Lakers Are Down, Up, In and Out

A week ago, it looked as if the Laker game here would be remembered as another trip by Rudy Tomjanovich to the city that made him famous.

Events being what they were, it instead will be marked as a game the Lakers had no chance at winning, and then every chance at winning, only to be denied in the end, the stunned look on Lamar Odom’s face showing all that needed to be said.

The Lakers overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter and actually led by three in the final minute, but Brian Cook’s three-point shot rimmed out with 2.9 seconds to play and the Lakers fell to the Houston Rockets, 103-102, in front of 18,201 Sunday at the Toyota Center.

Odom had 22 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists. Chucky Atkins had 21 points and six assists. Cook came close to scoring 10 points, but he finished with seven.

“It felt good coming off my hands,” Cook said of his final shot. “I thought it was halfway down and it came back out.”

A day after the recently-resigned Tomjanovich left for Hawaii with his wife and Laker owner Jerry Buss, the Lakers encountered a coincidental Hawaii-themed promotion at Toyota Center, complete with straw hats, hula-skirted cheerleaders and Jimmy Buffett music during timeouts.

Despite an announced sellout, the arena was at less than capacity, and the late-arriving crowd was an incomplete explanation. If waning interest couldn’t be blamed on Super Bowl bashes or Kobe Bryant’s wearing a corduroy jacket and slacks instead of game gear, it could be affixed to the absence of Tomjanovich.

In November, when the Lakers beat the Rockets here, Tomjanovich was honored before the game in front of an adoring crowd.

On Sunday, the only reminder of Tomjanovich was his retired No. 45 jersey hanging from the ceiling.

There were other differences in the Lakers’ return here, notably the end result. The Lakers had 21 turnovers to only eight for the Rockets, and averaged almost a turnover a minute at one point, committing 11 in the first 14 minutes.

“It’s kind of like being in a boxing match,” Odom said. “You can’t let a fighter hit you 10 times before hitting back.”

Staggered but not sunk, the Lakers bounced off the ropes in the fourth quarter and managed to mix in a few body blows.

Odom started the comeback by scoring seven points in the first 2:02 of the final quarter, and Atkins helped out with eight points in the quarter. Atkins’ three-pointer with 1:54 left put the Lakers ahead, 100-99, their first lead since scoring the game’s first basket.

Atkins made two free throws to give the Lakers a 102-99 lead with 1:23 left, but that ended their scoring.

Bob Sura made two free throws with 40 seconds left and Yao Ming made two more with 15.2 seconds left, his second free throw providing a one-point lead that held.

The final play was diagramed for Atkins to get the ball after curling around to the side off a pick in the low post, but it never happened. Yao sagged down low to help out on Odom, leaving Cook open at the top of the arc.

“He got a great look,” Atkins said. “You can’t ask for a better shot than that.”

There was plenty to be asked about the Lakers after they were outscored in every quarter before the fourth. They had eight turnovers in the first quarter and trailed by 10 points. Odom had one point by halftime on 0-for-5 shooting and the Lakers trailed by 11.

Odom, fighting a slew of double-teams, didn’t score a basket until there was 1:11 left in the third quarter, and the Lakers trailed by 15 going into the final quarter.

The comeback, although attention-grabbing, fell short.

“You just know you had it won and then it got away,” Odom said. “We can’t drop our heads. We put ourselves in a hole in the first half.”