being evaluated "game to game...

Picking the best win of the season for the Lakers is a much simpler exercise than choosing the worst loss, only because there are so few options. So definitionally, Monday's 101-95 win over the Utah Jazz, who sport the league's offense (by a mile) and an upper crust point differential, is a candidate. But while the team and coaches were quick to point out there are no "turning point" games at this point, it doesn't mean the win wasn't significant...

There are no turning points, they were clear to note, but the Lakers got a big win over a great team on Monday

If Wednesday's loss to Sacramento was the worst of the season for the Lakers, and it certainly might have been, then Saturday's 133-96 blowout at the hands of the Denver Nuggets might have been the most disheartening. After a decent enough first quarter, the Lakers were throttled on both sides of the ball for the rest of the game, bleeding points defensively while being totally unable to score on the other end...

This one got away in a hurry, and after coaches and players alike agree the Lakers need to play harder...