The Lakers arrived in New Orleans at 3:30 am Sunday morning, and were missing Cam Reddish (groin) and D'Angelo Russell (bruised tailbone), finishing out a long stretch of road play with tons of back-to-backs. In theory, nothing had to give.

And it didn't.

The Lakers took one on the chin, losing to the Pelicans 129-109 Sunday night, to limp into the new year at a very mediocre 17-17. Better than last year, but on the other hand the Western Conference is also further ahead of where it was last year, as well. So as 2024 rolls in, the Lakers have a significant challenge in front of them. And it got even harder Sunday, as Rui Hachimura, who had been inserted into the starting lineup by Darvin Ham in what seemed to be more than a temporary move in replacement of Reddish, hurt his calf after eight minutes of play. Ham said the Lakers were definitely concerned, given that Hachimura left and couldn't return.

So we'll see how that goes, and what kind of lineup the Lakers would roll out should Hachimura need to miss time.

Overall, the Lakers are tired and disorganized. They've got two stars who have been relatively healthy and playing as expected (Anthony Davis, in particular, has been MVP quality), but the supporting cast, for a variety of reasons, hasn't played up to expectations. Performance and injury have made it difficult for Ham to really understand and respond appropriately to get the best mix on the floor, but at the same time, last year Ham seemed more successful making it clear what the team's expectations were, and how they planned to achieve them.

Everything outside of the stars needs to improve over the final 48 games. The supporting cast has to elevate. The coaching staff needs to do better.

Otherwise, a season that started with so much excitement and promise will go down as a tremendous disappointment.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: The Lakers get throttled in New Orleans.

SEGMENT 2: Rui Hachmura is injured, with some concern about his health going forward.

SEGMENT 3: What has gone wrong over the first 34 games?

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