Ill-Timed Case of the Blahs Has the Lakers at a Crossroads

Phil Jackson wore one of his favorite caps Saturday, the tan one with “BLAH BLAH BLAH” stacked on the front, because he knew it would be one of those days, one of those conversations.

He sat behind a nest of microphones, knocked a few into his lap, righted them, and then considered the crowd before him and the playoff game behind him.

Down two games to one against the Sacramento Kings, the Lakers play Game 4 of the Western Conference finals today at Staples Center. A loss would do serious damage to their desires to win a third consecutive NBA title, with two of the last three games--assuming they’d be required--scheduled for Sacramento.

“I think everybody wants to see us under some duress,” Jackson said. “You guys are here like sharks ... with blood in the water. Look at you guys. So, everybody’s anxious to see how we perform in this situation. I am. I’m very anxious to see how we perform. This is the making of the team going on and collecting its third championship or folding its tent and not being able to sustain the pressure and playing to its potential.”

He said “anxious,” and probably meant “eager.” But he did say “anxious.”

These are unusual hours for the Lakers, who have often played to the edge of mediocrity, even in the playoffs, during what they considered their three-peat season. They played poorly in Friday’s Game 3, lost the home-court advantage they won with such force in Game 1, and now face a good team gaining confidence.

“This is a perilous situation,” said Kobe Bryant, who claimed again to be over the drain of food poisoning. “We’re totally aware of the situation. But we also like to look at it as a challenge, to the point where it has to excite us. And it does excite us.

“We’re not scrambling. We’ve been down before. We were down last year in the [NBA] Finals, and that’s more pressure than this situation. You get to the Finals and you go down a game, the opening game, that’s pressure. This right here, it’s fun.”

The Lakers watched a lot of game film Saturday morning, then made some of the jump shots they missed Friday night. They covered an acre of strategic ground and then discussed the alternative to getting it all right.

“We talked about what to do in the summertime when you’re trying to relax and have a good time, and how close it’ll be if we don’t get this second win,” Jackson said with his thin smile. “Our team has to play a little bit. After watching the tape, we had a couple bad spells in the ballgame. Yet, it’s correctable.”

So the Lakers met for about 3 1/2 hours, not long after being kicked around by Chris Webber and Mike Bibby and friends for a second consecutive game. The Kings, conversely, didn’t practice at all as a group.

The Lakers viewed the game tape, and shot all of those jumpers, and practiced their free throws, and when Jackson gathered them at midcourt and asked them how they felt about themselves as a whole, no one said anything for a long moment.

“We’re going to be all right,” Bryant finally said. “We’re going to be fine.”

Jackson, however, couldn’t forget the hesitation.

“That’s kind of what they’re waiting for,” he said. “They’re also waiting for each other to step into this vacuum and play hard and play with urgency.”

The Kings caught a little pool time at their Beverly Hills hotel, maybe. Shopped. Recharged their cell phones.

The Lakers were ordered to their practice facility at 9:30 a.m., perhaps the earliest reporting time of the season.

But why not? Since the first quarter of Game 1, a 36-22 period that was their best of the playoffs, the Lakers have been outplayed, outrun and outperformed.

In the 11 quarters since, the Lakers have shot 38.9% from the field and 24.2% from three-point range. They have averaged 22.7 points a quarter. Derek Fisher has shot 18.2% and Bryant 38.7%.

The Kings have shot 45.7%, including 41.2% from the arc, and have been outscored in only four of the last 11 quarters. In three games, they have attempted 28 more free throws than the Lakers. Somehow, Bibby has attempted only one fewer free throw (22) than has Shaquille O’Neal.

The Lakers have decided it is less about the Kings, however, than it is about their failures.

“That game probably gave Sacramento a lot of confidence,” Robert Horry said. “We know we shot the ball poorly. We did some things on defense poorly. These are things that can be corrected. It’s not like there’s nothing we can’t correct.”

By tipoff today, they’ll have had about 40 hours to turn it around.

“We don’t want to get panicked here,” Jackson said. “We believe in our guys. We’re fine.”

Then he excused himself, and stood up.

“I think my hat has said it all, I’ve said enough, and I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” he said.