They just couldn’t find the basket against Celtics

The Lakers were in it, half a quarter from beating the Boston Celtics until a loss stood up and presented itself in an unexpectedly ugly way, amid a slew of missed shots, many from the perimeter.

Andrew Bynum‘s dunk gave the Lakers an 84-80 lead with 7 minutes 14 seconds to play, but they scored only two points the rest of the way on one-for-11 shooting in an 87-86 loss Thursday.

Their shot chart after Bynum’s dunk would pain Lakers fans. Among the misfires were Ron Artest‘s three-point attempt, Bynum’s 13-footer, Sasha Vujacic‘s three-point attempt, Shannon Brown‘s 20-footer, Brown‘s 21-footer and Derek Fisher‘s 20-footer as time expired.

Odom scored the Lakers’ only basket in the final 7:13 on a put-back and then said they didn’t “go through” the Celtics down the stretch. He was right. They tried to go around the Celtics, if that, settling for outside shots or even passing them up.

On one play, Pau Gasol looked at a short jumper from the right side but turned the ball over after trying to force a pass down low to a cutting Brown.

“We had some wide-open shots,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “Shannon had a couple wide-open shots. Pau had some opportunities. He opted to pass. . . . I still haven’t looked at that sequence [on video]. I have to look at that to understand that a little bit.”

Of course, the game would have been markedly different had Kobe Bryant played . . . not that Jackson ever allowed such a hypothetical to enter his mind.

“That’s not part of our thought process,” Jackson said. “Our thought process is, ‘Why couldn’t we hit some of those shots when we’re wide open?’ ”

Fisher king?

Fisher had a forgettable night, missing his last seven attempts and finishing with three points.

He smiled when asked if he sensed Lakers fans’ desire for an upgrade at his position.

“They ask you [media members],” he said. “They don’t ask me. Most of the time when I see them, they ask for my autograph.

“I’m confused about why they do it, not in my face, I guess that’s part of the business, particularly when you’ve been around as much as I have, it’s cooler to talk about what’s next. It is what it is and I accept it for what it is. I’ve always just believed in allowing my work over time and over my career to speak for itself and I’ll continue to do so.”

Rodman campaign

Jackson was cagey when asked about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ trade for Antawn Jamison. In fact, Jackson launched into a diatribe on a totally different subject when first asked about it.

He said he was “upset” and went on to say there was a “real tragedy, a shame,” but he wasn’t talking about the Cleveland trade. He was talking about the Hall of Fame’s oversight of Dennis Rodman in announcing finalists for this year’s class.

“The guy led the league in rebounding seven years in a row, defensive player of the year two or three times, doesn’t get nominated [as] a Hall of Fame candidate,” Jackson said. “His basketball skills are certainly there and every team he played on competed and competed very high quality.”

Etc.

The Lakers did not practice Friday and might also skip a Sunday workout as part of a four-day break between games. They don’t play again until Tuesday in Memphis.

mike.bresnahan

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Times staff writer Broderick Turner contributed to this report.