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EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The light bulbs on the scoreboard showing the Los Angeles Lakers' 103-82 season-ending loss to the San Antonio Spurs had barely cooled down before they got together one last time to sort through the rubble of their disappointing 2012-13 campaign before saying goodbye for the summer.

The Lakers conducted exit interviews for nine of their 15 players on Monday, with the rest to come on Tuesday.

Here's a recap of what each player had to say to the media, in chronological order, after meeting with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak on Monday.

CHRIS DUHON
Synopsis: Duhon finished with 11 points and seven assists, playing a whopping (and game-high) 43 minutes in Game 4 against San Antonio because of how depleted the Lakers' roster was after not receiving consistent playing time since January.

Lakers future: Duhon is set to make $3.9 million next season if L.A. keeps him around. The more likely scenario is the Lakers buy him out for the $1.5 million that's partially guaranteed in his contract and go their separate ways. "We’re going to talk," Duhon said. "I’ll be here all summer. I’ll be engaged. I have until June 30 for them to pick up my option. We talked about it, and that’s what it is. It’s talk. I’ll be here, we’ll be in contact and whatever decision they make, we’re going to make that decision and go from there."

On Dwight Howard: "I think he’s learned from Orlando, like I’ve always told him, ‘Do what’s best for you.’ Do what’s best for you and your family, whatever makes you happy and keep that to yourself. He’s always been a people-pleaser, always trying to go out into the media and get the media on his side, [but] for him, it’s about him and his family. What makes Dwight happy, that’s what he needs to do. Whatever makes Dwight happy. … He can be happy here in L.A. Why not? This is a great city, a great town. Obviously, it’s an organization with a great tradition and pride, and he should be one of those guys that eventually will get a statue here."

Best quote: On why the Lakers had trouble establishing an identity -- "Injuries, two coaches in one year, not a training camp, injuries, injuries again, another injury. … I mean, I think probably every member on this team has been injured and missed a game this year. I've never experienced that in my nine years in this league. I think we had five guys have major surgeries. This has been a wacky year."

METTA WORLD PEACE
Synopsis: World Peace limped into the practice facility after missing the second half of Game 3 and all of Game 4 after getting a cyst in his left leg drained. He was generally in good spirits, even wearing a Cookie Monster T-Shirt in an ode to a bizarre off-court incident that happened back in February.

Lakers future: World Peace has a player option for $7.7 million. If he exercises it, he could become an easy target for the Lakers' amnesty clause. "You never know, anything could happen," World Peace said. He added he "definitely" wants to be a Laker in 2013-14. "I'm very competitive, so when you lose with a team, you want to win with that team," he said. "The only thing on my mind is winning, and winning here."

On Dwight Howard: "It took me a bit to get used to his personality, but once I was around him a lot -- we sat together on the plane -– once I got the chance to know him a little bit, it was an easy adjustment. He played hard. His personality was just different than everybody was used to.

"He’s just different. He’s always happy for the most part. In games, he’s really serious; not all the time, sometimes. But when it’s like crunch time, he’s very serious. Pregame, the locker room is very at ease. So you got to get used to a franchise player like that."

Injury outlook: World Peace returned to the lineup just 12 days after left knee surgery, but still needs the summer to get back to 100 percent. "As of right now, I'll just take six weeks and heal up," World Peace said, citing the original time frame of play he was expected to miss.

Best quote: On Washington Wizards center Jason Collins' decision to announce that he is gay -- "You should be free to act and do what you want to do as long as it's not violent, no matter what it is. I came here in a Cookie Monster shirt because I wanted to. And I was going to wear the pants, but I thought you guys were going to judge me. And I was going to wear the hat too, but I figured you guys were going to judge me and I didn't want Mitch to judge me. So that's why I didn't wear the hat and the pants, but I should have wore it. You should be free to do and act how you want to act.

"When you can feel comfortable with yourself, not only does it make you a better person, it's unnecessary stress. As we all know, if you're holding things in it can create unnecessary stress to your heart, to your mind and when you can release it and talk about it, you feel better. That's how it should be with anything. Not just coming out if you're gay or if you have a mental issue, or whatever other issue or stigma you have out there, you feel better."

