Missing center leaves just an empty feeling

Two months?

This is going to feel like two years.

Knee injury?

This is a blow to the chest.

Breaths short, patience shorter, Lakers fans watched the first home game without Andrew Bynum on Thursday in an arena that was clearly missing something.

Staples has lost its Center.

Kobe Bryant looked desperate. Lamar Odom looked hurried. Kwame Brown looked just awful.

The Lakers looked like the Lakers of last spring, a team that conceded a playoff series and angered a superstar and spent the entire summer sweeping up the pieces.

It was Phoenix 106, Lakers 98, and worry through the roof.

You thought they might miss the nimble middle of their offense?

They shot 38%, if that’s any clue.

You wondered if they would miss the stalking middle of their defense?

In a five-minute stretch of the second quarter, Amare Stoudemire had three dunks, if that’s any indication.

“We played tired,” said Lakers Coach Phil Jackson. “We reacted poorly.”

Without their smooth young star, the Lakers played sluggishly, hesitantly, as if they were choking on seeds.

A No. 1 seed. A No. 2 seed. A No. 3 seed. Those sorts of seeds.

Instead of patting their backs, the Lakers’ fans wanted to wring their necks.

Shawn Marion scored on an alley-oop pass from Boris Diaw on an inbounds play from midcourt.

Booooo.

Diaw stole an offensive rebound and Shawn Marion hit a three pointer.

Booooo.

Ronny Turiaf threw an alley-oop pass to . . . nobody?

Booooo.

Watching the Lakers play without Bynum was like sitting in a room after the removal of a Christmas tree.

The place is no different than it was a couple of months ago.

But it felt completely empty.

The Lakers had 21 turnovers and one blocked shot. Kwame Brown had seven turnovers and zero blocked shots and enough boos to make even his coach cringe.

When asked whether he had ever heard such continuous abuse heaped on a player, Jackson said, “None on a team I coached.”

And you think you’re sick? Bynum showed up before the game looking like a circus performer. His left knee is so stiff, he walked through the Staples Center tunnel as if on stilts.

“It is definitely terrible not being able to play, not being able to really move,” said Bynum in his first interview since the injury was diagnosed.

His first missed game, Monday in Seattle, he watched on television.

And, yes, fans, he felt your pain . . . literally.

“I wanted to jump on the couch, but as soon as I jumped, I went, ‘ahhhhhh’ and had to sit back down,” he said.

The Lakers won that game against the dreadful Supersonics, but it took them two overtimes, and it took Bryant 44 shots, and it was a sign of things to come.

The fun of this year’s Lakers is gone. The frustration of the last three years is back.

“Bynum is a loss, but, c’mon,” said Suns’ Coach Mike D’Antoni, shaking his head. “They’ve still got Kobe over there!”

That’s where the frustration will focus. Bryant will have to carry the Lakers, and you know what happens when that happens.

Everybody else will stand around and watch him. Then Bryant will get mad and stand around and watch them.

In the first quarter, he scored 13 points. In the second quarter, he scored zilch. In the third quarter, he scored eight points. In the fourth quarter, he scored nine points but only played the final 6:01.

Typical of his night -- and perhaps the next two months of his season -- was a play that occurred with three minutes left in the first half.

Playing defense as if he were the only Laker on the floor, Bryant punched the ball away from the Suns three times before chasing it over the press table, where he lay flat for several seconds.

He returned to the court, and, within a minute, the Suns had scored five consecutive points, on a three pointer and a fast break layup.

There will be times that, no matter what he does, it won’t work.

Granted, this was against a Suns team with the motivation that comes with a realization that their championship window is closing faster than a Leandro Barbosa drive.

The Lakers had beaten them twice in two games this season by 28 combined points. The Lakers had overtaken them for the lead in the Pacific Division. And the Suns were coming off a Staples Center loss to the Clippers.

Plus, the Suns were giddy the Lakers were without the guy who had scored 42 points with 25 rebounds in the two games against them.

“But isn’t this the same team that played so well last year before they had the injuries?” asked D’Antoni.

No. These Lakers have seen how much better they can be with Bynum, and will never be the same.

Two months?

Too much.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.