Moments in This Season Getting More Depressing

One way or another the focal point of this season always comes back to Kobe Bryant.

Bryant’s side became the dominant story in the first Bryant-LeBron James showdown, even though Bryant spent the last 26 1/2 minutes in the training room because of a sprained shoulder.

We can suffer through weeks of boredom in an NBA regular season, waiting for a singular moment to capture our attention. Then it vanishes and thoughts turn to the future, both short-term and long-term.

The Lakers refrained from putting an estimate on Bryant’s return until he has an MRI exam today. But from the way things looked Monday night it could be a while before Bryant can use his right arm to wave, let alone shoot a basketball.

On his way out of Staples Center, Bryant said the shoulder hurt “a lot”, but he didn’t have a feel for how long it would sideline him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know. We’ll find out tomorrow.”

Jackson said there was a “big chance” Bryant would sit out the game against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.

Beyond that it’s possible he could be watching the Lakers’ upcoming games against Denver and Sacramento on television, beside the injured Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone.

Malone could be out another two to three weeks because of a sprained knee ligament, and O’Neal’s calf injury remains nebulous.

The Lakers held off the Cleveland Cavaliers for an 89-79 victory. But a lineup of Gary Payton, Derek Fisher, Slava Medvedenko, Devean George and Horace Grant probably isn’t going to get it done at Sacramento.

Actually the Lakers might not even have Grant, who said who would leave to be with his ailing father in Atlanta.

Feel free to come back anytime, Shaq. You know the Lakers are low on stars when Devean George does the postgame interview on TNT.

Because the Lakers didn’t take care of business in December, when the schedule was favorable, there’s no margin for error now.

They face the prospect of having to make up ground on the Kings, Spurs and Timberwolves in the quest for the best record in the Western Conference over the next 2 1/2 weeks. Then the schedule gets really tough, with or without the full Quad Squad, as the Lakers play 18 of 23 games on the road over a six-week stretch.

They won’t win many of those if they keep shooting 36%, as they did Monday night.

This game was a dud on all levels. The Bryant-James matchup fizzled out, and the rest of the game wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. Bryant’s injury even seemed to take the fun out for James. He made three of his five shots in the first quarter, including a hook shot and jumper over Bryant.

But he made only three of his 15 shots over the next three quarters and committed six turnovers.

So there it was, The Return of The King. James said he wasn’t putting any extra emphasis on the game. But he knows when the spotlight is on him. He knew the TNT cameras were here. He talked about wanting to put on a good show to draw a good rating when the Cavaliers played an exhibition game at Staples Center in October.

He’s been to too many cities and heard too many repetitive questions to put much thought into his answers now, so he goes with the stock replies. But there’s a ring of truth when he says, “I’m just trying to help my team win. I don’t need to prove nothing to nobody. My teammates and my coaches know what I can do.”

James guarded Payton, not Bryant, so the two young superstars didn’t get to go at each other in a classic matchup.

What Jackson deemed “the play of the game” involved Bryant and Kedrick Brown.

With the clock winding down in the first quarter, Bryant pump-faked Brown, then went up for a three-point shot. Brown landed on Bryant’s right shoulder, and Bryant stumbled toward the other end of the court grabbing the shoulder.

He managed to shoot -- and make -- all three free throws with his usual form. But that might be the last thing he does right-handed all week.

After a brief trip beneath the stands for an X-ray, which was negative, he returned to the bench during a timeout with 8:44 left in the second quarter and he talked Jackson into letting him check back into the game with 7:33 left. He spent the rest of the first half running around with his right arm hanging down by his side, like the old Jeffrey Leonard “One Flap Down” home-run trot.

He rebounded with his left hand and threw an outlet pass with his left hand. He was hi-fiving with his left hand, pumping his fist with his left hand when a call went the Lakers’ way. Then he took a 20-foot jumper. Left-handed. It barely hit the side of the rim. By then it was obvious. Bryant had turned from asset to liability. He was half a player and posed no scoring threat.

Friday, at wild and loud Arco Arena in Sacramento, was supposed to be the next big moment.

Now it will occur in a doctor’s office, when the results of an MRI tell the Lakers what the near future holds for them.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande, go to latimes.com/adande.