All the talk of "process" and "patience" is dying out. Patience is OK when you're lingering around 0.500 and need to get a player or two back before making a change up the playoff seedings. When you're losing every night, including against some of the very worst teams in the NBA, patience is a hard to sell. The Lakers need to start winning games - to break their slide in the standings, to clear the increasingly poisonous air around the team and to give everyone some belief that things aren't totally falling apart.

Tonight presents less-than-ideal conditions for kicking off the Lakers' big turnaround. They're in New York against a scalding hot Knicks team that just in the past week or so has notched road wins against the Heat and the Nets. And - once again - the Lakers take the court without Gasol, Nash or Blake.

Yeah... can't say I have a nice feeling about this one. This could get ugly.