This Time the Lakers Hold Firm

It wasn’t easy, of course, the Lakers being what they are in home games this season.

Struggling against another non-playoff-caliber team, they leafed through the pages of their usual Staples Center script and unveiled a surprise ending, a 92-89 victory Wednesday over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It almost felt unusual, especially after an embarrassing home loss Sunday to Seattle, but the Lakers will take it without wondering too long how close they came to losing.

Kobe Bryant again came back from a hushed first half to finish relatively strong, although the shots still aren’t quite falling and the free-throw attempts aren’t coming as they usually do. After only six first-half points, he finished with 25.

Bryant had one free-throw attempt, far too few for Coach Phil Jackson, who later suggested the NBA was cracking down on his free-throw possibilities.

Lamar Odom was Bryant’s bookend, firing for 16 points in the first half and finishing with 20, the combination of the two good enough to extend the Laker lead to 1 1/2 games over New Orleans/Oklahoma City for eighth place in the Western Conference.

It was also enough to improve the Laker home record to 18-13, easily the worst of the top eight in the West, which tends to happen when there are losses to Atlanta, Boston and Seattle in the last month.

The victory also moved the Lakers to 34 wins, matching last season’s total.

“This was a must-win for us,” Bryant said. “We had to get this ‘W.’ ”

Bryant, who made 12 of 25 shots Wednesday, had made only 43 of 119 shots (36.1%) in the previous four games. Equally troublesome for the Lakers, his free-throw attempts have dipped each of the last four games, from seven to five to three Tuesday against Sacramento.

Then came his one-for-one effort against Minnesota.

“I would swear if the director of officiating was here, Ronnie Nunn, or ‘Nothing,’ would say, ‘Well, we did send an e-mail out about it ... there was a complaint [about] the number of free throws that Kobe’s getting,’ ” Jackson said. “Any time that happens, there’s kind of a reactive thing.”

Said Bryant: “Could be true. I’ve heard of weirder conspiracy theories. There might be some truth to that. I’m not getting to the line as much as I’d like to.”

The final minutes were almost ruinous for the Lakers, as had been the case in so many other games this season.

They held a one-point lead, but Smush Parker had the ball stolen, leading to a Minnesota fastbreak dunk, and then Luke Walton had a pass intercepted, leading to another easy basket and an 84-81 Timberwolf lead with 2:31 to play.

It was tight from there, the Lakers taking a 90-87 lead when Bryant dipped under two Timberwolves for a finger-roll after two pump fakes on the right side.

Rashad McCants answered with a layup, but then Bryant answered back, driving toward the basket, getting the ball knocked loose by Ricky Davis, and recovering in stride for a layup with 6.3 seconds left.

After Marcus Banks’ open three-point attempt was air-balled with 1.9 seconds to play, the Lakers avoided overtime and another home loss.

“There’s no doubt that we have to improve at home,” Jackson said. “We had a nice finish in tonight’s game although we made some turnovers down the stretch and made it difficult for ourselves. We made some clutch baskets, some of them fortuitous, without a doubt.”

Before the game, before Bryant’s free throws became a public issue, Jackson acknowledged that Bryant looked tired recently.

“Obviously his legs aren’t as [strong],” Jackson said.

With the exception of Odom, all of the Lakers looked fatigued in the first half.

Bryant had only six points on three-of-nine shooting and also lost the ball off his knee while dribbling upcourt without any pressure.

But Odom was there to carry them, scoring 16 of the Lakers’ first 30 points, including a play where he dribbled between his legs and hit a 14-foot fadeaway.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Playoff race

LOOKING AHEAD

Western Conference playoff standings. Teams are in order of best overall records:

*--* W L PCT GB 1. Dallas 51 14 785 2. San Antonio 50 14 781 1/2 3. Phoenix 45 19 703 5 1/2 4. CLIPPERS 37 26 587 13 5. Denver 37 29 561 14 1/2 6. Memphis 35 29 547 15 1/2 7. Sacramento 33 31 516 17 1/2 8. LAKERS 34 32 515 17 1/2 9. New Orleans 31 32 492 1 1/2 10. Utah 30 34 469 3 11. Houston 29 36 446 4 1/2

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