LOS ANGELES -- In happier times, when the dynasty wasn't in danger, Rick Fox didn't devote every quote to dissing the Kings. Things were so good, Fox could badmouth himself and laugh at the line.

As a member of the Lakers' so-called Superfriends, tagging along with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant at their most supreme, it was easy to be self-deprecating.

"We always joke that the other 10 of us have to come up with 30 points," Fox explained back then, which is to say this time last year.

	Robert Horry is the only Laker who has had Shaq's and Kobe's backs.

"I think we can all handle averaging three a game."

In happier times, when no one dared to imagine the Lakers being sent home before June 1, they did handle it. All of them. Fox. Derek Fisher. Robert Horry. The older guys, too: Brian Shaw and the since departed Horace Grant and Ron Harper.

Of course, as they say, that was Zen. These aren't quite happy times in the world of Phil Jackson, whose streak of 22 consecutive playoff series without defeat sits in serious peril, on the brink of elimination in tonight's Game 6, and not only because Shaq and Kobe haven't been supernovas lately.

The Other Ten aren't nearly so fearsome when the supreme beings aren't opening up the floor for them.

"It makes our day easier," Fox admitted this week, "when Shaq goes for 44 and 22."

O'Neal has an arthritic toe, bad ankles and 30-50 extra pounds to carry, along with the added burden -- newly discovered this series -- of having to think. The cagey defense Vlade Divac has been playing has O'Neal hesitating when he goes inside, fearing fouls or flops or whatever. Added together, the factors strip away any surprise attached to hearing that O'Neal is averaging 24.6 points and 12.3 rebounds in the playoffs ... compared to 30.4 and 15.4 in 2001 and consecutive 40-point, 20-rebound detonations against Sacramento.

Bryant, meanwhile, contracted food poisoning between Games 1 and 2 and hasn't been the fourth-quarter killer everyone knows since, even though common sense suggests the illness can't still be bothering him.

The reasons, then, are numerous, and the reality all too, well, real. O'Neal and Bryant, generally regarded as the game's two best players -- especially come tournament time -- have been much too guardable.

Which, not surprisingly, makes the Superfriends look a lot less dependable.

"It's been a struggle offensively," Fisher said. "I can't deny that at all."

He can't because the numbers are so glaring. A year ago, in those happier times, Fisher emerged as the third scorer San Antonio couldn't handle, draining 15 of his 20 attempts from 3-point range and averaging 17.5 points in a four-game sweep.

Against the Kings, Fisher is 4-for-24 on 3s and contributing a whopping 7.2 points ... all while the Kings' Mike Bibby has zoomed within one more victory of pole position for NBA Finals MVP consideration, at 21.4 points per game in this (unofficial championship) round.

"For me, it's just a matter of staying confident and believing in what I can do to help us win," Fisher said. "We're not necessarily losing games because we're not making all of our shots. Defensively, we have to improve. I definitely feel like if I can improve on the play that I've had, we'd probably have much more success at this point.

"Overall, I felt good about the way I defended (Bibby). ... More has been made of it because of my lack of scoring. That's just a part of it. ... As bad as I've shot, as bad as anybody's shot, we lost (Game 5) by one point. It came down to one stop."

Problem is, it's not just Fisher. Fox scored 16 points in Game 4, but managed to total only 18 points in the first three games. Samaki Walker and Devean George, thrust into roles of prominence because owner Jerry Buss refused to spend any Superfriends preservation money last summer, appear to have been rushed into those roles. Lindsey Hunter has combined with Fox, Fisher and George to shoot 14-for-69 on 3s.

Maybe most glaring is how Mitch Richmond, theoretically such a perfect fit when the Lakers got him to sign up for the veteran minimum, had fallen totally out of the rotation until Tuesday, when Jackson gave Richmond three minutes to see if he could help. He couldn't.

	“	My teammates have never let me down. We win together. We lose together. They will never let me down. ”
		— Shaquille O'Neal

Horry is the only exemption, and not solely because of the 18 points and 14 boards he submitted in Game 4, highlighted by that 3-point three-peat lifeboat from straight away. Horry also had 18 points and 11 rebounds in Game 1 and 20 rebounds in a Game 2 defeat.

Yet even Horry was down to four points in Game 5, while the Kings were actually getting deeper. Peja Stojakovic returned after an absence of nearly three weeks to give Rick Adelman a full eight-man rotation, and Peja is still an All-Star you have to guard, even if he's under 40 percent from the field in the playoffs (.381) and somewhat hobbled by that sprained ankle.

"My teammates have never let me down," O'Neal insisted, in one of the many statements of defiance over the past two days from the twice-defending champions, who remain convinced that they will force a Game 7 in Sacramento on Sunday.

"We win together. We lose together. They will never let me down."

Shaq usually calls them "my guys," and you'll have to check back this weekend to find out if his supreme confidence gets rewarded.

Then check again in the summer, even if the Lakers manage to win these next two games and score ring No. 3, to see if the Superfriends get some needed reinforcements.

Climbing out of the first 3-2 playoff hole since the Shaq/Kobe/Phil triangle took shape wouldn't change the fact that the Lakers are getting thinner by the year in the frontcourt. Or that LA's clearly lacking 1) a depending No. 3 scorer and 2) someone with the quickness and/or improvisation skills to create shots independent of the two icons.

Having hounded the Kings with zingers since the series began, and even before, Fox recently admitted that "any sense of decency goes out the window." Game 6 could be the Superfriends' last chance to make it clear that Fox was talking about trash-talking.

Marc Stein, who covers the NBA for The Dallas Morning News, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.