Turiaf Impresses His Teammates

It was what Ronny Turiaf had waited for, two blocked shots, three points and five rebounds in 14 minutes he will never forget.

The Laker rookie made his first impact in a game since joining the team in January, six months after undergoing open-heart surgery to repair an enlarged aortic root.

He played with energy and enthusiasm on a night when the Lakers had little of either in a 112-111 loss Sunday to the Boston Celtics.

He blocked Paul Pierce’s shot and converted a three-point play in the final minutes of the third quarter. He also blocked Wally Szczerbiak’s attempt with 34.9 seconds to play, preventing the Lakers from falling further behind.

“Like I said when I first got here, I came here to play defense and to hustle,” he said. “I just came back from heart surgery. It was a long way, it was a long road. I’m asking for nothing. I’m just trying to step into the lineup, the rotation, try to do something positive.”

Turiaf took playing time from Kwame Brown, who sat out the second half and had only two points and four rebounds in 10 minutes.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson approved of Turiaf’s progress.

“He just really hasn’t shown any signs of not knowing what we’re doing,” Jackson said. “Kobe [Bryant] was kidding him the other day that he knows more about the game than a lot of guys that have been with us for six months. He’s not behind the eight ball at all. He’s an intelligent player that is right on speed and seems to know what we’re doing.”

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Talk show host Regis Philbin, at Sunday’s game to gather material for his show, strolled through the Laker locker room with a seven-person entourage before the game and offered Jackson the opportunity to fire up the team by telling players, “Regis is in the house.” Philbin also asked Bryant to pound his chest after making his first shot, which he did after making a three-pointer in the first quarter and looking over to Philbin in the second row.... The Lakers and Celtics were tied with 2,504 regular-season victories since 1954-55, until the Celtics won Sunday.