Lakers Don’t Cross Line

The Lakers wouldn’t let it happen again -- they really couldn’t at this point in the season -- so they beat an overwhelmed Eastern Conference opponent, knocking back the Orlando Magic two days after failing to do the same to the Boston Celtics.

Not entirely comfortable with falling below .500 for the first time since Jan. 6, the Lakers decided to make the third quarter their own, for a change, and ran off with a 102-87 victory Tuesday night at Staples Center that moved them to 29-28.

Had there been a loss, the sense that things were slipping away would have been understandable, with upcoming road games against Portland and Golden State, followed by home games against Detroit and San Antonio, followed by more road games in New Orleans and San Antonio.

So the Lakers took care of a few weaknesses, filling up their third quarter with 38 points, getting a little more out of Kwame Brown, and winning at home, where they had been 15-11, the worst of the top eight Western Conference teams.

In doing so, they remained No. 8 in the West, their most substantial achievement of the night.

“The team needed this one, more than anything,” said Smush Parker, who had 17 points and seven assists, indicative of a night where everybody shared, the Lakers logging assists on 31 of their 41 field goals.

Brown, benched in the second half of Sunday’s 112-111 loss to Boston, had 11 points on five-for-nine shooting and looked a little more active after a Monday morning talk with Phil Jackson in which the Laker coach told Brown he still had confidence in him.

“He was effective for us tonight,” Jackson said.

The Lakers also looked a little more sure of themselves after halftime. They surrendered 37 points in the third quarter to Boston, and gave up 33 to the Clippers in the third quarter before that, but they outscored Orlando, 38-23, busting open a tight game and handing the Magic its 10th loss in 11 games.

Jackson said it happened, “Just by reason of thinking about it, really thinking about, ‘Let’s support each other, let’s get each other playing right.’ ”

The Lakers played the right way most of the night. Parker was scoring and distributing, and Kobe Bryant had 28 points and eight assists.

Six Lakers were in double figures, including rookie Ronny Turiaf, who had 10 points, his highest total to date.

“Everybody touched the ball, everybody got their shots, everybody was happy,” Parker said. “It was fun tonight. I actually smiled while I was playing.”

The alternative didn’t look so good to the Lakers after falling to the Celtics, who were 22-33 at the time, and initially struggling against Orlando, which was 20-35 before Tuesday.

The Laker lead at halftime was a shaky 44-41, with Bryant scoring nine points and Lamar Odom only two at the time.

Odom finished with only eight points, although he created some buzz with an emphatic one-handed dunk over Dwight Howard for a 62-50 lead with 7:27 left in the third quarter.

The play began with a backcourt steal by Parker and ended with Odom getting the last laugh on some teammates.

“They always make fun of me because I don’t dunk,” he said. “I just wanted to make a play that would get us going.”

Odom had 12 rebounds and five assists. And Turiaf said to expect more out of Brown.

“I am trying to push him during practice and before the games,” the rookie said. “We have our whole new routine going now. Kwame has a little confidence coming back up, so I think it is going to be scary to guard him because when he has confidence, he is pretty unstoppable.”

The Lakers forced 18 turnovers and had only 10. Bryant and Parker each had three steals.

“We played a purposeful game,” Bryant said. “We were not just out there running around. We had some substance.”

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Last five

Lakers are 3-2 since the All-Star break (*Clipper home game):

*--* DATE OPPONENT, RESULT Feb. 21 Portland, W 99-82 Feb. 23 Sacramento, W 106-85 Feb. 24 *CLIPPERS, L 102-83 Feb. 26 Boston, L 112-111 Feb. 28 Orlando, W 102-87

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