Stopping the guards is key to trip

It’s a pointed discussion, but the Lakers might have their hands full on a four-game trip because of Chris Paul, Jason Kidd and Deron Williams.

“You forgot [Rafer] Alston,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said Wednesday, pointing out that Houston also has a point guard who’s playing well.

The Lakers have struggled recently with their penetration defense and have also witnessed the rebirth of a historical issue for them -- pick-and-roll defense, a thorn in their side since trying to defend Karl Malone and John Stockton or, more lately, Tony Parker and Tim Duncan.

Sacramento point guard Beno Udrih burned them for 25 points and 10 assists Sunday, followed by Toronto backup point guard T.J. Ford’s 28-point, four-assist outburst Tuesday.

“We’ll have to work at that,” Jackson said. “Some of the things that we’ve been doing are trying to strengthen some of our younger players that don’t have the physicality to get through screens. We have to work with our big guys on how to help and still get in rotation so they can get back to their own [spot].”

The Lakers don’t have much time to work it out. They play Friday in New Orleans, which means a large helping of Paul, a most-valuable-player candidate in his third season.

The Lakers waltzed past New Orleans, 109-80, when they played there in January. Paul had 32 points, but the Lakers were satisfied in holding him to five assists.

They’re hoping to do something similar Friday, letting Paul get his points but keeping him from finding Tyson Chandler and David West for dunks or Peja Stojakovic and Morris Peterson for open three-point attempts.

“We really feel that it’s probably best off if he’s not feeding all the three-point shooters and keeping all the other guys involved in the game as much,” Jackson said. “He wants to do a lot of the scoring. That probably takes away from the team atmosphere, but that’s just a general assumption.”

The Lakers then play Houston on Sunday, Dallas on Tuesday and Utah on Thursday before returning home.

Jackson looked over on one side of the practice court Wednesday and was flabbergasted by what he saw from Andrew Bynum.

“I saw him dunking the ball a couple times, which surprised me,” he said. “He shot the ball a few times.”

Bynum has begun running on an anti-gravity treadmill but is still not expected back until at least early April.

The Lakers (45-19) haven’t been especially crisp over the last two weeks, continuing to win at a solid clip but needing to expend more energy to do so.

Are they tired?

“Perhaps,” Kobe Bryant said. “I don’t know. We had a pretty spirited practice [Wednesday].”

Bryant had 34 points in the Lakers’ 117-108 victory over Toronto, which played without its top scorer and rebounder, All-Star forward Chris Bosh.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com