Knicks Worse Than Lakers

Phil Jackson used many words to describe the Laker effort Wednesday. “Pathetic” wasn’t one of them.

The Lakers got what they needed, a home game against a struggling team, and took advantage in a 97-92 victory over the New York Knicks at Staples Center.

Utterly punchless two nights earlier in Memphis, the Lakers turned their misfortune around with an offense that actually flowed freely amid the return of Kobe Bryant as a dependable scoring source.

Bryant had 42 points after two subpar games where he totaled 35, and the Lakers ended a three-game losing streak.

A game after approaching a franchise low for points in an 85-73 loss to Memphis -- dubbed “pathetic” by Jackson -- the Lakers outscored the Knicks’ starting backcourt, 52-7, and left Jackson using kinder, gentler terminology.

“It’s nice to be back in the winning column after losing there,” Jackson said. “I was pleased they could operate in the offense better today than they have the last three games.”

Jackson and Knick Coach Larry Brown were the sidebars, two coaches with lengthy resumes taking over teams coming off forgettable seasons. Bryant became the headliner, scoring 18 points in the third quarter as the Lakers (4-4) took a 76-64 lead over the Knicks (2-6).

“Kobe’s Kobe,” Brown said, shrugging. “They have two of the best players in basketball. They have a coach that is phenomenal.”

Before the game, Jackson suggested that lineup changes might be on the way as early as Thanksgiving, an end to the Lamar Odom experiment lingering as a possibility.

Odom, tutored by Scottie Pippen during training camp with the goal of playing his role in the triangle, has struggled with aggressiveness and his outside shot as he tries to get a feel for the offense. He is averaging 14.4 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and has made 40.9% of his shots.

“It’s an experiment obviously that we’re trying to work out, trying to adjust a little bit to how he feels, his comfort level on the floor,” Jackson said. “We know it’s a process that takes some time. There’s plenty of time to work at this for a while, until either he shows improvement or else we ... take that guard responsibility away and move him into a forward place.”

Odom could move to small forward or back to power forward, where he spent last season. Kwame Brown has struggled -- he had six points and five rebounds Wednesday -- but Odom didn’t seem too open to moving to power forward.

“No,” he said. “You ask me if I like [the change], I will do it.

“I don’t feel like I lost or did a bad job. It is what it is.”

Odom had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists against the Knicks. He made five of 10 shots.

Another lineup possibility in the near future involved moving Bryant from small forward to guard, Jackson said. Bryant has played well at his new position, averaging 31.4 points, but, as Jackson said, “if we have to do it, we’ll certainly do it.”

“[Thanksgiving] is the time frame in which we’re going to have to start looking at this team and what is its personality going to be this season,” Jackson said.

Jackson cited Bryant for passing up too many shots in Monday’s loss. There was no such problem Wednesday.

Bryant, who had been bothered by a sprained right index finger, made 15 of 36 shots, six of eight in the third quarter.

“I went after it a little bit,” Bryant said. “I was a little more aggressive. I felt like we needed to get something going, especially coming out of the gates in the third quarter.”

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The Laker frontcourt, already struggling as a group and threadbare, took another hit Wednesday when Slava Medvedenko and Luke Walton received diagnoses that will keep them out for a while.

Medvedenko will miss about six weeks because of a herniated disk in his back and Walton is out indefinitely because of a strained hip.

Medvedenko hurt his back while pivoting with the ball during drills before last Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He probably will not need surgery, but it becomes an option if his back doesn’t respond to treatment and therapy over the next several weeks. Medvedenko could miss an additional two to three months if he has surgery.

“He’s a guy that knows how to run this offense and score in it,” Jackson said. “We’ll miss him.”