Lakers Lose by Decision

Kobe Bryant was almost past the room where the referees dressed for their postgame Christmas dinners, when a voice stopped him.

“Kobe, did you see the replay?” It was Michael Smith, one of three referees at Staples Center Monday afternoon.

No, Bryant said with a wry grin, no he hadn’t.

“He was outside the circle,” Smith said. “His foot was outside the line.”

Walking quickly from the Lakers’ loss, from the 109-104 score, from a late charging call that led to Portland’s victory, Bryant waved a hand over his shoulder.

“Oh, that’s incredible,” Bryant said, laughing.

There were good reasons for the Lakers’ first loss in six games, for the momentary lapse in momentum that meant their fourth home loss, one fewer than they had all of last season, and for a forgettable defensive effort that blew a four-point lead with five minutes left. Rasheed Wallace, for one. He scored 33 points against a variety of Laker forwards and strategies. Damon Stoudamire, for another. He scored 27 points, 13 in the fourth quarter.

Also, there were the three technical fouls called by a T(rigger)-happy officiating crew against the Lakers, one each against Isaiah Rider, Ron Harper and assistant Tex Winter. Shaquille O’Neal scored 32 points, Bryant scored 29 and Rick Fox scored 22.

But the three points that didn’t count were their undoing.

“Horrible,” Bryant said.

Stoudamire had given the Trail Blazers a 107-104 lead with the second of two free throws with 13 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Bryant dribbled at the top of the key, Steve Smith dangling across the way, too far on his toes because of the threat of the three-pointer.

Bryant jab-stepped right, crossed over right to left, and left Smith behind. After two steps, Bryant rose to the right of the rim. Wallace slid into the lane beneath him, from the left side. Bryant let go of the basketball, which banked off the backboard and dropped into the basket. A whistle.

The same thought passed through every Laker head.

“Three-point play,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “It looks like a three-point play to me.”

“We’re going to win,” O’Neal said.

“Overtime,” Bryant said. “I knew ‘Sheed was going to come in from the weak side. But I knew he was too far over to get the foul. So I just jumped over him.”

Instead, Bryant was called for the offensive foul. Wallace cheered from the baseline. If any part of Wallace was in the circle beneath the basket, Bryant could not have charged, by rule. Replays were inconclusive. The opinions were quite conclusive. Wallace, who might have known for sure, refused comment.

Bryant looked to his left, to the Trail Blazer bench. He thought, “What are they cheering for?”

Bryant fouled out.

“Rasheed had a foot in the dotted area,” Bryant said. “I know that for a fact.”

Or not.

“Especially at that point of the game,” Fox said. “The paint is the war zone that’s left to be decided by who comes out alive. The outcome at that time is usually left to the players.”

On an afternoon made all the more festive by the floating white feathers that freed themselves from the fringes of the Laker Girl Christmas uniforms, Portland reacquainted itself with an arena that held bad memories. Seven months ago, the Trail Blazers dragged themselves away, devastated by the worst quarter in franchise history. So, they got to applaud a call that went their way, shots that fell, free throws that actually went in.

“Forget June,” Stoudamire said. “They won it and they’re the champions. That’s always going to be over our heads. As far as June’s game and now, it doesn’t have anything to do with that. We needed this win because we just needed this win. This was good for us to get and now we go and play a tough Utah team.”

It was a big day for the fat guy in red, white and black: Shawn Kemp made his first four shots and scored 12 points. In the spirit of the occasion, he gave a bunch back too. He guarded O’Neal--or was assigned to him--for much of the second quarter, when O’Neal scored 14.

The Lakers leaned on O’Neal, who had 23 points and made five of eight free throws by halftime. They rode Fox’s still steady perimeter shot; he was four for seven beyond from the arc. Bryant too. But, given turns on Wallace, Horace Grant and Robert Horry did not hold the Trail Blazer power forward and that made Bryant’s final drive so critical. That and 61 personal fouls called by officials Smith, Jess Kersey and Rodney Mott, not counting the four technicals.

Jackson settled into his chair in the postgame press conference, sighed and apologized for being a few minutes tardy.

“I hesitated coming down here because I had to collect myself,” he said.

That said, he blamed the officials for turning something aesthetic into a carnival game of free throws.

“I thought it ruined a nice game,” he said.

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BY THE NUMBERS

20-10 Laker record

1-2 Laker record vs. Trail Blazers

57.1 Lakers’ shooting percentage in Oct. 31 victory at Portland

43.9 Lakers’ shooting percentage in two losses to Trail Blazers since.

7 Lakers’ rebounding edge Oct. 31

29 Trail Blazers’ rebounding edge since.