STEVE NASH
Synopsis: The season was a nightmare for Nash, bookended by a broken leg and a bothersome hip and hamstring, but he still appreciated the Lakers life after being on the other side for so long as a rival. "It was an amazing experience to play for this franchise and for this fan base," Nash said. "I think that's the one thing that burns me right now, that it didn't go the way I envisioned. I really wanted to have a huge impact on the team and really make this an incredible year and experience for the fans, players and everybody involved. So, great experience for me, I'm really thrilled to be a part of the franchise and just hope that next year we can repay everybody for their loyalty and their enthusiasm."

Lakers future: Nash has two years and $19 million remaining on his contract with the Lakers. He's set to play seasons Nos. 18 and 19 of his career in L.A.

Injury outlook: Nash missed the final two games of the playoffs with a right hip injury and nerve damage in his right hamstring, which required four epidural injections and a cortisone shot in the last two weeks. But the 39-year-old is already on the mend. "I'm not going to take any time off," Nash said. "I'm going to start rehabbing right away and try to get right." Nash estimated it would take a month to get back to 100 percent and added, "I don't have any concern and I haven't gotten wind from anyone on the medical staff that there's concern for long-term issues or for next season to be in jeopardy. But I still have a little bit of work to do to get right."

Best quote: On the team camaraderie, or lack thereof -- "In the big picture, I think relationships were formed, relationships were kept and developed that were really positive. I think that's the only reason we didn't sputter out of control and find ourselves out of the playoffs."

More to come. For more on the day, read this story featuring World Peace and Nash's thoughts on Howard.

LOS ANGELES -- At the very least, tip your hat to Andrew Goudelock and Darius Morris.

The Los Angeles Lakers had no business beating the San Antonio Spurs on Friday with no Kobe Bryant, no Steve Nash and no Steve Blake in the lineup.

Despite Goudelock's MVP campaign in the D-League, they had no business having as much faith in a guy who spent all season with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to start a playoff game against the team that won the second-most games in the West this season.

And even though Morris started 17 games this season and continued to stay in the gym late even when his minutes dwindled the last two months, there was no real evidence that putting the ball in his hands for a crucial playoff game could work.

But you couldn't peg this one on the backcourt. In fact, Goudelock tied Tony Parker with 20 points and Darius Morris scored 24 to go along with six assists.

OK, enough about the silver lining.

Friday wasn't the official death knell for this (literally) painful Lakers season as L.A. doesn't go fishing until the Spurs have won four games, but no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit and this depleted Lakers squad certainly isn't going to be the first.

The 31-point blowout in Game 3 was the worst home playoff loss in franchise history, beating out Game 2 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals when Portland won by 29.

In a way, it seemed fitting.

In a season where everything that could go wrong seemingly did -- from a coaching change, to rampant injuries, slow-forming chemistry and even the death of legendary owner Dr. Jerry Buss -- why wouldn't a record like that be attached to this team?

How it happened: A whole lot of Tim Duncan (26 points on 12-for-16 shooting), some stingy Spurs defense (L.A. shot just 43.2 percent and 4-for-20 from 3) and too much depth from the guys in black and silver against the guys who are black and blue with injuries.

What it means: The offseason questions will begin sooner than a lot of us expected. Is Mike D'Antoni truly safe, or will those "We want Phil!" chants we heard on Friday actually come to fruition? Who gets waived via the amnesty clause -- Kobe? Pau Gasol? Blake? Metta World Peace? Anybody? Will Dwight Howard re-sign? Will Nash and Bryant be able to come back healthy for their 18th seasons?

Hits: Gasol had his third triple-double in his last six games with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

Morris and Goudelock (see above).

Dwight Howard had 25 points and 11 rebounds but shot just 7-for-15 from the free throw line.

Misses: After 31 points combined in his last two regular-season games, Antawn Jamison has just 19 points combined in the playoffs.

Stat of the game: The Spurs bench scored 46 points. The Lakers' bench scored nine.

Up next: Game 4 is Sunday at 4 p.m. PT. There's a chance Nash will be back, but you get the feeling that chance would be better if L.A. had won Friday.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Dwight Howard was the last player on the court after practice Saturday.

He is almost always the last player on the court.

