I was all ready to join the procession and throw my shovel of dirt on the Los Angeles Lakers after their Christmas Day comeuppance by the Kings. After all, aren't the Purple and Gold big on parades? And hadn't they played with a champion's poise for the first time this season? Didn't they come out strong for both halves, move the ball crisply, knock down open shots, defend stoutly and build a double-digit, third-quarter lead? And wasn't it all rendered meaningless when the Kings did what the Lakers traditionally have done to them, rousing themselves in the final minutes to capitalize on every L.A. mistake and handing the proud Lakers their most humiliating defeat of the season?

Well, maybe the three-time defending champions are done. Maybe the grind of chasing down three titles, the inability of Lakers' management to infuse fresh blood, the Kings' improved depth and hard-earned battle scars have changed the pecking order and Christmas Day simply was a harbinger of what's to come a few months from now. Hey, I predicted before the season started the Kings would beat the Hornets in this year's Finals, so it's not as if I'd need a whole lot of convincing.

	Better days are ahead for Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers. They certainly can't get any worse for the world champs.

I'd just feel better about flipping my blade of soil on that purple and gold coffin if it was a little later than December. Or if the Lakers were showing the least bit of anxiety or loss of confidence. Robert Horry, who I ran into outside the team's practice facility the next day, was not. Far from it.

Oh, Horry conceded that he inexplicably goes flat at times. He acknowledged that the team has dug such a deep hole every game must be treated like a playoff-caliber game now. He admitted the team's offense sputters and the disappointment carries over to how they play on defense.

But then he added, "One thing I guarantee. Before the end of January, we'll be back above .500. With the New Year, we're going to shake off everything and start like it's a brand-new season."

It seemed like a preposterous assurance, yet he said it as confidently as if predicting an I-5 traffic jam. There are 14 games between now and Jan. 31 and the Lakers are currently 11-19. The only way they get above .500 is by going 12-2.

I first suspected eggnog, before taking a quick glance at the schedule. Eight home games and a lineup that includes three games against Phoenix and meetings with Denver, Toronto, Golden State, Cleveland and Miami. It still could be a serious case of denial, but it's not that far-fetched.

If nothing else, the Kings' game answered what has drained the Lakers of their championship mystique, as Shaquille O'Neal did his version of an Italian waiter providing bottled-water choices -- Gas, No Gas -- with starkly different performances in the first and second halves. With all due apologies to a flip-flop-shod coach Phil Jackson, who insists Shaq can't give the Lakers more than he is right now, and Horry, who believes the entire team has to improve, the only way the Lakers become a force again is if Shaq has the energy to play two halves the way he played the first against the Kings.

Granted, Kobe Bryant short-circuited the offense more than once down the stretch and Rick Fox made a half-dozen uncharacteristic defensive mistakes and Horry didn't exactly look spry. But there's no getting around that with an effervescent Shaq putting up 17 points, the Lakers looked like the better team while staking a commanding four-point halftime lead. Or that, with Shaq abruptly going flat a minute into the third quarter, the Lakers came apart at every seam as the Kings simply outlasted them for their 105-99 victory.

The last sighting of sufficiently-fueled Shaq came at the start of the third quarter, when he not only stepped out to cut off an attempted drive by Vlade Divac but then sustained the pressure, forcing Vlade into an off-balance turnaround jumper. I'm no expert on the triple post, but from what I've seen over the last few years, no sagging defense can stop it when Shaq is re-posting, moving from block to block and post to post. His size and footwork simply provide too many options and angles. And maybe I wasn't paying close enough attention -- it was Christmas, after all -- but I can't remember seeing Shaq and Kobe run a single pick and roll, which used to be a crunchtime staple. What I saw was Samaki Walker running the play with Kobe and the Kings jumping the screen, completely dismissing Samaki as any sort of threat.

	For those who would argue Shaq is anything more than 70 percent of his usual self, I ask this: When was the last time you saw him seal his defender and spin for a dunk? Or take part in a fastbreak? Or slide completely across the lane to block a shot?

What I also saw was Shaq posting on one side of the floor, not wanting to expend -- or having -- the energy to re-post, or fight his way across the lane or driving to the basket. For those who would argue Shaq is anything more than 70 percent of his usual self, I ask this: When was the last time you saw him seal his defender and spin for a dunk? Or take part in a fastbreak? Or slide completely across the lane to block a shot? What I saw Wednesday, particularly in the second half, was a 7-footer who had trouble dunking putbacks and didn't score a field goal until the final minute and the outcome had been decided.

It's important to consider who decided it, too. Chris Webber, aside from an inexplicable behind-the-back pass in the third quarter, was as solid as I've seen him in an important game. I wondered why he was high-posting so passively with Samaki on him, but then I realized it must have been part of the game plan because he later went right at Horry, who demonstrated exactly how fragile he is these days by biting on a pump-fake and immediately clutching his left knee as Webber drove by him. Peja Stojakovic, he of the pivotal air ball last June, had Fox in his shirt but this time kept the Kings within striking distance by nailing several long-range bombs.

It also had to hurt the L.A. crowd to see the Kings-owning Maloof Brothers sitting courtside at the cost of $30,000 and late veterans-minimum pick-up Jim Jackson contributing a vital crunchtime performance while Lakers' management is hoping fresh laundry (as in new uniforms) does the trick.

All of which points to a changing of the guard and the anointing of new Kings of the Hill. Clearly, a good part of the basketball world believes that took place on Christmas. The Lakers, of course, were not part of that crowd. At least not yet. Maybe it's because of that last game in January, the one that could very well determine if they make good on Horry's guarantee.

It's in Sacramento.

Ric Bucher covers the NBA for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at ric.bucher@espnmag.com.