There’s No Consolation in Failed Rallies

Shortly after the newest low point of the Laker season Monday in Atlanta, Caron Butler told teammates to stay away from the TV set and newspapers for a couple of days.

Spare yourselves the extra embarrassment, or something to that effect, was the message.

Avoidance of media reports is usually a good start after a loss to the hapless Atlanta Hawks, and Butler probably did teammates a further favor by steering them away from Vince Carter’s oft-shown spinning finger-roll last month against the Lakers, a microcosm of the New Jersey Nets’ victory that night and one of the top plays of the season.

By the time Carter hit the ground, the Nets and Lakers were moving opposite ways in the standings. The Nets have won seven of their last 10 and the Lakers have lost six of their last eight, their last three embarrassingly.

The Lakers trailed by 28 against San Antonio, 16 against Houston and 29 against Atlanta, managing to come back in varying degrees in each, but not enough to win.

“I hate to keep talking to you guys about that,” Coach Frank Hamblen told reporters. “You can’t just keep fighting those leads, comeback after comeback every night. It just takes so much energy out of you.”

The Lakers get another chance tonight against the Nets, the impression Carter left behind just one of the things Hamblen remembered about last month’s 109-103 Laker loss at Staples Center.

“We turned the ball over a great deal and allowed them to get a lot of easy points off of us,” Hamblen said. “Vince Carter went off on us. Those are the things I remember off the top of my head about that game. And Rudy [Tomjanovich] was coaching it.”

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Tonight’s game marks a return to tape delay of some road games on Channel 9, an effort to boost slumping ratings of Laker games and appease viewers who work 9-to-5 jobs. Channel 9 will show five games on tape delay.... The Lakers have lost four in a row only three times since the 1994-95 season.... It wasn’t a surprise, but no Lakers were selected to the All-Star game as reserves, meaning Kobe Bryant will be the lone Laker on the Western Conference team if his sprained right ankle heals in time for the game Feb. 20. Bryant said Monday his ankle continues to be sore, especially after exercise.

TONIGHT

at New Jersey, 4:30 PST, Channel 9 (5:30)

Site -- Continental Airlines Arena.

Radio -- XTRA (570), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 24-22, Nets 21-27.

Record vs. Nets -- 0-1.

Update -- Vince Carter had a busy night in the Nets’ 107-97 victory Monday over the Philadelphia 76ers. He scored 43 points, tied a team record with seven three-pointers and became the league’s 264th player to pass 10,000 points. Carter had 30 points in the Nets’ Jan. 28 victory over the Lakers. The Nets suited up only eight players then because of injuries.