It might not show, but he spends hours working on his free throws with Lakers assistant coach Chuck Person before firing a few shots from beyond the arc as he yells “Sam Perkins!” -- an ode to the former Los Angeles Lakers big man who had a penchant for hitting the deep ball.

Howard, however, did something different Saturday after the Lakers finished their first practice following Kobe Bryant's ruptured Achilles tendon just 12 hours earlier, which will sideline him for the next six to nine months.

With his teammates gathered, Howard stood in front of them and spoke for the first time as the team leader.

“I just told them that [Lakers management] put this team together for a reason, and we all know how to play basketball,” Howard said. “We’ve all done special things in our career before, and it’s time to do it again. We’ve all been blessed to play with Kobe, but we all have talent too, and we have to show it.”

For the first time since being traded to the Lakers in August, Howard was given the opportunity to lead the team. It’s a position he held with the Orlando Magic for the previous eight seasons and one that he anticipated accepting with the Lakers at some point after Bryant retires.

“That’s why they brought me here,” Howard said.

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LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers got the win, but they lost the man who pushed them to get there.

Kobe Bryant had beaten the odds all season long, tossing in turn-back-the-clock dunks while racking up statistical achievements that were supposed to be impossible for a 34-year-old in his 17th season until it all came to a crashing halt on Friday.

Even Bryant proved to be not totally indestructible.

After hurting both his left knee and right knee following collisions with Golden State's Festus Ezeli in the third quarter and managing to stay in the game, Bryant took one hit too many and couldn't keep playing in the fourth.

Bryant checked out of the game with 3:06 remaining in the fourth quarter after playing every minute up to that point and did not return. The team announced after the game that Bryant had suffered a probable torn Achilles tendon and that an MRI exam would be performed Saturday. He finished with 34 points.

L.A. won a game it needed to win, but with Bryant out of the lineup going forward, the Lakers will have a major challenge in front of them if they want to reach the playoffs.

How it happened: L.A. erased a nine-point Warriors lead in the second half thanks to some clutch play down the stretch from Steve Blake (14 points, five assists) and Dwight Howard (28 points, seven rebounds), and Carl Landry missed a go-ahead jumper that could have won it for the Warriors.

What it means: Utah started the night with a win against Minnesota, so the Lakers knew what was at stake before tipoff. The Lakers held serve. They lead the Jazz by one game with two left to play. They still control their own destiny.

Hits: Pau Gasol finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to register his sixth career triple-double.

Misses: A game after the Lakers allowed Portland's Damian Lillard to go off for 38, Friday was Stephen Curry's turn to shine. Curry was absolutely on fire, finishing with 47 points on 17-for-31 shooting, including a 9-for-15 mark from 3.

Stat of the game: Howard went into Friday shooting 49 percent from the free throw line this season -- the lowest percentage of his career -- but he had been on a minor upswing recently, shooting 12-for-20 in his previous three games. He made 14 of 22 free throw attempts Friday night.

Up next: Eighty down, two to go. All that's left is Sunday at 6:30 p.m. PT against San Antonio and Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. against Houston.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Kobe Bryant emerged from the showers late Wednesday night and limped through the nearly empty visitors locker room at the Rose Garden, stopping briefly on his way to the training room to change so he could acknowledge Metta World Peace.

"You always backed me," Bryant said with intense appreciation.

Bryant was winding down from what can only be described as an epic performance by the 17-year veteran -- a season-high 47 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 3 steals with only 1 turnover, a statistical line never before recorded in the league, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

And all those stats paled in comparison to Bryant's playing all 48 minutes, each and every second of the game, to help L.A. sweep a back-to-back for the first time in 16 tries this season and beat the Trail Blazers 113-106 in Portland, where the Lakers had lost 12 of their previous 14 games.

But World Peace and the rest of Bryant's teammates might not quite have his back the way he thinks they do.

After 79 games and with the Lakers on the edge of a playoff berth, holding a one-game lead over Utah for the No. 8 spot in the West with only three left to play, Bryant's teammates don't seem to be content to just feed the "All hail Kobe, the living legend" propaganda machine and ride his coattails into the playoffs.

