The Los Angeles Lakers' embarrassment tour continued yesterday night at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Although LA only lost by a score of 109-104, their abysmal first-half effort put them in a hole as big as 21 points on their home turf.

Los Angeles being able to pull itself back into the game and even taking a lead at the start of the fourth quarter was impressive. But it didn't cover up their terrible effort earlier in the game. They let the Mavs score 41 points in the second quarter, allowing Dallas to shoot open triples and run showtime-esque fast breaks.

Lakers legend Shaquille O' Neal put the team on blast for its poor effort and suggested that it looks like the players are quitting.

LeBron James' poor body language certainly played a part in Shaq's take. Even though he led the game in points (26) and rebounds (12), the bad energy he brought did no help for the Lakers. Russell Westbrook and Malik Monk combining for a 10-for-31 shooting night derailed the Lakers' offense and they couldn't contain Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson and the Mavs.

Los Angeles shaking up its roster by bringing in DJ Augustin and Wenyen Gabriel won't do anything to right the ship. The Lakers now have roughly a month and a half to get back on track. They are enduring a brutal skid right now and seriously lack the urgency to get back to winning. The play-in tournament, much less the playoffs, may soon be all the Lakers reach this season.