Lakers Bottle Rockets

It had been some time since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal sat shoulder to shoulder in the fourth quarter, satisfied in what the Lakers had done, encouraged that their offense looked somewhat familiar again in a 114-90 victory over the Houston Rockets at Staples Center.

Only Bryant was in uniform, and he held a bag of ice to his sore ribs.

O’Neal was still in his civilian attire, understated gray and black, but he was properly entertained by the franchise-low three turnovers and the jump shots that fell so routinely.

It was what is assumed of a team expected to win a third consecutive NBA title, and why the coaching staff filled the last meaningless minutes chuckling at whispered jokes, because the Lakers were the Lakers on the scoreboard, if not necessarily on the floor.

Mired in a team-wide shooting slump coming into the game, the Lakers made 46 of their 91 field-goal attempts, including 12 of 22 threes, and six Lakers reached double figures in scoring. Rick Fox and Bryant led with 16 apiece, and Robert Horry and Devean George each scored 14.

“You have to understand that we’re used to throwing the ball into Shaquille 50 times a game,” Bryant said.

“If you take that piece out of our equation, the first couple of games, it’s going to be very difficult to respond to that. It has to take some period of time to get adjusted, so guys can start playing their games.”

This victory was routine, even though it came after two losses, both with O’Neal resting his aching feet. For the 12th consecutive time since Phil Jackson was hired, two losses did not become three.

Eventually they were going to make some shots, Jackson assumed.

But, there were other factors. Bryant had 11 assists, four on consecutive possessions that ended the third quarter and assured him of spending the last 12 minutes beside O’Neal.

Emboldened by O’Neal’s absence, the Rockets ran handfuls of players at Bryant, hoping the Laker misfires would last another game. Bryant rarely forced his shot, and instead pushed the ball at Fox, who made all three of his three-point attempts. Or Bryant found Lindsey Hunter, who made four of six shots and his first free throws since--really--Nov. 2.

Hunter had missed 12 in a row. Jackson sent him to the line Sunday to shoot technical fouls twice--Kevin Willis was ejected in the fourth quarter--and Hunter made them both.

The Laker bench made 23 of 42 field-goal attempts and four reserves--Hunter, Horry, George and Mitch Richmond--Mitch Richmond!--made two three-pointers each.

Rocket Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, a loser in 17 of his last 19 games, laid it all on Bryant.

“Kobe was the focal point and we tried to get the ball out of his hands [with double-teams],” he said.

“He did a hell of a job getting the ball, they shot the lights out, and it felt like it never ended. I give a lot of credit to Kobe. He found open people, and he could score at a high percentage when we tried man-to-man coverage. He played a team game and that was the key.”

Bryant said he appreciated the attention.

“It was easy to just back the ball down and wait for the double-team to come and just kind of pick them apart,” Bryant said.

“My job is always to just read the defense. I’m actually a lot happier that guys are double-teaming. This way I don’t have to twist and turn to make shots. I can just feed them the ball and let them lay it in.”

The Rockets were without guard Steve Francis and forward Kenny Thomas.

Back for only one game after missing 16 with a foot injury, Francis contracted flu, developed a migraine and spent the day vomiting, more or less. He came to the arena and slept in the trainer’s room during the game, although he slipped onto the bench briefly in the second half.

Thomas, who averages 13.5 points and 7.5 points, has a hip pointer.

O’Neal won’t return to the Lakers until Friday, at the earliest, which leaves one more game--at Denver on Wednesday night--to negotiate. They are 2-2 without him, 21-6 overall, and for the moment more comfortable with their game.

“It’s a start, that’s for sure, in comparison to where it’s been,” Fox said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

December Blues

Comparing the Lakers’ strong start to their performance in the month of December:

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OCT.-NOV. DECEMBER 15 GAMES PLAYED 12 14-1 RECORD 7-5 46.9 FIELD GOAL PCT. 43.7 34.5 3-POINT PCT. 30.7 43.9 REBOUNDS PG 46.7 101.4 POINTS PG 99.0 90.8 POINTS ALLOWED PG 92.8

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