Lakers Take It to Bank

The Lakers were out of sorts in so many ways, with Kobe Bryant trying to bank in a free throw to shake a slump from the line, Chris Mihm trying to pull himself out of bed after losing the better part of a tussle with stomach flu, and Coach Rudy Tomjanovich trying to remind everybody at halftime that the opponent was, politely stated, the Chicago Bulls.

In the same way Bryant’s free-throw stroke was strangely amiss, the Lakers were rickety and rocky before they rallied to keep the Bulls winless with a 102-93 victory Sunday in front of 18,997 at Staples Center.

Tomjanovich, who blew past reporters after Friday’s loss to Phoenix because he was livid over the referees, had plenty to say about the Lakers’ failure to respect an opponent, even if it was the lowly Bulls, now 0-8.

“That thing called human nature, which all of us have, was right out there,” he said. “We talked about it before the game and I talked about it a little bit louder at halftime.”

Bryant had 29 points on 10-for-22 shooting, but made only eight of 17 free throws, one of his worst performances from the line in 572 NBA games.

A career 83.3% shooter from the line, Bryant tried to bank in his eighth attempt after making only two of his first seven. It rimmed out awkwardly.

“Sometimes you bank it in, it kind of straightens out your shot,” Bryant reasoned afterward. “I do it at practice all the time.”

Bryant, who had a season-high nine turnovers, was balanced out by Caron Butler, who had 21 points, and Mihm, who missed Friday’s game because of illness but had 18 points against the Bulls.

“Kobe had a rare day at the free-throw line,” Tomjanovich said. “I don’t think that’s going to happen. That tightened the game up a little bit. We had a couple balls roll around, come out and they got to smelling that first ‘W’. It’s tough, man. We’re going to have games like this.”

Just last week, the demise of the Bulls -- no playoff appearances the last six seasons -- was analyzed by Laker owner Jerry Buss, who defended his trade of Shaquille O’Neal last summer by saying he didn’t want what happened to the Bulls to happen to the Lakers. Buss said the Bulls failed to make good trades when they had an opportunity, which made their franchise “older and decayed.”

But the Bulls looked young and sprightly against the Lakers, particularly rookies Luol Deng and Ben Gordon, who had 21 and 15 points, respectively.

Along the way, the Lakers lost another lead -- a 14-point third-quarter advantage became a two-point deficit early in the fourth quarter -- but recovered with a 24-12 run to reestablish themselves. The final basket in the run was a 27-foot turnaround three-pointer by Bryant as the shot clock expired, and 59.9 seconds showed on the game clock.

“I draw that up when we really need a big play,” Tomjanovich deadpanned.

As such, the Bulls continued to struggle with their so-called “circus trips,” falling to 0-36 over the last six seasons in road games during the circus’ annual visit to Chicago’s United Center.

Sunday marked the end of a cumbersome few days for Mihm.

Last Wednesday against the Clippers, he took an elbow that resulted in a bruise below his left eye. Things only got worse for him two days later, before the Phoenix game, when he was unable to leave the shower area of the Laker locker room because he felt so weak.

“It’s been a fun end of the week,” Mihm said Sunday, rolling his eyes.

Healthy and hale, Mihm continued to bolster the Lakers’ low post, making seven of 11 shots and taking 10 rebounds in 34 minutes.

“He is a quality player, he is a good player for them and a good fit for them,” Chicago center Eddy Curry said. “He’s no Shaq, nobody is, but he is a good fit.”