Lakers apply a nice finishing coast

What’s Wrong With The Lakers? (First of a 10-part series.)

Oh, they won?

With all the other wondrous things we know the Lakers are, we learned they’re crafty too, when they lulled the Houston Rockets into thinking they couldn’t beat a fifth-grade team Sunday night. With the overconfident Rockets coasting by the second period, when they led by 16 points, the Lakers changed back into their awesome selves, roared from behind and wound up routing the visitors, 111-82, to remain unbeaten.

OK, forget about that series on their weakness and vulnerabilities.

Five Down, Seventy-Seven to Go! (First of a 10-part series.)

“They exposed a lot of things,” said Houston Coach Rick Adelman. “You get beat like this, it exposes a lot of things.”

Here’s one of the things it exposes: the West race, as in what race?

That was one of the Lakers’ foremost challengers, romping to a 28-16 lead in the first quarter while the Lakers turned the ball over eight times and shot 29%.

When Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks scored in the first minute of the second quarter, that made it 32-16.

By then, Coach Phil Jackson had four reserves on the floor plus Andrew Bynum, but that’s when the lights went out on Houston.

The Lakers outscored Houston the rest of the way, 95-50. If they don’t always start well, they’re a beast at the end, having outscored their five opponents in the fourth quarter, 157-103. By way of contrast, the Rockets are like a highly evolved version of the Clippers.

With Ron Artest, they were expected to challenge the Lakers. But with Tracy McGrady, their best offensive player, missing all but 12 minutes of the exhibition season, they’re still learning to play together.

As you can see by the second, third and fourth quarters, they’re still a work in progress. Not that the Lakers were happy to see Artest go to Houston or anywhere. Their preferred destination was a lot closer to home, with Jackson talking about their need for a tough defensive forward, which describes Artest perfectly.

“Well, I didn’t have specifics,” said Jackson before the game, “but Ron Artest is one of those type of guys. You can send him out to play somebody and he can handle just about anybody.”

Artest, of course, comes with baggage. But Jackson, who coached Dennis Rodman and Bison Dele, has a high eccentricity threshold.

For his part, Artest has long seemed eager to get here, for one local team or the other.

He hung around the Clippers in 2006 before the Indiana Pacers traded him to Sacramento instead. Last spring he hung around the Lakers, even flying to Boston for Game 6.

Now intent on avoiding controversy at all costs, Artest almost ran out of the dressing room before the game when asked if he ever saw himself as a Laker. “I can’t comment on that,” said Artest. “Too controversial.

“It’s just about basketball right now. It’s too crucial to worry about anything outside of this game, because we don’t know when we’ll see these guys again.”

With amazing quickness for a little sequoia who goes 6-7 and 260, Artest can guard anyone from a point guard to a power forward. The Rockets put him on Bryant, but Kobe would have none of it, going right at him and outscoring him, 23-8.

“Well, he’s a physical player,” Bryant said. “I think his team relies on his energy and his ability to intimidate the other team. It’s my responsibility to take that from him, let my team know that’s not going to happen.”

It didn’t happen. Real challenges surely await and real contenders will surely emerge, but for the moment, the Rockers won’t mind if it’s a while before they see these guys again.

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mark.heisler@latimes.com