Lakers Just Can’t Get an Even Break

No matter how many consecutive games the Lakers win, no matter how they do it, they manage to keep getting pulled back to .500, magnetically, hypnotically, emphatically.

Their latest return-to-reality effort came against the hapless Boston Celtics, in a herky-jerky game that served as symbolism for a stop-and-go season. A 112-111 loss Sunday at Staples Center marked the eighth time the Lakers had been reeled back to .500 this season.

Now 28-28, they have 26 more games to prove themselves worthy of such things as playoff shares, games in May and canceled trips to Secaucus, N.J., site of the NBA lottery.

They were again bitten by an inability to nail it down late, losing their eighth game in which they were leading or tied in the final minute of the fourth quarter.

This time, Kobe Bryant put Paul Pierce on the line with a reach-in foul near the top of the key, and one of two free throws was all that was needed to break a 111-111 tie with 3.2 seconds to play.

Bryant then missed a 21-foot turnaround over Pierce and Orien Greene as time expired, the ball slamming hard off the back of the rim, the Lakers again settling into their old, familiar .500 niche.

“It’s a nemesis for us right now,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

Jackson used an assortment of phrases and words to describe what he had witnessed, none of them particularly positive: “mired” ... “slipping away from us” ... “dissolved” ... “despondent” ... “couldn’t break free” ... “hitting a wall.”

Jackson wasn’t the only unhappy one.

“I am very frustrated,” said Bryant, who had 40 points on 11-for-23 shooting, but only three points and no baskets in the fourth quarter. “We shouldn’t have lost this game. We have had our fair share of ballgames where down the stretch we lose them, and none is more tough than the other. They are all tough.”

This one will also be remembered for its 80 free throws, 42 by the Lakers, and 60 fouls that contributed to a tedious pace.

It certainly felt as if the Lakers were treading in deep, dark waters, managing a 58-54 halftime lead but playing uninspired, uninterested defense. Then came the third quarter, and a 12-3 Celtic run, followed by a Laker timeout, followed by more Celtic points, another Laker timeout, more Celtic points, and so on. The Laker deficit ran as high as 14 points in the third, which ended with the Celtics holding a 91-82 lead after scoring 37 in the quarter.

“I told them they had their nap the first half and now it’s time to go out and play the second,” Jackson said. “I guess that doesn’t work, when you look at what happened in the third quarter. We slept almost all the way through the third quarter.”

If Bryant and Brian Cook weren’t scoring, nobody was, pretty much. Through three quarters, Bryant had 37 points, Cook had 17 and no other Laker had more than seven. Cook finished with 19, and Lamar Odom had a reasonable enough fourth quarter to finish with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Odom’s three-point-play, off a dribble drive and a foul by Wally Szczerbiak, tied the score, 111-111, with 15.3 seconds to play.

But Bryant fouled Pierce, who had 38 points at the time, 39 after he hit the winning free throw. Violet Palmer made the call on Bryant.

“The NBA’s known for referees allowing teams to kind of decide games, especially when they’re tied,” Jackson said. “Let teams decide what’s going to happen, not referees’ calls unless it’s blatant, unless literally a guy gets his arm hit on a shot.”

Jackson was also unenthused by the concept of 80 free throws.

“It makes no sense,” he said.

There were other problems for the Lakers. Kwame Brown did not play in the second half and was replaced by rookie Ronny Turiaf, who provided a defensive spark with two blocked shots and five rebounds in 14 minutes.

Brown finished with two points and four rebounds in 10 minutes, as the Lakers unsuccessfully began a four-game stretch against sub-.500 teams, with games against Orlando, Portland and Golden State over the next five days before Detroit and San Antonio come to town.

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Feeble fourth

Kobe Bryant scored 40 points against the Boston Celtics on Sunday but had only three in the fourth quarter:

FIRST THREE QUARTERS

*--* PTS FGM-FGA FTM-FTA REB AST 37 11-20 12-13 6 5 FOURTH QUARTER PTS FGM-FGA FTM-FTA REB AST 3 0-3 3-4 2 1

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