Fourth Hasn’t Been a Blast

Two fourth quarters, one glaring similarity: not enough points.

Quarters one, two and three have been kinder to the Lakers than the final one in their last two losses.

There were chances to win against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers, but 13 points in the fourth, followed by 12 two nights later, won’t get it done on the road.

Clutch time has become crutch time, with the Lakers relying too often on Kobe Bryant, a reasonable tactic on most nights, except when he misses all five of his fourth-quarter shots (against Minnesota) or makes only two of seven (against Philadelphia).

“It’s a reliance on Kobe,” Coach Phil Jackson said Saturday. “We have to go somewhere else [for production], and that’s one of the things we’ll have to work on in practice.”

Teams have been double-teaming Bryant, sometimes triple-teaming him, meaning other players will have to pick up their scoring if the Lakers are to fare better in final quarters.

“Teams now are starting to force us to go deeper into our offense,” said Bryant, held to 17 points on seven-of-27 shooting Friday against Philadelphia. “They’re not letting me catch the ball in the wing.... They’re just denying me the basketball. That actually will make the game a lot easier when we’re good at running the triangle offense. We’re not ready to go deep into the offense right now.”

*

Bryant is averaging 31.8 points and shooting 46.3%, leading Jackson to weigh the benefits and hazards of too much offense for one player.

“Kobe shooting over 50%, that’s OK,” Jackson said. “Kobe shooting under 50%, then it’s a responsibility. He’s got to be responsible for the shots he takes. This team right now needs him because he’s the most experienced person in what we do as an offensive system, so we’re fortunate to have him keeping us in games at times.”

*

Forwards Slava Medvedenko and Luke Walton are not expected to play Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies, Jackson said.

Medvedenko has sat out one game because of back spasms and is listed as day-to-day.

Walton, who has sat out all six games because of a severe hamstring pull, had a minor setback during a recent workout, sustaining a muscle pull in his right thigh. He is also considered day-to-day.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Down the middle

In a 3-3 start, the Lakers have scored and allowed 581 points. How the scoring breaks down per game by quarters:

*--* Quarter Lakers Opp. First 27.3 24.8 Second 22.0 24.8 Third 24.3 22.0 Fourth 21.5 23.8 Totals 96.8 96.8

*--*

Note: Totals include scoring from one overtime period.