Shannon Brown gets hot on weird night as Lakers beat Milwaukee, 118-107

Reporting from Milwaukee —

The fan was stunned.

“ Shannon Brown, 21 points,” he muttered from the second row, capturing the main theme of the Lakers’ 118-107 victory Tuesday over the Milwaukee Bucks at Bradley Center.

Whatever’s left of the injury-bitten Lakers didn’t play much defense, wasn’t entirely motivated and seemed perfectly willing to lose the opener of a three-game trip against mediocre teams.

Then came the second half, when the defense picked up and Brown began knocking down shots, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter to end the Lakers’ modest two-game losing streak.

It was a weird night, as they sometimes are when the Lakers play in Milwaukee, Ron Artest playing only 18 minutes and Pau Gasol logging a whopping 44.

It didn’t end with the same commotion as last season’s overtime buzzer-beater by Kobe Bryant, but the Lakers could thank Brown for his stat line. His fourth-quarter numbers were flawless: six-of-six shooting, including four of four from three-point range.

“Everybody told Shannon he had to learn how to shoot a jump shot when he came out in the NBA,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “He’s taken that seriously and worked hard on it. He’s now a legitimate three-point shooter.”

Bryant had 31 points on 10-for-23 shooting and Gasol had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers (9-2).

As they push forward without Andrew Bynum and Theo Ratliff, Gasol will have to carry a larger on-court load. He really has no choice.

Bynum isn’t expected back until around Thanksgiving and Ratliff will be out at least four to six weeks after having cartilage removed from his left knee Tuesday.

“I’m not too tired or anything,” Gasol said. “I’m not worried. It seems like I’m playing a lot of minutes, and maybe I am, but I looked at the stats today, and there’s nine players in the league that play more than me. I’m not leading that category yet, so it’s all right.”

The Lakers have lost three consecutive games only once since Gasol was acquired in February 2008.

They have now allowed 100 or more points in eight of their 11 games, and it was pretty obvious it would happen again after looking at the halftime score: 59-57, Bucks.

In fact, Bucks fans gave their team a standing ovation as the teams went to the locker room. They loved what they saw, which was absolutely nothing from the Lakers’ defense.

But the Lakers’ reserves keyed a late third-quarter run that extended into the fourth, Matt Barnes (nine points), Steve Blake (six points) and Brown pushing the pace.

After Blake hit a three, Artest was charged up enough from the end of the bench to frantically wave a towel and then rip the hat off a nearby Bucks ballboy, ruffling his hand through the youngster’s hair while laughing loudly.

Artest, however, did not play after the 6:30 mark of the third quarter. Earlier, he asked to come out of the game near the midpoint of the first quarter.

“He just wasn’t feeling right and perfect tonight so he’ll be back” Wednesday, Jackson said.

Said Artest: “I’m OK. I’m good. Ready to play [Wednesday], back-to-back.”

It wasn’t the only weird twist of the night.

Bryant was called for a technical foul while falling to the court after being fouled by Andrew Bogut. He appeared to flail his arm and hit Bogut in the head.

Strange call on a strange night.

In the end, it was Brown’s time to shine. On to Detroit.

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