Lakers More Like Doves Than Hawks

Whether the Lakers left their game in New Jersey or sent it ahead to Houston never was established in their postgame locker room, where regrets were piled as high as the duffel bags.

If the Lakers momentarily were unaware of the magnitude of their failure Tuesday night, the point guard for one of the worst teams in the NBA stood at half court, wriggled out of his jersey, twirled it over his head and heaved it into the crowd, which until that point was decidedly pro-Laker.

Spotted Kobe Bryant’s absence and Laker indifference, the Atlanta Hawks defeated the Lakers, 94-93, at Philips Arena. From their game against the Hawks two months before, the swing was 47 points.

Jason Terry, said point guard, scored the final three points of the game, two on a jumper just inside a minute remaining and one on the back end of two free throws with 11.9 seconds left. Given the basketball and that amount of time to beat the Hawks, Gary Payton missed a jumper in the lane and Shaquille O’Neal three times got his hands on the rebound and did not convert.

On a night they might have maintained their third-place tie in the Western Conference, done something to still the sense Bryant had carried them since the All-Star break and maintained their second-half surge, the Lakers played without passion and had one of their worst regular-season losses in recent memory.

“We were not ready to play this game,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “I take that as a responsibility of mine.”

They shuffled away to Houston, O’Neal without addressing the media. He had 23 points and 14 rebounds, but was one for four from the floor in the fourth quarter. The Lakers missed seven of 10 free throws in the last quarter and, oddly, O’Neal missed only one of them.

Payton, in 39 minutes, had 23 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds, his first triple-double in nearly two years and the 15th of his career. Yet, it was the shot he missed left at the end, the 47-plus minutes of lethargy from his teammates, and the wasted opportunity that would grind at him later.

“We fault ourselves,” Payton said. “We shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place.... Now we’re fighting again.

“None of us looked like we were ready to play basketball. And we didn’t play well.”

The most difficult game of the trip 24 hours and a two-hour flight away in Houston, and the Lakers found themselves where Dallas and Minnesota had in recent weeks, dulled by the no-names before them and the schedule behind them.

They played in a solemn arena that did not fill up for at least a quarter. So, a lot like home.

They played without Bryant, who is expected to return to the team today after spending two days in Eagle, Colo., defending himself against a rape accusation.

“I don’t want to focus on that,” Jackson said. “That wasn’t what the game was about tonight. That wasn’t the issue.”

The Lakers missed Bryant’s fight, though. Devean George was one for eight from the floor, one for four from the free-throw line, with all of his free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter. On a short turn-around jumper in the final half-minute, George had his shot blocked by Wesley Person, who is two inches shorter and nearly seven years older than George.

Kareem Rush missed a free throw with 1:06 left. Payton missed two in the last five minutes.

“Without Kobe, we should have proved something,” Payton said. “He wasn’t here, and we were supposed to live up to the challenge and play.”

Despite having Monday off, outside of a light practice, the Lakers looked heavy-legged and fog-headed. The Hawks led by eight in the second quarter and seven in the third, starting turning the ball over and missing shots, and held off the Lakers into the final seconds anyway.

And, despite it all, the Lakers stood at the end, having been given one final chance to take a win they did not earn. Payton ran off O’Neal’s screen near the left elbow, came open from about 10 feet and missed. O’Neal took hold of the rebound, the trashing beneath the basket began, and the ball never went down.