If the season is worth saving at this point after all the trials and tribulations every player and coach in the locker room has gone through, it has to be saved as a team, the right way. If it's going to come down to Bryant playing hero ball from now until when the Lakers' season ends, there's a sense that Bryant's teammates would rather have an early summer if it means acting as the stage crew for Bryant's one-man show.

"It's bittersweet," Pau Gasol said when asked about Bryant's dominating performance against the Blazers, in which he played all 48 minutes in a non-overtime road game for the first time in his career. "Because, I think it's spectacular and it's very impressive and it's remarkable to be able to play 48 minutes and score 47 points. That's incredible. On the other hand, I'm a player that likes to see a little bit more ball movement and better balance. I've always been [like that]. That's just how I perceive this game.

"But again, he was incredible tonight. He scored a tremendous amount of points that I never scored in my life. So, like I said, it was very impressive and it's not something that you do every night, of course."

Gasol was quick to add context to his quotations, making it clear from his tone that this wasn't an issue of jealousy for the attention Bryant would receive for the feat, or a lack of appreciation for the talent Bryant has. And Gasol is certainly aware he might not be a Laker today and definitely would not be a Laker finally getting consistent post touches in Mike D'Antoni's system if it wasn't for Bryant supporting him.

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PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Rose Garden has been a place, for quite some time, where the Los Angeles Lakers' hopes and dreams have come to die.

Coming into Wednesday, the Lakers' previous three games in Portland were losses. As were 12 of their previous 14 and, going back all the way to 2002, 17 of their past 21.

But Kobe Bryant has shown that he has the power to rise above the Trail Blazers' house of horrors before, and boy did he ever do it again in a 113-106 victory.

Bryant has been going by the self-appointed "vino" nickname this season to describe how his game has been aging like a fine wine.

Forget vino, Wednesday was straight vintage.

Bryant did everything but sell popcorn, as they say, finishing with 47 points, eight rebounds, five assists, four blocks and three steals in an epic performance.

If the Lakers are going to live up to Bryant's playoff guarantee, he just might have to be the guy to will them there.

How it happened: L.A. gave up one of its all-too-typical poison-pill quarters to start things off, as Portland posted 41 points in the opening frame, but thanks to Bryant keeping up the torrid pace that he started against New Orleans, things never got too out of hand. The Lakers settled down on defense and used a 17-2 spurt to start the third quarter to really take back control of the game. They outscored the Blazers by nine in the fourth thanks to Bryant and Pau Gasol two-manning them to death, and the team defense holding Portland to just 16 points.

What it means: L.A. has a one-game lead over the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final spot in the Western Conference playoffs with three games left to play. That's what matters.

Hits: As brilliant as Bryant was, Gasol had himself a night. Gasol finished with 23 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Dwight Howard had 20 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Misses: The Lakers' defense allowed surefire rookie of the year winner Damian Lillard to score a career-high 38 points.

L.A. had 15 turnovers leading to 16 Portland points.

Steve Nash missed his fifth straight game because of lingering right hip and hamstring issues. He is questionable for Friday.

Stat of the game: Bryant put up his eighth 40-point game of the season.

Up next: The Lakers have three games left in the regular season, all of them at home: Friday against Golden State, Sunday against San Antonio and Wednesday against Houston.

LOS ANGELES -- With all the 5-0 talk surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers' finish to the season, it was questionable whether L.A. would even have enough fight left to get the first game toward that goal.

The severely sub-.500 New Orleans would seem like an easy opponent to start things off against, but then again, the Hornets led by 25 against L.A. back in March before Kobe Bryant scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to key a ridiculous rally.

He one-upped himself Tuesday, scoring 23 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter to put the pesky Hornets away.

How it happened: L.A. led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter before New Orleans used a 14-0 run to erase that to take a 50-45 lead into the locker room. Things were tied at 70-all to start the fourth quarter before Bryant went on a personal 7-0 run, connecting on three straight jumpers, to give L.A. a small cushion, and he extended that spurt to score the Lakers' first 14 points of the final period as the Hornets kept it close.

What it means: The Utah Jazz did their part, falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder 90-80 on Tuesday. L.A. is back to holding a half-game lead over the Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot as the games continue to be checked off the schedule. The Lakers are back to being in the driver's seat when it comes to meeting their postseason goal; now they just have to stay on the road.

