They Finally Look Like Sunday Bunch

The third-quarter curse, as Kobe Bryant refers to it, and a strange inability to beat sub-.500 teams weren’t the only things struck down by the Lakers in recent games.

They had been taking Sunday’s “day of rest” reputation a little too literally, compiling a 4-9 record in Sunday games before beating the Houston Rockets, 104-88.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson blamed the white uniforms worn in Sunday home games.

“They look like little elves and fairies out there. ... The real uniform of the Lakers is the home uniform, which has always been what it is -- they have blue on the road and gold at home,” he said. “This is something that has advanced in the last five or six years as we sell more uniforms and make more money.”

Jackson refused to blame the team’s typical Sunday silence on earlier tipoff times.

“It’s not as bad,” he said. “With [Shaquille O’Neal], you used to know that Shaq was up till three in the morning. His habits were such that it was really tough for him to adjust. But these are young players. They do a lot better with the time changes.”

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More than 2,000 miles away and a couple of years removed, Jackson was still feeling protective of Kareem Rush after the former Laker guard was unceremoniously waived Saturday by the Charlotte Bobcats.

Bobcat General Manager/Coach Bernie Bickerstaff released a terse statement in which he said, “The Bobcats are about two things -- hard work and maximum effort. With that in mind, we think that it is best to go in a different direction with Kareem.”

Jackson was “very surprised.”

“I thought it was vindictive,” he said. “I didn’t like to see it because it’s one of the guys that we nurtured here. He was contributing to us a lot in the [run to the NBA Finals] two years ago.

“There’s, what, eight games left in the season? You could do that probably April 30, or whenever the season’s over if you put him on the inactive list.”

Jackson explored the possibility of acquiring Rush before the season but declined to comment on whether the Lakers would try to sign him during the off-season.

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Chris Mihm said he was a week to a week and a half from returning from a severely sprained right ankle. Mihm, averaging 10.2 points and 6.3 rebounds, has missed 11 games. Andrew Bynum said he expected to play Thursday against Denver. He has missed four games because of a sprained right ankle and foot.

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Jackson is impressed with UCLA -- “Their defense held up to the scrutiny of all that media” -- but he does not expect the Bruins to win tonight in the NCAA championship game. “I’m still going to stay with Florida,” he said. “But I really like both teams a lot.”

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With so few games left, the truth can finally come out: Jackson does not particularly care for the leggings worn by Bryant most of the season. “I don’t like them,” Jackson said. “I’m not a complete fan of them.”

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Record day

Kobe Bryant’s 43 points Sunday gave him 23 games with 40 or more this season, tying the franchise record of Elgin Baylor (1962-63). With 2,542 points, Bryant became the first player since Michael Jordan in 1989-90 to surpass 2,500 in a season. A look at the top 10 season point totals:

*--* Points Player, Team Year 4,029 Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1961-62 3,586 Wilt Chamberlain, San Francisco 1962-63 3,041 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1986-87 3,033 Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1960-61 2,948 Wilt Chamberlain, San Francisco 1963-64 2,868 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1987-88 2,831 Bob McAdoo, Buffalo 1974-75 2,822 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee 1971-72 2,775 Rick Barry, San Francisco 1966-67 2,753 Michael Jordan, Chicago 1989-90

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