The Los Angeles Lakers suffered their fourth loss over the last five games on Thursday night thanks to Josh Giddey's halfcourt heroics. Not so long ago they looked like the most dangerous team in the Western Conference on the combined powers of LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Now it's looking as though it will be a battle for them to secure homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Gone are the excited television segments likening the dynamic duo to all-time Lakers pairings and laying the groundwork for a victory parade through the streets of Los Angeles. They've given way to something a bit more sobering.

"The Lakers are in trouble," Kendrick Perkins said on Friday's First Take. "That was a game last night that they needed to win and they was supposed to win. And JJ [Redick] was right. It's devastating not just because the way that they lost but because he's looking into the near future. They're 2.5 games back from being in the Play-In tournament. And have you seen the team that they have to face in the next couple of weeks?"

Perkins then ticked through a brutal closing stretch the Lakers must navigate in order to maintain their standing, let alone improve it. He mentioned Doncic is still playing his way back into shape, which is a major problem considering James also has some health issues.

Look, there's no doubt the Lakers are trending backwards. That's the bad news. The good news is that entering the playoffs with both their superstars healthy means they don't necessarily have to find an easy path. Also good to know is that if the Lakers stop being in trouble, there will be plenty of updates on television daily about the development.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN NBA Analyst Believes the Los Angeles Lakers Are Already in Trouble.