They’re Waiting, Winning

Their best player sidelined indefinitely, their coach gone, possibly never to return, the Lakers went about the business of handling matters within their control Tuesday night at Staples Center.

The result was a 92-79 victory over the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers in front of 18,116 that gave the Lakers another two-game winning streak and a small measure of satisfaction on an otherwise exasperating day.

It was the Lakers’ second consecutive game without Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, who has a stomach virus at a time when he is deciding whether to resign. Another option would be for Tomjanovich to request a leave of absence.

“I just want to play the game. I don’t want to speculate,” injured Laker guard Kobe Bryant said when asked about Tomjanovich. “Hopefully, Rudy will still be our coach.”

Assistant coach Frank Hamblen, 2-0 as Tomjanovich’s replacement, said he hoped his boss would return as soon as possible to guide a team fighting for its playoff life in early February.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Hamblen said when asked whether he was prepared to take over on a long-term basis. “Hopefully, [Tomjanovich] will be back tomorrow.”

Caron Butler had 19 points, two on a one-handed jam on a breakaway early in the fourth quarter, for the Lakers, who improved to 5-4 since Bryant severely sprained his right ankle Jan. 13. Chucky Atkins had 19 points, Lamar Odom added 18 and reserve Tierre Brown tied a career high with nine assists.

“We came out and got the job done,” said Laker center Chris Mihm, who had 13 points and 10 rebounds. “It was tough, there was a lot of emotion running around here.”

The Lakers (24-19) find themselves in familiar territory, on the brink of their first three-game winning streak. But they are 0-9 in that scenario and could easily be 0-10 considering they face San Antonio, the team with the NBA’s best record, Thursday at Staples.

“We’ve got an easy one Thursday,” Hamblen joked. “We’ll certainly have to play at our best just to compete with them.”

After a third quarter that featured wild scoring fluctuations, with the Lakers amassing leads as large as 19 points before a Nick Van Exel-led charge pulled Portland to within seven, the Lakers seized control with an 11-3 run to open the fourth quarter.

“I don’t like the fact that we got them down 19 and couldn’t stretch it, but I’m happy with our effort,” Hamblen said.

Like the Lakers, the Trail Blazers were somewhat depleted Tuesday, playing without forward Darius Miles and guard Derek Anderson. Miles was serving part of a two-game suspension for arguing with Coach Maurice Cheeks in a film session, and Anderson continued to suffer from a sinus infection.

Damon Stoudamire had 25 points and Van Exel 18 for Portland.

The last time the Lakers played a depleted team, Friday against the New Jersey Nets, they had trouble keeping the Nets from putting the ball in the basket. New Jersey, limited to eight players because of injuries, made 51.3% of its shots during a 109-103 victory over the Lakers.

Portland continued that trend early in Tuesday’s game, making six of its first nine shots while building a 10-point lead in the first quarter.

But the Lakers surged ahead, 49-39, at halftime after Portland made only 11.8% of its shots and scored 10 points in the second quarter. A 19-6 run, capped by Odom’s reverse scoop layup, gave the Lakers a 45-33 lead, their biggest of the first half.

Trail Blazer forward Ruben Patterson, who had been a one-man force in the first quarter by scoring 12 points, went scoreless in the second quarter and finished with 20 points.

And so a day laden with turmoil ended on a positive note for the Lakers, who vowed to stick together no matter who coached them the rest of the season.

“If we keep this unit together, if we keep focused, if this change does come, we’ll be fine,” Mihm said.

Said Bryant: “Our mantra is, we all stick together. We’ll fight through anything.”