Lakers Avoid Lesser Evil

These are the games the Lakers wanted to win, needed to win, although it hasn’t always been easy to do so this season.

Straightening out some snags in time for a stretch run that appears increasingly likely to earn them a playoff appearance, the Lakers again lashed back at their third-quarter doldrums and dusted off another sub-.500 opponent.

Neither had been guarantees earlier this season -- in fact, the opposite often happened -- but they were clear factors in a 104-88 victory Sunday over the Houston Rockets at Staples Center.

The Lakers stormed through the Rockets with another potent third period, outscoring them, 37-18, and have won their last five games against teams that came in with losing records.

Kobe Bryant had 43 points, 22 in the third quarter, and tied a team record with his 23rd 40-point game of the season. Lamar Odom had 21 points and Smush Parker had 15 points to go with a career-high 10 assists.

After embarrassing losses to Charlotte, Atlanta, Boston, Portland and Seattle in a six-week span, the Lakers have beaten Minnesota, New Orleans, Boston, Seattle and now the Rockets in the last three weeks. It’s not the stuff that builds championship resumes, but it makes playoff races less of a strain.

“That’s one of Phil [Jackson’s] messages when we started this last stand,” Bryant said. “He said we’ve really got to start turning it up, stop playing to the level of our competition. We’ve been responding to it.”

Another Jackson message was a goal of winning eight of the final 11, which he acknowledged Sunday would be a “big gulp,” but a feasible one with the Lakers having taken three of their first four since their coach put the number on the board.

It has been enough to maintain their hold on seventh in the Western Conference. They moved five games over .500 (40-35) for the first time this season and stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Sacramento with seven games to play. They lead ninth-place New Orleans by 3 1/2 games, meaning only an utter collapse would keep them from the playoffs.

“We are not talking about it,” Jackson said of postseason possibilities. “I put a number up on the board, of games to win, a legitimate goal. We are just focusing on trying to attain that goal.”

Bryant, who made 19 of 32 shots, reached another Laker landmark, tying Elgin Baylor’s record for 40-point games in a season set in 1962-63.

He did it the easy way, hitting a series of fadeaways from the post and pull-up jump shots, many of them against rookie Luther Head. He attempted only two free throws, not because of a referee crackdown as Jackson suggested last month, but because he rarely drove the lane.

“It sure helps,” Jackson said. “It sure takes the risk out of the game.”

In an otherwise punishing season, Bryant is relatively pain-free, unshackled from the sprains and spasms that slowed him at various points in the schedule.

The Lakers won’t practice today, but when a team official asked Bryant if he would stop by the training facility for optional therapy, his one-word answer -- “Nope” -- would have satisfied any Laker fan.

(Laker fans in attendance were pleased for a different reason Sunday, opting not to chant “M-V-P” in the final minute but “We want tacos,” a nod to a fast-food promotion that provides two free tacos to each fan when the Lakers win and hold the opponent under 90 points. Both happened, which meant tacos for everybody.)

There were other notables from Sunday’s game, including Aaron McKie, who played for the first time since sustaining a quadriceps tendon injury Dec. 1.

He checked in with 3:51 to play and did not score in his first action after sitting out 60 games.

Odom continued to shoot well, making seven of 13 attempts, and the Lakers kept an opponent under 100 points for a 10th consecutive game, something they hadn’t done since January-February 2002.

“Defense is the key,” Bryant said. “When we play with a lot of energy, we are rotating extremely well and closing out extremely well, not allowing penetration, helping and recovering. When we do that, we are a tough team.”