Hits: Metta World Peace returned to the lineup after missing just 12 days following knee surgery. Remarkable stuff. He finished with just four points and one assist, but he was able to play 15 minutes and take some of the load off the starters.

Antawn Jamison scored 13 points off the bench, including a crucial five straight with less than five minutes to go in the fourth when L.A. was getting offense out of only Bryant to that point.

Misses: Earl Clark scored zero points, going 0-for-3 from the field in 24 minutes while picking up four fouls. He did collect five assists, however, often hooking up with Dwight Howard.

Howard had problems with the whistle-blowers, too, getting called for five fouls. He did notch 19 points, six rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes, however.

Howard had a careless violation with 2:16 left, stepping on the endline when he went to inbound the ball, thus turning it over when it was only a six-point game.

L.A. had 16 turnovers leading to 12 points for the Hornets.

Stat of the game: Every Lakers starter had at least four assists as L.A. recorded dimes on 26 of its 40 baskets.

Up next: It's on to Portland, where the Lakers will try to elude the hold the Rose Garden seems to have over them. They also will attempt to sweep a back-to-back for the first time all season. "Save the best for last, probably," World Peace said. He better hope so.

LOS ANGELES -- Metta World Peace had played possibly his last game with the Los Angeles Lakers when he suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee in late March.

The team listed his recovery time at a minimum of six weeks, a date well past the regular-season finale for a team that has no guarantee of making the playoffs. And there was no telling if he would be back after the offseason.

Yet just 12 days after surgery, World Peace was back in the lineup Tuesday, checking in to the game against the New Orleans Hornets to a partial standing ovation from the fans and without a brace on his left knee.

He had other ideas about his recovery time.

"I went online and was like, 'Yo, what was the fastest somebody ever recovered from a meniscus tear?' " World Peace recalled. "I was thinking it was going to say something like four weeks and somehow I read a week and I was like, 'Oh, then I'm the week kind of guy.'"

It helped that the surgery was not too invasive. World Peace said a "little flap" of meniscus was removed and "they're not stitching nothing together, they're just scoping."

To make his hope of being the one-week recovery guy, World Peace started his rehabilitation immediately. Even before the team was ready for him to begin it.

"I just started to do rehab once I got home," World Peace said. "Like, right away. No wasting time. And they were on the road so I had to call [Lakers trainer] Gary [Vitti] and [Lakers therapist] Judy [Seto] like, 'What do I have to do?' They were like, 'Wait till [we] get back.' I was like, 'No, I'm not waiting. Tell me what I got to do now so I can be ready to play.' And they just continued to tell me what I had to do and I just continued to try to rehab."

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MILWAUKEE -- Former Los Angeles Lakers coach Bill Sharman had enjoyed relative anonymity for years, as the 86-year-old continued to serve as a consultant to the team and attend games with regularity.

Well, ever since the Miami Heat threatened his 1971-72 Lakers' record 33-game winning streak, Sharman became relevant on a national scale again.

Apparently Sharman is using all that attention for good.

Sharman is raffling off his 2010 Lakers championship ring to raise money to be spread across eight charities of his choosing.

Metta World Peace engaged in a similar endeavor, raffling off his 2010 ring and raising more than $650,000 for mental health charities. While World Peace's ring was special because he earned it by scoring 20 points in Game 7 of the Finals against Boston, Sharman's NBA credentials are even more impressive. Sharman is one of just three people to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach.

More details about the raffle will become available after a news conference Wednesday. The fundraiser is being put on thanks to NetRaffle.org by Celebrities For Charity.

Here we meet again, Lakers season.

At the corner of frustration and disappointment.

Monday marked the team's first three-game losing streak since late January, which led to that air-it-out meeting in Memphis.

Tuesday marked getting the last card in a poker hand nobody wants as Metta World Peace was diagnosed with a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, making him the fifth out of L.A.'s five opening day starters to miss some time because of injury this season.

"Disappointing obviously and our backs are against the wall once again when we gave ourselves a touch of breathing room," Steve Nash said after L.A.'s 109-103 loss to the Warriors in game they trailed by 23 at halftime. "Now we really got to fight and things aren't looking good in terms of our rhythm is a little off, morale is a little down, guys are banged up and we got to really fight now."

