Lakers crush the Magic

Kobe Bryant
Lakers Don’t Cross LineThe 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.”

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