Lack of toughness remains a problem

Mortals, we knew.

Mushy, we had no idea.

The Lakers finally lost a game Friday, not a completely unexpected development in a league where there never has been a team lose fewer than 10.

But they lost it at home, to an aging team playing the second of back-to-back games, with a starting center named Kwame Brown.

Yeah, that one.

Lakers fans will no doubt eventually adjust to the 106-95 final score of this Detroit Pistons victory, fully understanding that nobody is perfect, and knowing that 7-1 is still a pretty good opening sprint.

But the numbers 10 and 10?

Those will be a little harder to digest, seeing as they came from Brown, the former Laker single-digit debacle finishing with an unfathomable double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds. This is not a misprint.

"He outplayed Andrew [Bynum] in a game that was essentially a matchup," said Lakers Coach Phil Jackson afterward with a sigh that spoke for an evening.

Brown was sturdy, his teammates were strong, and the Lakers were neither.

This smart defensive team that was holding opponents to 40% shooting, second in the league?

The Pistons, fueled by new guard Allen Iverson, used dizzying passing to create a dazzling collection of open shots, leading to 51% shooting.

"We knew if we were patient, we could get any shot we wanted," said the Pistons' Tayshaun Prince.

This great offensive team that fueled the Lakers to four double-digit wins in their first seven games?

Well, um, er, actually, they are not a great offensive team yet.

Jackson fretted about it before the game, and they showed it during the game, Detroit's team defense shutting them down until the final desperate moments.

Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, working against Brown and Rasheed Wallace, combined for just 23 points and were sometimes tossed around like a couple of rag dolls.

"They took Pau and Andrew off easy baskets by muscling them off their spots," said Jackson.

Derek Fisher, working against Iverson, missed a dozen of his 16 shots.

Vladimir Radmanovic was even more amazing, a 6-foot-10 man who somehow managed to completely disappear in 15 minutes, one basket, two rebounds, zero impact.

Don't forget Kobe Bryant, the Pistons didn't. At one point in the second half he missed 11 out of 14 shots, with some of that time spent being guarded by former UCLA star Arron Afflalo.