Despite an uplifting Christmas Day victory against the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers’ fall from grace sans LeBron James appeared inevitable to everyone but the team’s front office. As a result, Sunday’s dreadful loss to the woeful Cleveland Cavaliers has staged another potential showdown between Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and coach Luke Walton.

Following the loss to the tanking Cavs, which came nine days after a loss to the tanking New York Knicks, Walton told reporters that he is considering a lineup change in advance of Tuesday’s game against the tanking Chicago Bulls. Should that adjustment result in an eighth loss in 11 games without James, there is increasing speculation that Johnson could present this string of defeats to Lakers owner (and Walton supporter) Jeanie Buss as evidence in support of the case for firing the coach.

Johnson’s skepticism of the incumbent coach that preceded his regime has been no secret. He reportedly “admonished” Walton for the Lakers’ 3-5 start to the season in a November meeting, and even when Johnson tepidly supported Walton in the aftermath of that report by saying, “He is going to finish the season,” the team president included the caveat: “unless something drastic happens.”

Losing to the league’s three worst teams in a span of two weeks may very well count as drastic.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton is mulling a starting lineup change. (AP)uke More

That is why Tuesday’s game against the Bulls now seems to be carrying a must-win tag for anyone interested in seeing Walton stay with the Lakers. The coach is also taking matters into his own hands, mulling an adjustment to the starting lineup before his team hosts the Bulls. Walton said on Sunday, via The Los Angeles Times, “Every game feels like we’re giving up 30 points-plus in the first quarter, so we’ll take a closer look at that. … We’ll take a look and possibly make a change before Tuesday.”

With James nursing a groin injury that is slated to be reevaluated on Wednesday and veteran point guard Rajon Rondo also out following finger surgery, the Lakers have been forced to field a starting lineup of Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and JaVale McGee the past few games. That unit has allowed 112.4 points and been outscored by an average of 22.1 per 100 possessions.

We can argue the merits of McGee’s resurgence and the Lakers’ young core, but most everyone outside L.A. would agree that any coach should struggle to regularly compete with that group. The question remains: What options does Walton have at his disposal? The Lakers brass, which also includes general manager Rob Pelinka, saddled the coach with Lance Stephenson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Svi Mykhailiuk as his only other wing options (Michael Beasley is also nursing a hand injury).

Ball and Ingram, a pair of No. 2 overall picks who have been the subject of much trade discussion, had drawn most of Walton’s ire. The coach called for “more passion” and “more fight” from them after a 22-point loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves last week, and following a brief rebuttal from Ball and Ingram, Walton said of his starters on Sunday, “I really thought we’d come out with better energy.”

Kuzma, who has been the Lakers’ best player in James’ absence, added, “As a team, we need to be more engaged in the sense of have an effort. And that starts with me. I played like crap today.”

Ingram and Ball may both be in danger of a benching were Rondo and James healthy, but with a dearth of capable wings and no other point guard options, their starting jobs appear safe. Caldwell-Pope is a theoretical 3-and-D wing who hasn’t been great at either for the Lakers this season, so the most logical adjustment would be to replace McGee with former Defensive Player of the Year Tyson Chandler as a last line of defense behind a porous perimeter. That does not boost much confidence.