Inside joke is no laughing matter

From Inside Man to Invisible Man?

Kwame Brown was a primary part of the Lakers’ scheme a year ago, when they pounded the ball down low with success against the Phoenix Suns, as per Coach Phil Jackson’s game plan.

A year later, with a bigger body standing in his way, Brown was nowhere near the numbers that would satisfy Jackson, scoring only four points on two-for-six shooting in 29 minutes Sunday in Game 1.

He appeared to be rushed in the post, missed a dunk and got flustered early when referees didn’t call a foul on one of his shots.

He averaged 12.9 points in last season’s playoff series against the Suns, but that was with undersized Boris Diaw guarding him. Enter Amare Stoudemire, healthy as ever, and the going got tougher for Brown, who has already requested more touches for Game 2.

“We have to trust each other more,” he said. “We definitely have to throw it in the post more. The whole second half, we just shot around the perimeter. Those shots turned into break-starters for Leandro Barbosa.”

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Jackson was irritated with the referees, claiming the Lakers were unfairly charged with a full timeout after calling a 20-second timeout with 2:58 left in the second quarter.

Television timeouts come whenever play is stopped with fewer than three minutes left in a quarter. Jackson’s 20-second timeout stopped play, leading to the TV timeout.

Jackson said that “this referee crew, which was dubious at best today, missed that call and somehow or another, I lost a timeout in the course of the second half.”

Jackson was fined $25,000 earlier in the season for using similar terminology to describe the officiating after a loss in Utah. Jackson said at the time that the league “throws out some referee corps that you’re dubious about to start with and, you know, the game ends up like that.”

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Vladimir Radmanovic slid further down the depth chart, so much so that he was almost deactivated for Game 1.

“I had to seriously consider putting him on the inactive list today,” Jackson said. “I’m not sure he can help us yet.”

Radmanovic is averaging 0.7 points in three games since returning from a separated shoulder. He suited up but did not play in Game 1.

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The Lakers’ inactive list for Game 1 was Aaron McKie, Shammond Williams and Chris Mihm, although Mihm says he hopes to begin running in a week or two ... assuming the Lakers are still alive in the playoffs.

“The ankle’s starting to feel better,” said Mihm, who has missed the whole season after undergoing two ankle surgeries last year.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com