They also have to fight against in-fighting, it would appear.

First, there's the tried and true Kobe Bryant vs. Dwight Howard score to settle.

Howard has just 17 shots total in his last two games, connecting on 12 of them (70.1 percent). Bryant has 45 attempts in those two games, making 19 (42.2 percent).

"I don't even want to talk about it," Howard said after the Warriors game. "We have to figure out what we need to do to play. If you want to win games, you have to play the right way."

Howard has just three shots total in the fourth quarters of the five losses L.A. has in the month of March.

Bryant spoke up in Golden State, saying that they need to feature Howard more.

"I think he's playing phenomenal," Bryant said. "We have to figure out a way to get him some more looks down low though. I tried to step back as much as I possibly could and allow that to develop. He was in foul trouble and all of the sudden it's a 19-point game and we can't sit around much longer. But we got to figure that balance out."

When told about Bryant's comments, Howard seemed to sniff out the hypocrisy.

"He said what happened?" Howard asked, almost incredulously, before sticking to a diplomatic response. "When we lose, everything is magnified. We just got to play the game the right way, do what we did coming out of All-Star break to get some wins and go from there."

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OAKLAND, Calif. -- The second quarter was so ugly that Kobe Bryant decided he had seen enough even while there was still time left on the clock.

Bryant left the court and stalked off to the locker room with 0.5 seconds remaining after the Golden State Warriors had upped their already ample 19-point lead to 23 with two tip-ins in the span of 1.4 seconds.

There was a comedy of errors from the Los Angeles Lakers to end the quarter, from Dwight Howard picking up a technical foul after getting smacked in the face by a David Lee elbow (causing a cut to his lip that required three stitches) to Metta World Peace nearly stealing a ball, only to deflect it to a wide-open Klay Thompson for a 3-pointer, to World Peace throwing a full-court inbound pass away, which led to the second of the aforementioned tip-ins by Andrew Bogut.

Sham-mockery, indeed.

The second half was better, as L.A. held Golden State to 44 points after allowing 63 in the first two quarters, but too much damage was done early on.

How it happened: The Warriors used runs of 8-0 and 7-0 in the first quarter to open up a 12-point lead after the first period. That was the closest L.A. would get the rest of the way. The last time the Lakers came to Golden State in December, they erased a 13-point fourth quarter deficit to win. That was not the case Monday. The Lakers attempted a rally, cutting the Warriors' lead all the way down to six, but a win wasn't in the cards.

What it means: "We’re in a fight for our lives, and let’s act on it," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said before the game.

If the Lakers didn't know that going into the night -- having lost consecutive games to the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards -- they should certainly be well aware of it after getting embarrassed by Golden State.

It's the Lakers' first three-game losing streak since that air-it-out meeting they had in Memphis back in late January.

For a team that has said its strategy to get into the postseason is to win three out of every four games the rest of the way, that constitutes a crisis.

As bad as Utah has played, with a 4-9 record in March so far, the Jazz are just a game behind L.A. for the eighth seed in the Western Conference and hold the tiebreaker over the Lakers.

Hits: Dwight Howard had 15 rebounds.

Steve Nash neared a triple-double with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.

This dunk by Bryant.

Misses: Three Warriors players -- Lee, Thompson and Stephen Curry -- scored 20 or more points.

Bryant, while scoring a game-high 36 points, shot 11-for-27 overall and 2-for-10 from 3.

Stat of the game: Jarrett Jack, who scored 29 points the last time the Lakers played in Golden State, scored 19 Monday and nearly matched the 21 points scored by the Lakers' bench contingent of Jodie Meeks (13), Antawn Jamison (five), Steve Blake (three) and Earl Clark (zero). The L.A. bench shot 7-for-26 overall while Jack was 9-for-16.

What's next: The Lakers continue their four-game road trip with a back-to-back on Wednesday and Thursday in Minnesota and Milwaukee, respectively, and then finish it up in Sacramento on Saturday.

PHOENIX -- Thomas Wolfe said it, and Steve Nash has now lived it.

"You can't go home again."

Boy, was that ever true for Nash, the former two-time league MVP with the Phoenix Suns, who returned to his former city twice this season and came up empty both times.

The last time the Los Angeles Lakers came to Phoenix, Nash's initial return was spoiled by a 92-86 loss in a game in which L.A. blew a late lead and Nash had just 11 points on 3-for-8 shooting.

Nash struggled in this one, too, scoring 19 points but shooting just six-for-17 in the process and dishing out just four assists against three turnovers.

It wasn't any better for his teammates.

Here's a recap of what went down:

How it happened: It was a two-man game for L.A. early as Nash and Dwight Howard combined for 21 of the Lakers' 25 first-quarter points, but the Lakers only led by four. Suns rookie Kendall Marshall caught fire in the second quarter, scoring eight points, as the Suns led by as many as eight. But the Lakers were able to cut the deficit down to three at the half. The Suns' lead was five heading into the fourth when it all fall apart for the Lakers. The final blow came when Luis Scola beat the shot clock with a 3 from the top of the key to put Phoenix up by 17 with less than four minutes remaining.

What it means: After two inspiring team-centric wins against Indiana and Sacramento, the Lakers looked flat and sorely missed the energy that Kobe Bryant (sprained left ankle) brings to the game. If you thought the playoffs were all but locked up, think again. Monday was a major reminder of the work that's still ahead for this Lakers team with 13 games left to play.

Hits: At least nobody was seriously injured. There's that. As Mike D'Antoni put it when asked about Bryant getting some rest while all the Lakers had to do was take care of the 23-45 Suns: "If we can win, it’s a silver lining because he rests and gets his body in shape, but if we don’t win, then it’s not very good. So, it’s a double-edged sword."

Misses: Howard missed 12 of 18 shots, Nash missed 11 of 17 and Metta World Peace missed 12 of 17.

The Lakers were outrebounded 55-45.

Nash got a bloody gash on his face by his left eye in the third quarter stemming from a collision with P.J. Tucker. It wasn't quite this bad, however.

Stat of the game: Steve Blake (6-for-11) was the only Laker to shoot 50 percent or better from the field. L.A. shot just 29-for-87 (33.3 percent) as a team.

What's next: The Lakers, mercifully, have the day off Tuesday coming out of their back-to-back and don't play again until Friday, when they host the Washington Wizards. D'Antoni said Bryant would "probably" be back in the lineup by then, and there is a chance that Pau Gasol will also target that game to make his return from the torn plantar fascia injury to his right foot that's kept him out the past six weeks.

LOS ANGELES -- Injuries have been the story of the Los Angeles Lakers' season as much as anything, from Dwight Howard's back and shoulder to Pau Gasol's knees and foot to Jordan Hill's hip, Steve Nash's leg, Steve Blake's groin and now Kobe Bryant's ankle.

And there was another injury that went unreported and hampered L.A., as well.

After scoring 22 points on 10-for-13 shooting against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, Metta World Peace revealed he had been playing through a right leg injury for more than two months.

"I popped something in my fibula, but it didn't tear," World Peace said, saying he suffered the injury when the Lakers hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder on Jan. 11.

World Peace said he took a charge on San Antonio's Tiago Splitter on Jan. 9 and got kneed in the pelvic region, which led to the leg injury in his next game.

"Messed up my alignment," World Peace said. "Most injuries come from when your pelvis is not aligned. People don't know that."

The injury, combined with an injury to his right arm around the same time that made it difficult to bend his elbow, prevented him from doing his normal in-season weight lifting routine.

"I had to sacrifice some of my exercises, some of my strength and conditioning," World Peace said. "I couldn't do as much, so then I was getting weaker a little bit. I was getting weaker throughout the season.”

“As I got healthy, then I was able to get back,” he said. “Now I'm able to lift again and do my exercises and agility and stuff. Now I'm able to guard guys again. I'm moving my feet well, and I have a lot of strength down low."

It was so bad that Mike D'Antoni didn't feel comfortable putting World Peace on the opposing team's best wing scorer anymore -- his bread and butter. Instead the Lakers coach moved him to big man defensive duties.

"I thought he was really having trouble guarding perimeter guys and that's why I kind of moved him to the 4,” D'Antoni said, “but now he's guarding perimeter guys fine.”

