"Pau Gasol got the ball at the top of the key early in the first quarter of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals and turned toward the basket.

The ball was barely in his hands two seconds when a fan shouted from just behind the basket.

"Do something, Gasol!"

What he did was misfire on a short-range jump shot.

And so continued Gasol's mystifying playoff struggles this year.

Meanwhile, patience is running thin with the fans.

As for the Lakers, they look more and more like a team staggering to the finish line, the only question now how far off the lead they'll be when they get there. After a 93-81 loss to Dallas on Wednesday to fall into an 0-2 hole, that might happen as early as this weekend.

The Lakers have some serious problems right now, and they go deeper than just a hungry, talented Mavericks team that strolled into Staples Center and took two games off the back-to-back champs.

Andrew Bynum talked afterward about major trust issues, how the Lakers are playing as individuals offensively and not helping each other defensively. Lamar Odom said the Lakers aren't playing the game the right way, not recognizing the mismatches or playing to their strengths. Shannon Brown said they are no longer running their offense.

Ominous self-observations from a frustrated, desperate team.

On top of all that their All-Star center has vanished into thin air."