There are 80 games remaining for the Lakers, but Kobe Bryant is already talking about a "sense of urgency" entering Friday night's game against the Clippers at Staples Center -- the first of four regular-season matchups between the two.
No longer LA's "other team," the Clippers have won two of the last five regular-season meetings against the 16-time NBA champions, who are looking for their first win after an 0-8 preseason and two losses to start the regular season.
The Lakers might be without guard Steve Nash Friday night. Nash suffered what amounts to a painful bruise on his leg in Wednesday's loss at Portland when he collided with Trailblazer rookie Damien Lillard's knee.
The two-time league MVP is listed as "doubtful" after suffering a contusion. He did not practice Thursday.
The new-look Lakers added Nash and Dwight Howard this season, but followed up a season opening 99-91 loss to Dallas Tuesday with Wednesday's 116-106 loss at Portland.
"It's not the end of the world... but we can't sit back and expect to figure it out," Kobe Bryant said Thursday at Lakers practice. "We have to have a sense of urgency to get things right."
Things went terribly wrong for the Lakers late in the third quarter Wednesday when Portland went on a 13-0 run to take a 92-76 lead entering the fourth quarter. Turnovers placed "added stress" on the Lakers' defense, coach Mike Brown said.
"We have stress-free turnovers, and we have stress turnovers," said coach Mike Brown. "We're trying to eliminate all the stress turnovers. If we can, we'll be really, really good."
The Lakers finished with 24 turnovers to Portland's 12.
As for the Clippers, they enter their second game of the season Wednesday with a 101-92 win over Memphis.
Newcomer Jamal Crawford led LA with 29 points. In his 12th year in the NBA, Crawford joined the Clippers after averaging 13.3 points per game last season in Portland.
