Lakers miss a great chance

By Mike Bresnahan

Jan. 24, 2008 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO -- The unforeseen sometimes happens when the Lakers play here.

An inspirational, unexpected midseason victory a year ago. Derek Fisher’s unforgettable “0.4” shot. And on Wednesday, there was the mystery of the disappearing team.

The Lakers controlled almost every facet in the first half but fell apart rapidly in the second half of a 103-91 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T; Center.

They were undone by a careless third quarter in which they were outscored, 31-12, and also ripped out a page from an old playbook as teammates began to defer too often to Kobe Bryant.

If the first half signaled hope for the Lakers without Andrew Bynum -- halftime score: 54-45, visiting team -- the second half was a reminder of years past, if not their recent game in Seattle, when almost nobody wanted to shoot the ball.

Bryant scored 29 points on 12-for-27 shooting Wednesday and also had nine turnovers, although Coach Phil Jackson pointed to other unnamed suspects.

“No one seemed to want to step up, and they kept dropping it off in Kobe’s hands to try and let him do one-on-one stuff,” he said. “I’m not going to fault Kobe at all. You have the turnovers, they are credited to him, but it was other things that went on there.”

It wasn’t difficult to pinpoint the targets of Jackson’s comments.

Lamar Odom took only five shots until making two late in the game, with the score firmly in San Antonio’s favor. He finished with 11 points on four-for-seven shooting and also had 12 rebounds.

Luke Walton also continued to struggle on offense, scoring five points on two-for-three shooting in 35 minutes.

Jackson referred to some players as “bashful” after Bryant’s 48-point, 44-shot night in an overtime victory last week in Seattle, although Bryant was not perturbed after losing to the Spurs.

“I’m not very disappointed,” he said. “I think we did OK, outside of those last minutes there in the third quarter where they got a cushion. We played hard.”

And yet, Bryant acknowledged he was concerned about a letdown after the Lakers dominated the first half.

“I had to tell them a little bit in the third quarter that it’s not going to be easy,” he said, smiling. “When San Antonio makes their run, you think they’re just going to roll over and say, ‘OK Lakers, come in here with two of your guys out and beat us by 20.’ ”

The telling sequence for the Lakers (27-13) came in the final seconds of the third quarter. Brent Barry made a three-point shot with 6.8 seconds left, intercepted a pass by Odom and made another three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left.

What was a four-point difference turned into a 76-66 Spurs lead.

“We didn’t move the ball,” Odom said. “We didn’t challenge them. They were pressuring us and we backed down. We couldn’t relieve the pressure, like our offense normally does.”

It certainly wasn’t like their mid-January victory here last season, when Bryant had 34 points, eight assists and six rebounds in a 100-96 victory that moved them to 26-13.

The Spurs (27-13) had been in a 4-5 rut, experiencing what Jackson called the “mid-season blues,” and it appeared to spill over into the first half Wednesday.

They looked long in the tooth and short in awareness, while the Lakers looked nothing like a team playing without Bynum and Trevor Ariza.

Bryant again came out in playmaker mode, collecting 14 points and four assists in the first half. The highlight of the half: Bryant fed Ronny Turiaf cutting through the lane for a stirring dunk and a 43-33 lead with 6:48 left in the second quarter.

The Lakers led by nine going into the third quarter, but Bryant missed his first five shots, Kwame Brown missed two from close range, and the Spurs started out with a 14-0 run.

The Lakers were scoreless in the third until Fisher’s layup with 5:39 left.

Tim Duncan was solid down low with 28 points and 17 rebounds, and reserve Ime Udoka added 18 points for the Spurs.

And with that, the Lakers fell to 2-2 without Bynum.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Ring leaders

On the court in San Antonio were two coaches who have a total of 13 NBA championships:

NINE TITLES

RED AUERBACH

Boston (1957, 1959-66)

PHIL JACKSON

Chicago (1991-93,1996-98)