At 14-11 overall and 3-9 on the road, the Lakers have little margin for error.

"It just seems like our margin for error is really, really small right now," Derek Fisher said after the Lakers lost a seven-point lead Monday in the last 41/2 minutes of a 95-90 loss to Philadelphia.

Said Kobe Bryant: "Our margin for error is just not as big as some of the other teams. We have to play really, really good basketball in stretches of the game. . . ."

The Lakers have lost a number of close games this season.

"We're playing quality teams and we have chances to win," Fisher said. "It's not as though we're coming out and laying eggs and playing flat basketball. We're competing and trying to do the right things. It's not coming together for us the way we'd like it to."