Will anybody actually be around to take part in the Texas two-step?
Sasha Vujacic became the latest Lakers player to head for the trainer's room, leaving the team with a muddled bill of health heading into tonight's game in Houston and Wednesday's in San Antonio.
Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar did not make the trip, and Vujacic did not board the charter flight Monday afternoon because of back spasms, though he might catch up to the team in the next day or two if his back settles down.
The injury report wasn't all doom and gloom for the Lakers.
Lamar Odom took part in a half-court three-on-three scrimmage Monday morning and certainly looked sound when he dunked off a feed from Chris Mihm.
He sat out the last three games because of a bone bruise in his right knee and said there was still pain, though he might play tonight if there are no lingering effects from Monday's activity.
"We'll see how he feels," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "He looked OK, but it wasn't a lot of running full court."
If Vujacic and Odom can't play, the Lakers' depth chart at ballhandling guard will be down to Derek Fisher and . . . ?
It was addressed at practice by Jackson.
"I did say that Vlade [Vladimir Radmanovic] may have to play guard," Jackson said. "At that point, everybody kind of rolled their eyes."
Odom then quickly volunteered to start playing again, according to Jackson, who might or might not have been kidding.
That's the state of the Lakers these days -- from the best depth in the league to almost no depth at all, and still cracking jokes about it.
Not that the Rockets or Spurs really care about the woes of the team with the league's top record (30-6).
The Spurs (24-12) have climbed up the standings after a 2-5 start, but the Rockets (24-15) can't seem to define themselves other than by small winning streaks followed by slightly smaller losing streaks.
The Rockets have defeated Boston, Orlando, New Orleans and San Antonio, but they've also lost to Memphis, the Clippers and Washington.
Tracy McGrady has sat out 11 games, Ron Artest has missed nine, and neither is expected to play tonight. In fact, the Rockets have been forced to start former Lakers second-round draft pick Von Wafer, who has actually responded fairly well, scoring 15 points against New York and making a key three-pointer late in the game against Boston last week.
