Lakers just can’t finish

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Phil Jackson undertook his annual practice of giving a book to each player on a lengthy trip, handing them out on the Lakers’ plane ride to Detroit.

Along those lines, the plot of the actual game Thursday against the Pistons could be summarized by an abysmally slow start, a breath-stealing climax and a depressing ending for the Lakers.

A romance it wasn’t, at least not for the visitors, who fought back from a 17-point deficit only to lose, 90-89, after Tayshaun Prince made a three-pointer with 4.4 seconds left and Lamar Odom airballed a 19-footer on the final shot.

The Lakers stood to gain so much -- a robust beginning to their nine-game trip, a golden chance to end a nagging, eight-game losing streak at the Palace, a road win against a top-notch opponent in a raucous environment -- but ended up with so little.

They again demonstrated an inability to execute in the final seconds, although at least they got off a shot, unlike Sunday’s nine-second meltdown against Cleveland.

But this time, after Odom’s shot from the right side sailed over the rim, Kobe Bryant turned to the Lakers’ bench with his palms raised up and a confused, if not angry, look on his face.

He wanted the shot. It didn’t happen. Lakers lose, regardless.

“It’s a tough loss,” Bryant said. “It felt like we had the game, just didn’t complete plays down the stretch. But still, I’m encouraged. If we play this hard, we’ll be fine on this trip.”

Bryant had several stats to remember and one to forget, finishing with 39 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and a career-high 11 turnovers.

The Lakers had several stats to forget -- 22 turnovers, 11 missed free throws, a 17-point deficit in the second quarter -- and one comeback to remember.

Bryant led the way, scoring 16 points in the third quarter and making three jump shots in the final 3:20 of the fourth quarter.

But the shot taken by Odom was the one discussed afterward.

With 4.4 seconds to play and the Lakers down a point, he inbounded the ball to Kwame Brown from the right side, got it back right away and misfired. He had six points on one-for-five shooting.

“I kind of knew that was the look I was going to get,” Odom said. “I just shot it too fast. But I’m telling you, that’s the shot I would take 100 out of 100 times. I just rushed it a little bit. I kind of catapulted it.”

The play was diagramed for Bryant, but he was covered at the top. Bryant was asked afterward if he was irritated he didn’t get the last shot.

“Of course I am, but what are you going to do?” he said. “Guys are open. If I catch the ball, think I can go one-on-three and create something else? They’re open. They made the right play, we just weren’t able to complete it.”

The Lakers weren’t thrilled by a couple of other late events.

Jackson jumped out of his chair after Ronny Turiaf was called for goaltending on a layup attempt by Chauncey Billups with 1:07 to play. The Lakers’ lead was cut to 88-87.

“It was a bad call by the referee,” Jackson said. “It was not goaltending. We had a three-point lead at the time. That was tough. But referees make mistakes. That’s the way the game is.”

Less than a minute later, the Pistons were recipients of a fortuitous bounce after Rasheed Wallace missed a three-point attempt with 9.9 seconds left and the Pistons down, 89-87. Prince ended up with a long rebound and, a few seconds later, made his shot from the left corner.

“We all crashed the boards and it bounced out to the three-point line,” Odom said. “It just bounced right back to Tayshaun. You can’t kick yourself in the head. You just move on.”

To Toronto they go. One down, eight more left.

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com