Lakers Not Worrying About All That Jazz

If you can’t say anything nice . . .

The Laker players who faced the media plastered on tight grins and trotted out fuzzy slogans. They bit back hasty remarks and fervently tried to keep themselves in their big, collective happy place.

Kind of like group therapy for tall, rich and extremely worried people--a 12-step NBA program that doesn’t involve Karl Malone’s usual route to the basket between dribbles.

Generally, the Lakers just tried to shut their eyes and forget everything that has happened in the last week, especially the latest lapse--a 109-93 victory to the hated, heady Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Saturday.

Remember when it was championship or bust? After five losses in their last eight games, now it’s just a matter of avoiding the big Laker implosion.

Group hug, anybody?

“I know we’ll overcome it,” said Kobe Bryant, who had his third straight off-kilter offensive performance. “It’s a no-brainer. We’re going to get better. [Not turning it around] doesn’t even cross my mind.”

In their first game since the therapeutic release of Dennis Rodman, the Lakers lost for the third straight time to a Western Conference rival--and, after Tuesday’s 27-point defeat to Portland, this was the second straight game in which they really had no chance to win.

It got so bad so early Saturday that veteran referee Jess Kersey issued his own on-court critique after Coach Kurt Rambis lambasted him for a call: “If your team isn’t together, don’t blame me.”

After the defeat, though, the sometimes-fractious Laker locker room held together.

“I’m going to always keep my spirits up, no matter what happens,” said Shaquille O’Neal, who once again by far outplayed the opposing big men (scoring a game-high 29 points, grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds and blocking a game-high four shots), but to no avail.

“Good times are ahead, hopefully.”

O’Neal, who has been frequently critical of his teammates’ will to battle this season, said he had no complaints, despite the result.

“I’m proud of the guys today,” O’Neal said. “They showed a lot of effort, they showed a lot of heart. They didn’t back down despite what went on out there.”

What went on, according to the Laker spin campaign, was that the Jazz got all the calls--11 more fouls were called on the Lakers--and, as a result, destroyed the Lakers at the free-throw line.

Utah, which lost at home to the Lakers a little over a month ago but has now won 10 in a row, made 35 of 41 free throws; the Lakers 11 of 18.

That negated a big bench performance from Rick Fox (a season-high 24 points on 11-of-17 shooting) and an across-the-board increase in intensity.

“You’re looking at a stat sheet and they make almost twice as many free throws as we attempt,” Rambis said. “That’s something that’s hard for me to believe in a big ballgame like this.”

John Stockton and Malone had something to do with it, too, of course.

Stockton played only 23 minutes, but his second assist of the game gave him 13,000 for his career (he finished with 13,005), and an estimated 12,000 have come against the Lakers.

OK, just kidding on that last part.

Malone meanwhile, had 27 points, including 13 for 14 on free throws, and five assists.

Rambis, once again choosing his words carefully in the wake of a defeat, said it was important not to dwell on the negative issues as his team heads into the final few weeks of the regular season with the hopes of a deep playoff run receding rapidly.

“We’ve got to get that positive feeling back again,” Rambis said, “get a couple wins under our belt. We’ve got to start looking at things in a positive light, rather than a negative light, and that’ll help the attitude on the court, too.”

Said point guard Derek Fisher: “You have to stay positive. As soon as you start to doubt your ability as a team and start to have negative thoughts, there’s no sense going out there. . . .

“But we’re going to keep fighting. We’re not just going to lay down at all.”

Despite giving up more than 100 points for the third straight game--and for the 11th time in the 18 games since the Eddie Jones-Glen Rice trade--Rambis said the Lakers (25-16) have shown definite signs of progress.

“We did a lot of good things--yes, absolutely,” Rambis said. “We did a lot of good things out there.

“It’s not going to turn around overnight. They’re a very good ballclub and they exploit everybody’s weaknesses, but I thought as a whole we showed some progress.”

NBA

MARK HEISLER: You’d like to think the Lakers would learn from their Dennis Rodman experience, but watching how they handled it you can’t be sure. Page 7

UNFORGETTABLE: Coach Kurt Rambis says he understands if there are some players who wish Rodman was still on the team. Page 6

NBA: The Hornets beat the Cavaliers, 90-82, for their seventh straight victory and are squarely back in playoff picture. Page 6