Lakers Get Their Point Across on Defensive End

It seems as if quick little point guards have been giving the Lakers trouble for a decade--or ever since Kevin Johnson helped the Phoenix Suns run the Lakers out of the 1990 playoffs.

Gary Payton, Avery Johnson . . . and do I need to mention John Stockton?

Apparently the Lakers have finally decided to do something about it. In the past week they’ve thrown a net around two of the most explosive little guys around: Allen Iverson and Steve Francis.

On Sunday the Lakers held Francis scoreless in the first half and to just one point through the first 35 1/2 minutes of their 101-85 victory over the Houston Rockets at Staples Center.

This came one week after they pitched a shutout against Iverson in the second half of a victory at Philadelphia.

In both cases the bulk the credit belonged to Kobe Bryant.

Throughout the season he’s been asked to guard a variety of people from the 6-foot-7 Scottie Pippen to the 6-1 Iverson, but he said he doesn’t have a preference.

“I just like winning,” Bryant said. “That’s all I like doing. Whatever this team needs me to do to win a ballgame, I’ll do it.”

When Bryant plays this well defensively, it gives the Lakers their best chance to win.

The ability to penetrate by Francis and Bryce Drew was the biggest reason the Rockets won two of their first three meetings with the Lakers this season.

Bryant’s defense Sunday was even more impressive than his offense, which produced a scintillating 18-point first quarter and 31 points overall.

He poses a challenge to opposing point guards because of his long, 6-7 frame. They might get the step on him, but it takes them a while to go around him.

And whenever Francis managed to slip past Bryant, he ran into a group of yellow jerseys.

“Every time I touched the ball, man, it seemed like it was four or five hands in my face,” Francis said. “Coach [Phil] Jackson and Tex [Winter], they did a good job of studying film. They played good defense on me. I’m not going to lie about that.

“The lanes opened up for a second and closed just as fast as they opened. When things like that are happening, you know it’s going to be a long night.”

Long as in having to wait until 25 seconds remained in the third quarter to get his first field goal. Long as in six turnovers. Long . . . by design.

“Today our focus was really on helping each other,” Derek Fisher said. “We didn’t want to leave whoever was guarding Francis alone. Whenever you’re guarding a guy like that, you have to feel like, ‘My teammate’s got my back.’ Today, Kobe was really aggressive getting up on him. Even times when he got by him, there was somebody to help him out.”

It’s extra nice when that somebody is 7-1. Having Shaquille O’Neal as the last line of defense is similar to the difference between a school nurse and the Mayo Clinic. He blocked five shots Sunday, gave the Rockets second thoughts about countless others, and was a big reason the Lakers owned another huge advantage in the “Points in the Paint” category, this time by a 52-34 margin.

“He’s going to get the benefit of the doubt because of his size,” Francis said. “Even if you go up and he touches you, you’re not going to get no calls.”

Guard penetration is one of Jackson’s greatest concerns. It wrecks the defensive scheme, forces big men to come over and leave opposing big men unguarded and usually results in easy baskets or trips to the free-throw line.

“We’ve worked on it the past couple of days in practice, leading up to this game,” Fisher said. “Phil, he and his staff, they like for you to build. We might start working on something now, but it’s so that two weeks from now, we’re better. In our practices the last couple of weeks, we’ve been working a lot on pick-and-roll defense and helping each other and rotating.”

This is the week to demonstrate their progress. With games against three of the four division leaders, it’s as important a stretch as the Lakers will play until the playoffs. First there’s the showdown at Portland, and another quick point guard in Damon Stoudamire.

After a beware-of-letdown game against Vancouver, the Lakers play the Indiana Pacers--who will win the Central Division and are one of the only two Eastern Conference teams to beat the Lakers this season--and Miami, which is battling to win the Atlantic.

The path is clear. It starts with defense, which starts with stopping the man with the ball.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com

Current Streak

The Lakers have won 11 in a row. A look at the score and the opponent’s field-goal percentage in each game:

Opponent Score (Pct.)

Utah 113-67 (.296)

Denver 106-98 (.419)

Minnesota 114-81 (.341)

at Chicago 88-76 (.377)

at Charlotte 92-85 (.416)

at Orlando 107-99 (OT) (.454)

at Philadelphia 87-84 (.388)

at New Jersey 97-89 (.436)

at Cleveland 116-98 (.468)

Boston 109-96 (.416)

Houston 101-85 (.358)