The Los Angeles Lakers finally got their first win of the season Sunday with a 107-92 upset over the Charlotte Hornets. Jeremy Lin and Kobe Bryant each dropped 21 points in the victory, while Bryant tied the team-high in rebounds with six. But while the win may not seem impressive, it came at the hands of a Hornets team that is anticipated to have a resurgent season after giving the Miami Heat a run for their money in the first-round of the playoffs last year.

Head coach Byron Scott, in his first season with the Lakers, certainly has some gelling to do. Although Scott was one of many newcomers to the team, he also lost multiple players to injuries and now has a taller task than he originally started with. No Julius Randle will force Scott to intensely monitor Carlos Boozer's minutes, while Jordan Hill will likely see a large increase in playing time. A thin bench at almost every position has resulted in Kobe Bryant averaging 34.5 minutes per game. He is just one of two players on the roster with an average over 30 minutes. Bryant is off to a relatively hot start, second in the league with 26.5 points per game, while making more-than-occasional top-10 plays. The 36 year-old can certainly still put the ball in the bucket, but will likely be doing it alone for most of the first half of the season.

Forward Nick Young has been partaking in conditioning drills as he begins to rehab his injured thumb. Scott indicated that he is expected to begin dribbling and passing drills soon. This would be a great fortune for the struggling Lakers and would take a huge load off of Bryant's back. 

Meanwhile, Swaggy P is living fancy with Iggy Azalea, as the two just purchased the former California home of who else but Selena Gomez. At this point, I would imagine even Kobe would rather be mingling amongst the young pop stars than grooming young question marks on the court. Nonetheless, optimism has been expressed about the Young injury and it appears as though the seven-year veteran could possibly return by the end of the month.

But that will not satisfy Lakers fans, who are about to endure a tough stretch for their 1-5 team. The Lakers travel to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies tomorrow before moving on to New Orleans to face the Pelicans. They will then return home to play the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, followed by a red hot Golden State Warriors team who, by the way, has the league's top scorer in Stephen Curry (27.7ppg). As if that was not enough, another road trip ensues with games against the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, and Dallas Mavericks, before the Lakers can finally breathe again with a home game against the Denver Nuggets on November 23. San Antonio, Atlanta, and Denver are the only teams under .500 that the Lakers play during that stretch.

At this point, time is of the essence before the 2014-2015 season completely slips away from the Los Angeles Lakers. They will rely heavily on head coach Byron Scott, who has a career coaching record of 417-526, to mesh a hodgepodge of unproven players. Kobe Bryant, who is no chemistry major, will continue to play a lot of minutes and will be expected to take over some games when the rest of the squad simply cannot do it. If the Lakers can hold their heads above water for the next three or four weeks, they may be in good shape once Nick Young returns. But if not, they will remain in the bottom of the pack until Kobe Bryant loses his you-know-what.