Lakers Walk Strong Again

Lamar Odom couldn’t call this effort lame.

Facing a four-game losing streak and in sincere need of a road victory, the Lakers finally found a comeback that fit and defeated the New Jersey Nets in overtime, 104-103, in front of 13,979 Wednesday at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Lakers trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter and by eight with 1:04 left in regulation, but they forced overtime and won when Vince Carter’s fadeaway 20-footer hit the front of the rim and bounced away.

“That’s the opposite of lame,” said Odom, who omitted the “opposite” part when describing the Laker loss Monday to the hapless Atlanta Hawks.

The Lakers were the opposite of soft as they avoided what would have been only their fourth four-game losing streak since the 1994-95 season.

Odom crashed into a table of reporters and smashed a television screen while diving for a loose ball. Caron Butler received an ugly welt under his right eye after getting elbowed by Carter. Chris Mihm was called for a flagrant foul after swatting Carter in the face.

Easy, it was not. A victory, it was.

“I sure would like to have a laugher one time this season,” Coach Frank Hamblen said.

Six players scored in double figures for the Lakers, who improved to 6-7 without Kobe Bryant. Jumaine Jones had 20 points, Butler had 19 and Odom had 16 points, 19 rebounds and eight assists. Jason Kidd had 28 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for New Jersey.

With the Nets leading, 92-84, Butler made two free throws with 1:04 left in regulation. Jones made a three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left and then blocked Carter’s short jump shot with 22.9 seconds left to get the ball back for the Lakers.

Atkins’ three-pointer with 12.1 seconds left tied the score at 92-92, and Ron Mercer’s 19-footer at the buzzer bounced off the front of the rim to send the game to overtime.

Atkins was once dubbed “Mr. Pressure” by Rudy Tomjanovich, which was news to him.

“I’d never seen that,” Atkins said, shrugging his shoulders. “We needed a three. Why go for anything else other than a three?”

In overtime, Butler’s three-pointer from the corner gave the Lakers a 102-101 lead with 1:37 left. Atkins then added a one-handed bank above the free-throw line to beat the shot clock and give the Lakers a 104-101 lead with 36.9 seconds left.

Carter made two free throws, and after Odom and Luke Walton each missed layups, the Nets had the final possession.

Carter’s fall-away was no good, and Atkins crashed into Net guard Jacque Vaughn as they chased the long rebound. Vaughn fell, there was no whistle, and the ball trickled out of bounds as time expired.

“A no-call, which is what we need,” Atkins said. “Throughout the night there were calls that could have gone either way. It was fitting that the game ended that way.”

Said Vaughn: “Not my call. They wear the stripes. I wear the uniform.”

Sending home the point, injured Net forward Richard Jefferson offered an opinion while walking by as Hamblen discussed the final seconds.

“It’s a foul,” Jefferson said, repeating it for emphasis.

Carter, who had 30 points in the Nets’ Jan. 28 victory at Staples Center, had 27 Wednesday and found himself in the middle of a minor scuffle midway through the fourth quarter.

Mihm was called for a flagrant foul after smacking Carter in the side of the head while swiping at the ball on Carter’s drive to the basket with 5:53 left. Net forward Jason Collins stepped in and shoved Mihm, and both players had to be separated. Mihm and Collins were each given a technical foul.

“I was going for the ball,” Mihm said. “I wasn’t trying to hit him. That’s just a hard foul.”

The Lakers, who had faced deficits in their previous three games and rallied in varying degrees before losing them all, were finally credited with a come-from-behind victory.

“We all want it to work immediately, of course,” Hamblen said. “It’s going to take time, but we show flashes of how good this team could be. Definitely in due time, I hope.”