Lakers’ Ron Artest shuts down Trail Blazers’ Brandon Roy

Ron Artest sat on the Lakers’ bench during the fourth quarter Sunday with his legs crossed, his head bobbing to the music being played inside Staples Center, a look of satisfaction on his face.

Artest had just done his part in helping the Lakers dispose of the Portland Trail Blazers by putting the clamps on All-Star guard Brandon Roy.

Roy was not a factor, Artest making sure of that by playing suffocating defense, holding the Trail Blazers’ leading scorer to eight points on one-for-six shooting.

When it came time for Artest to explain how he limited Roy during the Lakers’ 121-96 victory over Portland, it was a conversation Artest tried to shy away from.

He began by giving his normal quote after a shutdown defensive performance.

“I thought it was a good team effort,” Artest said. “You know I was going to say that, right?”

Indeed, because he always does.

Then Artest began to talk about how his body is “feeling kind of crazy right now.”

He slimmed down over the summer and looks quicker than last season.

Perhaps that’s why Artest was able to stay in front of Roy so much.

“My defense was stubborn for the last couple of years,” Artest said. “On my defense, I always kind of have a quote on that: ‘I just play everybody the same way.’ If I change my defense, that’s just like changing my form on my shot.

“If you change the form on your shot, now you’ve got to figure out another way. You have to stick with what you do and let it work for you.”

The Trail Blazers were never in this game, trailing by 13 at the end of the first quarter and by 22 at halftime.

Roy didn’t make any of his shots from the field in the first half. He scored four points from the free-throw line.

He made his only field goal with 5:22 left in the third quarter, a 20-foot jumper.

“Ron Artest, he didn’t change his defense,” Roy said. “He just plays good defense every night.

“Coming off screens and stuff, they do a good job of showing and they’re just big.”

Roy entered the game averaging 22 points. He has burned the Lakers in the past, but this time, Roy was held in check.

“I’m not so sure that’s all our making,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “He looked to me like he was not ready to attack as much as he normally is. It looked to me like he was a little bit hesitant out there, and they had other things going on with [ Andre] Miller and [Nicolas] Batum, basically.”

To complement his stellar defense, Artest had 11 points on five-for-eight shooting.

But it was his defense on Roy that was the talk of the game.

And yet, Artest didn’t think the even-keeled Roy was frustrated.

“The way he approaches the game is someone to look up to, because his facial expression never changes,” Artest said. “You never know what’s behind that expression.

“He’s always a tense, determined player -- as you can see with the numbers he puts up and where he takes his team. His team wins. So I don’t really go by that. I know he’s not frustrated. He probably had a bad night. He’s going to deal with it. He’ll come back out when he gets the opportunity and he’ll let you have it.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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