Laker Bench Players Finally Join the Party

There’s something to be learned from a game as dreadful as this one, a 120-99 Laker victory over a sorry, depleted Washington Wizard team that had no apparent agenda other than getting to the airport for the flight home.

Not to sound like Rudyard Kipling here, but ...

If Slava Medvedenko continues to hit everything he throws up and grabs the occasional rebound and ...

If Bryon Russell is going to hound his man on defense and ...

If Horace Grant can muster the strength and energy to keep playing this well all season and ...

If Derek Fisher regains his shooting touch and ...

If Rick Fox can play at even 75% of capacity when he returns from foot surgery (probably in January) ...

Then the Lakers will have the depth to go with their top-heavy quartet of superstars.

Based on the way things went the last two games, they’ve expanded from the Fantastic Four to the Justice League.

You never know which of these guys could be called upon if Shaquille O’Neal turns an ankle or Kobe Bryant has to fly to Colorado for a court appearance.

As Bryant told a fan who got hit on the head by a ball that was deflected out of bounds: “See, that’s why you’ve got to always pay attention.”

Now Coach Phil Jackson said he feels any of his substitutes can be ready when called upon.

“We’re having fun,” Russell said. “Everybody. The last two games were a good result of how the bench came in, played aggressive, gave the starting unit a good rest.”

They won’t hand out the Larry O’Brien trophy for beating two non-playoff teams at home in November. But this is part of the process of teams developing an identity.

Last year, when they were losing to the likes of Atlanta and Cleveland, it worked the opposite way.

When O’Neal missed the first 12 games of the season last year, it exposed the Laker role players’ flaws. Without the Diesel in the middle to draw in the defense, the other guys couldn’t create shots for themselves. Their confidence sagged.

The Lakers restocked with Gary Payton and Karl Malone, but that only made the difference between the starters and reserves even more glaring, like the difference between Charlie Parker and Kenny G.

The pattern was established in the first exhibition game. The Quad Squad took care of its business, but when they came out and the subs entered the Lakers reminded me of that classic hip-hop CD by The Roots: “Things Fall Apart.”

Jackson had expressed some confidence in his bench because it contained three players who had started for NBA championship and runner-up teams: Fisher, Grant and Russell.

But at first, Fisher was the only one who played like it, confidently taking and making jump shots until his targeting computer completely failed him two weeks into the season.

Five games into the season, Grant reminded us that the last time he played a major role on a championship team was 1993. He made one shot from opening night on Oct. 28 through Nov. 6.

Russell appeared to slip even faster, not bearing any resemblance to the player who guarded Michael Jordan so tightly (at least until one famous push-off) in the 1998 NBA Finals.

That all changed by Sunday night, when the Laker reserves came strong with it to make up for the absence of O’Neal.

Grant, starting in O’Neal’s place, played his fifth consecutive solid game.

Russell pumped in 14 points and blocked two shots.

Medvedenko, who missed the first 13 games of the season with a bruised left heel, scored 14 points to complement double-doubles from Malone and Payton and 28 points from Bryant as the Lakers cruised by the Memphis Grizzlies, 121-89.

The Wizards came to town Wednesday, dragging at the end of a four-game Western swing, missing at least 40 points worth of offense in the from of the injured Gilbert Arenas and Jerry Stackhouse, which meant they were missing even more than the Lakers without O’Neal for the second game.

After the Lakers took a 31-21 lead in the first quarter, a lineup of Russell, Grant, Fisher, Medvedenko and Kareem Rush took the floor to start the second.

They proceeded to tuck the Wizards into bed and say nighty-night by doubling their score.

Backup players accounted for 22 of the Lakers’ 30 points in the second quarter, but Jackson was most pleased that “we were able to sustain the defensive effort that we started with.”

Medvedenko’s first shot of the night was his toughest, a running one-hander in the lane. That went in and it was all gravy from there.

He scored on dunk after dunk, either off feeds from Malone as he cut down the lane or on long outlet passes ahead of a defense that was too disinterested to get back down the court.

Fisher regained his touch, hitting five of eight shots, the first time he has shot better than 33% in a game since Nov. 7

Rush even made a contribution, with 14 points.

About the only guy who didn’t help (especially when it came to his chances of staying on the active roster when Fox comes back) was Jannero Pargo. He committed four turnovers in nine minutes.

But when your only bad performance comes from your 11th man, when your team shoots 61% and puts eight players in double digits in the scoring column, there isn’t much room for complaining.

“We’re having fun, we’re getting blowouts,” Payton said. “And as soon as Big Fella comes back, it’s going to get even better.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimescom.