Malone Injury Is Concern

The sturdiest Laker fell at his teammates’ feet on Sunday night, balled against the pain and fright of another crisis, this in his right knee, that he could not contain by raising an eyebrow.

Karl Malone fell. The Lakers wobbled. Malone limped away after four minutes. The Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 107-101, one eye on the tunnel at Staples Center that might have brought Malone back, the other on the business of the season, winning basketball games again.

“We need him,” Bryon Russell said. “We missed him.”

Malone, who has missed six games to injury or illness in 18-plus seasons, will undergo an MRI exam this morning.

The Lakers’ test might not come until April or May, and sometimes they treat the regular season that way, Sunday night their 18-point, third-quarter lead dissolving to three -- twice -- in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

Once driven to bury their opponents, the Lakers don’t win fourth quarters anymore. They don’t protect leads. They are 20-5 on the strength of their first month, then still giddy at the idea of playing alongside Malone and Gary Payton, then still committed to the finer points of their defensive and offensive efforts.

Phil Jackson, like his players somewhat dulled by the sight of the hearty Malone on his back, sighed at the recent turn in personality. Shaquille O’Neal had 18 points and 18 rebounds. Kobe Bryant, playing closer to the team dynamic, had 10 points. Payton, who played with a bruised right Achilles’ tendon, had 19 points and seven assists. Devean George had 19 points. And the bench -- Russell, Derek Fisher, Luke Walton -- had one of its best end-to-end games of the season.

Yet, four minutes from Randy Newman, there were the Suns, within 95-92. A minute from “I Love L.A.” they were within 102-99, with the ball.

Jackson plugged in Walton. He waved in Russell. He fretted over late turnovers by Bryant, a technical foul for snapping at a referee following one, and leaned into two free throws by Payton with 8.1 seconds left that finished the Suns.

“I told the team at the postgame address that it looks like I’m going to have to take the first unit out of the [game] after about six minutes of the third quarter,” Jackson said, “because we want to maximize our lead in the ballgame. They lose interest or fall asleep or get inattentive.

“They lost momentum again tonight. I tried to substitute and get them out.... I hope maybe something happened and they got an idea of what we’re trying to get accomplished. We are just trying to sustain an effort in the course of the game.”

The Lakers played through some issues. They often do.

Bryant had made a game-winning shot at the buzzer two nights before, and three-fifths of the starting lineup drove out of the garage in a huff.

They won 10 in a row, lost two, won two more, and the attention remains on the two defeats, and the uneven manner in which the latest wins came about.

Even with Payton on the arc, the Lakers still don’t defend the perimeter with much determination. Stephon Marbury scored 31 points and Shawn Marion scored 23, most from outside or on midrange floaters, for the Suns, who are 10-18 and still pushed the Lakers to the brink of concern. Just as the Denver Nuggets had on Friday.

So, Walton played seven fourth-quarter minutes, made both of his shots and a free throw, and found teammates for two other baskets. From the end of the bench, he helped account for nine points.

“We needed someone to pass the ball,” Jackson said of sending out Walton. “The guys didn’t look like they wanted to move the basketball and do things. He facilitates the game because he wants to move the ball and play a team game.”

Said O’Neal: “Luke is a pretty good player.... He came in and he was ready. I think he deserves more playing time.”

The Lakers have the best record in the NBA, but the power forward had trouble getting his sock on his right foot late Sunday night, and the head coach shook his head at their 20th win, and O’Neal spoke so low as to be nearly inaudible.

Malone’s boundless energy, at 40, had driven them through some of the difficult parts of their early schedule, and no one wanted to consider what an injury might bring.

“It’s scary,” Bryant said of Malone’s condition. “You know Karl doesn’t get hurt very often. ... Hopefully the MRI will come out negative.”