A Former Laker Enjoys Revenge

Asked to sum up Ruben Patterson’s performance against his Lakers on Sunday, Coach Phil Jackson captured the man, the mind-set and the moment in one word: “Revenge.”

Revenge for his rejection by the Lakers after one season.

Revenge for what he perceives as Kobe Bryant’s condescending attitude while they were teammates.

Patterson, who refers to himself as “The Kobe Stopper,” got a sweet measure of that revenge at The Rose Garden by playing a key role in his Portland Trail Blazers’ 111-105 victory over the Lakers in front of a sellout crowd of 20,580.

Patterson made nine of 11 shots, scored 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 27 minutes before fouling out in the final minute. And even more importantly, he was in Bryant’s face for much of a long afternoon for the Lakers, trash talking with Bryant.

Bryant still managed a game-high 28 points, but he was only 11 for 26 from the field and scored only five points while he and Patterson were on the floor.

When the game was over, Patterson was at the center of a media crowd in his locker room.

Yes, Bonzi Wells had a strong game for Portland, leading the team in scoring with 27 points and tying for team-high honors in rebounds with 10.

And yes, with center Shaquille O’Neal missing from the Laker lineup for the fifth game in a row, and backup center Samaki Walker forced to leave the game because of a hyperextended elbow with 8:40 to play and his team ahead by two points, Portland center Dale Davis (10 rebounds) and forward Rasheed Wallace (25 points) also stood out.

But it was Patterson doing the talking.

“It all started when I was a rookie,” he said, referring to the 1998-1999 season. “Ever since that first training camp, Kobe has been very arrogant. You know Kobe. He talks a lot of trash. But he don’t talk directly to me now. He knows not to talk to me directly.”

In the Laker locker room, Bryant tried to keep the focus on the game, the Lakers’ second loss in a row, dropping them to 35-15.

Concerned about an alarming tendency by his team to fall behind early over the last three games, Jackson juggled his starting front court for the third straight time. After starting Mark Madsen and then Devean George at power forward the last two games, Jackson went with Robert Horry on Sunday despite the fact that Jackson likes to save Horry for instant offense off the bench.

Horry responded with instant offense, getting nine of his season-high 22 points in the first quarter. And the tinkering worked as the Lakers were competitive from the start against a team that took the court battling mediocrity at 26-24.

With 6:41 to play, the game was tied at 89.

But then Portland untied it with five straight points--a Wallace layup, a Wallace free throw, a Wells jump shot--part of an 11-2 run from which the Lakers never recovered.

There were plenty of reasons for the Lakers’ downfall.

There was a backcourt violation during that critical run called against Rick Fox, who failed to get the ball across midcourt in the required eight seconds.

There was the disparity in rebounds, Portland taking advantage of O’Neal’s absence to beat the Lakers on the boards, 44-36.

And there was Bryant’s inability to continue his recent effectiveness as a playmaker.

After being in double figures in assists for the last three games, he had only two on Sunday.

The flip side is that the Lakers had fallen behind early in each of those three games. Jackson wanted Bryant to take more open shots, especially after Friday night’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks. Bryant took 13 shots in that game.

He doubled that total Sunday.

But ultimately, said Jackson, it came down to Patterson.

“Ruben Patterson again was the nemesis of the Lakers,” Jackson said. “I think whoever gets to the finals should hire him immediately. He might be able to help anybody beat us.”

The Lakers’ recent struggles obviously haven’t dimmed Jackson’s optimism that his team will make it to the NBA finals.

And Patterson’s performance hasn’t dimmed Bryant’s belief that Patterson doesn’t belong on the same court with him. At least not one on one.

“He’s a really good defender,” Bryant said. “But five on five is different. If we bang into each other in the gym and I play him one on one, I will demolish him.”

Sounds like Bryant’s looking for revenge.