"Every time he touched the ball, the murmur grew, and grew, until finally, the sound of a collapsing Lakers season cascaded around the skinny guy's shaky shoulders.

The booing fans knew it. The annoyed Lakers felt it. History will eventually record it, and it will be about as pretty as the skinny guy's haircut.

When the story of the end of the Lakers' attempt to win three consecutive championships is written, it will begin, and end, with Pau Gasol.

You want a scapegoat for a 93-81 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals? You want to attach a name to a two-games-to-none deficit that will be historically improbable to overcome?

Gasol is, sadly, your man.

He has a great smile, a warm personality, two rings' worth of skills, and the love of Lakers fans who will forever link the team's three-year resurgence to his arrival.

He is also disappearing before our disbelieving eyes.

The melting that began in the first round against New Orleans ended in a puddle on the Staples Center floor Wednesday when Gasol was once again pushed, shoved, and battered into the sort of submission that the other Lakers could not overcome.

"I wish I could have been more productive," he said afterward, looking as confused in the stressful, steamy locker room as he was on the court. "I wish I could have been more effective."

He could barely slow the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 24 points while missing just seven of 16 shots. He couldn't work inside with teammate Andrew Bynum, who afterward credited interior confusion to "trust issues."

"There were some things that obviously didn't look good for Pau tonight," said Coach Phil Jackson, adding, "Pau didn't have the inside game we expected."

The Lakers needed an early spark after blowing a 16-point lead in Game 1, yet in the first half, Gasol scored only two baskets. The Lakers needed a late push against a Mavericks team that has already blown a 23-point lead in this postseason, yet Jackson benched him midway through the fourth quarter because he was in both foul trouble and basketball trouble.

In the end, Gasol scored 13 points with 10 rebounds and just one assist, and do you remember? Do you remember how he ended last year as one of the Game 7 heroes against the Boston Celtics? Do you remember how he began this year as one of the best players in the league, carrying the Lakers to their hot early run?"