Editor's note: As part of "The Stein Line" every Monday, ESPN.com senior NBA writer Marc Stein takes you around the league for the latest news in "Coast to Coast."

	Worst records for an NBA champion (after 30 games)
	W-L	NBA champion(s)
	16-14	1946-47 Philadelphia Warriors 1947-48 Baltimore Bullets
	17-13	1954-55 Syracuse Nationals
	18-12	1977-78 Washington Bullets
	19-11	1950-51 Rochester Royals 1989-90 Detroit Pistons

As if the idea of a fourth consecutive championship wasn't sufficiently ambitious, the Lakers are bidding to establish a new standard for comebacks. Never before has the NBA fielded champs with a record as poor as 11-19 after 30 games, which is where L.A. was after its Christmas Day loss to Sacramento. The worst record for a title winner after 30 games is 16-14, shared by 1947's Philadelphia Warriors and 1948's Baltimore Bullets.

Of course, as loyal reader Michael Carman recently reminded us, Seattle once came close to an even more dramatic recovery than what the Lakers are attempting. After a 5-17 start in 1977-78, a coach named Lenny Wilkens was rehired to oversee a storybook 42-18 run to finish the regular season. The Supes then ousted the Lakers, Portland and Denver in the playoffs before finally falling to Washington in a seven-game Finals.

Then again ...

The '77-78 season was a weird one start to finish, so it might not be the realistic guide for hopeful Lakerites. Washington started a mere 18-12 and won it all with a final regular-season mark of 43-39, the worst finish for any champion in league history. Today's Lakers, after their horrific start, are on pace for a 47-35 regular season.

So when Baron starts, who sits?
New Orleans is in the midst of a welcomed three-day break, after which Baron Davis is expected to return to the starting lineup at home Wednesday against New York. Coach Paul Silas couldn't be more thrilled to have his Baron back, for starters to lessen the demands he has been placing on Jamal Mashburn. "Mash has been carrying us," Silas said, "but he's tired now and he needs a boost."

	Baron Davis will return to the Hornets' starting lineup this week.

The issue for Silas is whom to bench now -- longtime starter David Wesley or successful newcomer George Lynch -- but Davis has done everything he can to diffuse potential tensions. Before being activated, and before even speaking to Silas about it, Baron went to Mash and told him he thought it was best for the team for him to start out coming off the bench, given that the Hornets won an amazing eight in a row in one stretch without Davis.

"Baron was concerned we were rolling and he didn't want to disrupt the chemistry," Mashburn said. "My thing to him was, 'Make your own decision, but when it comes down to gut-check time, you're going to be out there, so you might as well throw your ass in the fire right now.' "

The Hornets are a modest 2-2 since Davis was activated. He sat out Friday's victory at Miami as a precaution in his recovery from knee surgery and longstanding back trouble.

Silas, meanwhile, is using the break to decide what he wants to do. With Lynch in the starting lineup at shooting guard, the Hornets field one of the biggest teams in the league -- explaining how they went 20 games without being outrebounded before Saturday's loss at Orlando. Yet with Wesley and Davis starting in a more familiar backcourt, Silas has more of a comfort zone and more variety off the bench: Lynch and Kenny Anderson as subs instead of the like-sized Wesley and Anderson.

"At this point I don't know," Silas said. "I like my big lineup. The big lineup is really what carried us (while Davis was injured). But, knowing me, I'm pretty loyal, so I'll probably go back to (the Davis/Wesley backcourt)."

In his sleep, Silas hopes for French Quarter Finals
Silas' honesty is refreshing. Asked if he ever allows himself to dream about how the Hornets might fare in the NBA Finals, since they have as much size as anyone in the East, he didn't fiddle with coach-speak hedging.

"I do all the time," Silas said with a laugh.

"Most important I think my players are beginning to believe also," Silas continued. "I told them from Day 1 that, if we remain healthy, we could eventually vie for the East. There was a little apprehension from them, but now I think they're beginning to believe that, with our team intact, we have as good a chance as anyone."

Race is tight but Warriors aren't, Musselman insists
Warriors coach Eric Musselman rejects the notion that nerves or inexperience caused his playoff-chasing youngsters to follow their recent six-game win streak with a 1-4 skid. The first two losses were unquestionably bad -- a no-show at Chicago and a collapse in Milwaukee -- but Musselman is right about the next two, both heartbreakers.

	Eduardo Najera is a key component of the Dallas bench.

Golden State lost in Detroit on a buzzer 3-pointer by Chauncey Billups. After a home win over Phoenix, the Warriors then fell to visiting Dallas on Friday when Eduardo Najera, the guy they wanted to shoot, rained-in a rare jumper from the baseline. Najera's bucket rescued the Mavericks after they had lost Dirk Nowitzki to a first-half rolled ankle.

"It'd be one thing if I could name five or six incidents where we were missing shots or not executing and not getting shots," Musselman said.

"Nobody thought we'd be .500 or in the playoff race with 20 games to go. In the maturing process, I think this can move us up a year ahead of schedule."

With only five games left against the East to pad its 16-9 intra-conference record, and 3½-game deficit behind No. 8 Houston with 16 games remaining, the math suggests the Warriors won't be able to prevent the league's longest playoff drought from stretching to nine seasons.

The big issues haven't changed, either. Defense remains a major weakness. And whether it's Musselman's preference or the young stars' willingness to defer, Earl Boykins is taking too many of the crunch-time shots for a club that has Antawn Jamison, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Richardson. Most ominous of all, of course, is the perpetual fear that Arenas will leave in free agency this summer because Denver can pay him more, just as the renaissance was gathering momentum.

Given all that, though, Musselman is right again. Who was expecting them to even get close to halting the drought? Not even our friend Joe, the most loyal Warriors fan we know.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here. Also, send Stein a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.