A dime-a-dozen loss

The first half might have been the Lakers’ best of the season, an outpouring of offense backed up by a prickly defense that left one question: Where has this been hiding?

Then came the second half, and the Lakers morphed into, well, the Lakers.

Kobe Bryant carried them for a while, then faded badly down the stretch, with no one exactly rushing to his side to help. The result, almost predictably, was a 95-87 loss to the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 Sunday at US Airways Center. Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Tuesday in Phoenix.

The Lakers showed plenty of hustle and flow in the first half, and even clung to a 77-74 lead through three quarters, but it all came to a slow, torturous end in the final 12 minutes as they mustered a grand total of 10 points on four-for-21 shooting (19%).

“They played a 48-minute game,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “We played a 36-minute game.”

If the Lakers were peeved by the perceived overconfidence of the Suns, they showed it for a majority of the game. If they wanted to erase doubts about their playoff longevity, it happened for three quarters.

It wasn’t enough. One quarter short.

The numbers don’t look good from here on out for the Lakers, who weren’t exactly flashing their credentials coming into the game (a 4-8 slide to end the regular season; one victory over a team with a winning record since the All-Star break; the league’s third-worst record since mid-January, etc).

Game 1 winners have won 78.4% of best-of-seven series in NBA history. Another statistic in the Suns’ favor: Since the 16-team playoff format began in 1984, 42 of 46 second-seeded teams have advanced to the second round, a 91.3% success rate.

“I think we can win this series,” said Lakers forward Luke Walton, who had 10 points. “There’s not a question in my mind we can win. We’ve got to play 48 minutes, man.”

The shots fell in the beginning for Bryant, who made 11 of 17 in the first half and scored 28 points to help provide a 48-39 halftime lead. He added seven points in the third quarter but scored only four in the fourth quarter on one-for-10 shooting.

During his slide, the Suns’ public-relations staff dropped off stat sheets that listed all the 40-point efforts by opponents in Suns playoff history. It wasn’t necessary: Bryant finished with 39.

“Kobe ran out of gas in the fourth quarter,” Jackson said, although Bryant said his tank was still full.

“I was fine,” said Bryant, who repeated it for emphasis. “We didn’t execute like we did in the first half. So, as a consequence, my touches became a lot harder.”

Bryant didn’t get a lot of help from his friends. Only one other Laker had more than 10 points, Lamar Odom scoring 17 on eight-for-16 shooting. (Odom also had 16 rebounds.)

Jordan Farmar had nine points in the third start of his career, Kwame Brown scored only four, and the Lakers’ reserves had only eight points in a combined 61 minutes.

Early on, Odom looked as if he would be the face of the Lakers, in a very real way. He took an elbow from Steve Nash while chasing a rebound and went to the bench for treatment on a two-inch laceration over his left eyebrow. He needed five stitches after the game.

“One of those guys got me pretty good,” Odom said, smiling. “I’m looking forward to the next game and getting somebody back.”

The Lakers would be better served by keeping better track of Leandro Barbosa, who tied a playoff career high with 26 points.

With Smush Parker guarding him, Barbosa went on a second-half tear highlighted by a 31-foot three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter.

Nash was guarded primarily by Farmar and finished with 20 points and 10 assists, but Jackson noted grimly, and gruffly, that Barbosa ended up crushing the Lakers.

“Sure did,” he said.

The Lakers’ 10 fourth-quarter points were only two better than their all-time playoff low for points in a quarter (eight against Portland in May 2000).

“It was like a football game,” Odom said. “You see teams just running and running and running until they score. That’s what they did. They shoved it down our throat.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Suns guard Leandro Barbosa matched a playoff career high with 26 points, 19 in the second half.

* Kobe Bryant couldn’t be stopped in the first half -- 28 points on 11-for-17 shooting -- but tailed off in the second half, making only four of 16 shots.

* The Lakers scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, only two more than the team playoff record for fewest points in a quarter.

MIKE BRESNAHAN