Lakers Staying True to Form

It would bother none of the Lakers that their two playoff victories over the Houston Rockets were related but unlike each other in any other way. That’s because the last seven months were less a basketball season than 82 games, end to end, together only on the calendar.

They have lurched from fearsome to tame, from Kobe Bryant’s game to Shaquille O’Neal’s, from everybody in to everybody clear out, and that’s in a particularly rhythmic week, assuming they were without injuries.

“It’s all about winning,” O’Neal said late Monday night.

In Game 2, the Lakers sent O’Neal to the bench because of foul trouble, did not play Gary Payton in the fourth quarter, added Karl Malone, got after it on defense, made some jump shots, leaned on their substitutes and had Bryant finish the Rockets at the free-throw line, among other things.

Two days earlier, the Rockets nearly won by leaving Malone open, surrounding O’Neal and cutting off Bryant, and it would have worked had they not lost the ball 22 times or had Jim Jackson made one last open shot, leaving postgame debates to whether anyone actually played defense or if the shooters were to blame.

Meantime, the San Antonio Spurs defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in the first two games in the parallel bracket, so the Spurs and Lakers are halfway to a rematch of last year’s second round, where the Lakers were eliminated.

“We still have so much work to do in this series,” Derek Fisher said. “I’m sure we’ll keep some sort of an eye on what’s going on with that series, and I’m sure a couple of our coaches are doing the same. But until we get a hold of this series, we can’t think about them too much.”

Both teams go on the road, the Lakers to Houston for Friday night’s Game 3.

“You have to anticipate they’re going to play a lot better on their home floor,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “They’re going to shoot three-point shots better, they’re going to run the court better. The familiarity they have with their arena, their fans, etc., is going to propel their team a little bit. And we have to play better.”

Tuesday was quiet at Laker headquarters in El Segundo. Jackson gave the players the day off, though a handful, including Slava Medvedenko, treated their injuries in the trainer’s room.

Bryon Russell drove in from Calabasas to shoot jumpers. Coaches studied tape. Fisher, yet to miss a three-point shot in the playoffs despite a strained groin, and Jackson addressed the media in early afternoon.

“The groin,” Fisher said, “actually has fallen to last on the list of bumps and bruises.”

He listed a sore rear end and bruises on his thigh and tailbone one through three.

“I’ll have to dust my bathtub off this week and soak a few times,” he said. “Winning helps the bumps and bruises, so it doesn’t hurt as bad today.”

As they often do come April, the conversations eventually turned to the referees, and who’s getting the best of the calls. After two games, one personal foul separates the teams.

Fisher and Jackson seemed amused by Rocket Coach Jeff Van Gundy’s testy retort to Jackson’s previous observations on the physical nature of Game 1, Fisher rather enjoying his new nickname.

“Flopper Fisher,” he repeated with a laugh. Like Vlade Divac, it was suggested.

“No,” he said. “Vlade’s like an expert. I’m kind of like a novice.”

Jackson said he was not surprised Van Gundy had been so, well, so Van Gundy.

“It’s typical of Jeff to make those comments,” he said.

They’ve been matched against each other in the playoffs before and, the fact is, they respect the other’s coaching ability and aren’t sure about the rest.

“I just try not to take the bait when he throws it out there,” Jackson said.

Van Gundy had been unable to resist the day before, when Jackson had called for Game 2 to be called tighter, Van Gundy then chiding the media for being Jackson’s trophy fish.

“I wasn’t throwing any bait in their direction, if that’s what you’re insinuating by that comment,” Jackson said. “I simply was saying this is what I’d like to see as a basketball game. The game, as it was played [Monday] night, I thought it was cleaner. Even though we had guys in foul trouble, even though there were foul calls that perhaps weren’t there, it still made for a cleaner game and made for a more exciting kind of game.”

The Lakers won by 14 points, despite O’Neal’s foul trouble. From Saturday night to Monday night, the Rockets went from giving up nine third-quarter points to giving up 30, and Bryant shot nine more free throws, making 16 of 17 in Game 2.

Maybe the coach with nine championships is more influential than the coach with none. But that doesn’t keep Van Gundy from trying, and it appears Jackson has noted his style.

“No,” Jackson said. “I can’t see that happening in basketball. Perhaps if I was standing at the edge of the court in their ear while they were running up and down the floor, in the referee’s ear, maybe that has influence. But I don’t do that to referees. I’m not trying to lobby them for calls during the course of the game. I don’t believe in that.”