Vujacic, Walton might play for Lakers tonight against Magic

Another beast from the East came to play the Lakers, though this one didn’t leave behind the same holiday cheer as the last one.

A Christmas Day victory over Boston, this was not. More like a rude reminder that the Eastern Conference is more than just the Celtics and Cleveland.

The Orlando Magic pushed and shoved its way to a 109-103 victory Friday night at Staples Center, pounding the Lakers down low and serving notice in mid-January that, well, it should probably also be considered a championship contender.

The Lakers were hammered on the boards, 54-40, and undone almost single-handedly by center Dwight Howard, who had 25 points and 20 rebounds for the Magic.

The Lakers were also burned by Orlando point guard Jameer Nelson, who had 28 points, six rebounds, eight assists and a number of key three-pointers down the stretch.

On top of everything, the Lakers (31-8) are no longer atop the rest of the league, which was the case when the sun rose Friday morning.

They now trail Cleveland (31-7) and Orlando (32-8) for the NBA’s best record.

Kobe Bryant had 28 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists -- the 15th triple-double of his career and first since April 2005 -- but he missed several shots in the final minutes, a departure from his fourth-quarter marksmanship in recent games. An open three-point attempt from the top of the arc that could have tied the score rimmed in and out with 8.9 seconds left.

“He had good looks,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “Some nights they’re not going to go in. The message is, defense has to be the thing that carries you night in and night out. When shots don’t go in, you play defense and stop a team, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

After the Lakers lost by a point in San Antonio on Wednesday, they welcomed the idea of coming home for six consecutive games at Staples Center (including a designated road game against the Clippers). Pau Gasol took it a step further after the 112-111 loss to the Spurs, proclaiming the importance of the Lakers’ next half-dozen games.

“I think we’ve got to take advantage of our home court and prove to ourselves what kind of team we are . . . and where do we want to be against the top teams in the league,” he said.

Gasol didn’t shoot well against Orlando, making only five of 13 attempts, and finished with 13 points. Andrew Bynum simply couldn’t keep pace with Howard, totaling 14 points and three rebounds.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Jackson said. “If Howard gets eight offensive rebounds and he’s going to the basket all the time, and he’s going to be around the basket, then Andrew should somewhere compete at least at that level, to contest rebounding-wise. What did he get, three tonight? And Howard gets 20? Somewhere along that line, that’s not right.”

Sasha Vujacic was the enduring image of the Lakers’ loss in Orlando last month, burying his face in his hands and dropping into a frozen crouch after his three-point attempt rimmed out with 3.9 seconds left.

Vujacic returned Friday after a two-game absence because of back spasms, but he wasn’t a factor, going scoreless in 13 minutes.

The Lakers actually led by nine in the second quarter and by eight at halftime, though they soon found themselves trailing, 69-60, after a free throw by Howard with 4:29 left in the third quarter.

They battled back to take a 75-74 lead going into the fourth quarter, but Bryant made only three of 12 shots in the quarter.

His driving layup gave the Lakers a 98-97 lead with 1:39 to play, but he didn’t score the rest of the way, missing a layup attempt, a 19-footer and three three-point attempts.

The Lakers don’t have much time to contemplate their second two-game losing streak of the season.

After all, Cleveland comes to Staples Center on Monday.

--

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

--

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Centers of attention

Comparing Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard’s nights. In their first meeting on Dec. 20, Bynum got into foul trouble and scored three points in 11 minutes. Howard had 18 points and 12 rebounds in the Magic’s 106-103 victory.

*--* BYNUM HOWARD MINUTES 33 39 POINTS 14 25 REBOUNDS 3 20 ASSISTS 0 0 BLOCKS 2 3 STEALS 0 1 *--*