Prior to the string of injuries, World Peace had scored 20 or more points in four out of nine games and was finding a consistent role in the offense.

"If you look back at that Houston game [before it] and the San Antonio game, I was getting to the hole," World Peace said. "If you look back at that game, I was getting to the hole anytime I wanted, going coast to coast. After that game, it was kind of downhill and I started to miss layups. And when I started to miss layups, I had to resort to shooting 3s."

It took a while to get back to form, but World Peace is clicking once again. He estimated he is 98 percent better. He has scored in double digits in eight of the Lakers' nine games in the month of March.

"I'm moving now again," World Peace said.

It's showing on both ends of the court.

"He's playing a very high level defensively," D'Antoni said. "If he can do that, then when Pau [Gasol] comes back, that's really going to help a lot with him being able to guard the perimeter."

LOS ANGELES -- There was a telling quote from Antawn Jamison after the Los Angeles Lakers rallied to win in Indianapolis without Kobe Bryant the other night.

"We have too much talent to think that there's not a chance for us to win when he's not out there," Jamison said.

Bryant didn't play Sunday, marking the first time all season he didn't suit up. But Jamison and the Lakers showed what kind of talent it has without their leader.

Journeyman Jamison reminded everybody why he is No. 43 on the NBA's all-time scoring list and just 176 points away from 20,000 for his career by hitting from all over the court en route to a team-high 27 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including 5-for-8 on 3-pointers.

Just like in Indiana, it wasn't just Jamison, either.

Steve Nash showed he is just as much a former two-time MVP as he is a 39-year-old, posting 19 points and 12 assists.

Metta World Peace showed he's more than a tough wing defender, scoring 22 points on 10-for-12 shooting, after putting up 19 against the Indiana Pacers.

Dwight Howard looked healthier than he has maybe all season, tallying 12 points, 17 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Steve Blake had 16 points and eight assists. Earl Clark had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Everybody contributed.

Solid win.

How it happened: After Sacramento went on a 10-0 run to cut L.A.'s lead to just 90-88 in the fourth quarter, Blake came up huge, drawing a foul on Jason Thompson to thwart a sure Sacramento Kings bucket on the fast break, then hitting a 3-pointer soon after to put L.A. up 95-88. The Lakers regained control of the game, sparking a 13-2 run overall. They rolled from there, winning by 11 and going four games above .500, at 36-32, for the first time all season.

What it means: "They know where we are [in the standings],” Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said before the game. “They know how important these games are at home, especially. We just can’t kick one like we did in Atlanta." The Lakers made it interesting against a Kings team that came into the game 20 games under .500. But they won, which is what they need to keep doing for the final 14 games of the regular season. Now that L.A. has been flirting with a playoff spot for some time, they can even think about moving up the ladder.

"Just looking at [the standings] real quick, No. 6, right?" D'Antoni said before his team won for the 11th time in 14 tries since the All-Star break. "That seems to be the thing. I wouldn’t think anything else. That would be a goal that we try to get to."

Hits: Sunday marked the first time since Pau Gasol was traded to the Lakers on Feb. 1, 2008, that L.A. won a game in which Bryant and Gasol did not play.

Howard grabbed 17 rebounds, keeping his streak of collecting 12 or more rebounds in every game since the All-Star break intact. The 14 games with 12 or more boards ties the longest such streak he's had in his career.

Misses: With Bryant out, D'Antoni shrunk his rotation even more, playing just seven guys.

L.A. allowed Patrick Patterson to go off for 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting.

The Lakers had 15 turnovers, resulting in 17 points for Sacramento while forcing the Kings into just six turnovers.

Stat of the game: The Lakers average 22 assists per game as a team, ranking 16th in the league, and outdid themselves Sunday with 28 dimes on 41 baskets (68.3 percent).

What's next: The Lakers will have a chance to do something they've failed to do all season in 13 attempts: sweep a back-to-back. L.A. plays in Phoenix on Monday. Coming into Sunday, the Lakers were 5-8 on the front end of back-to-backs and also 5-8 on the back end of back-to-backs this season. They'll have to beware of the 22-45 Suns, however. The Lakers lost the last time they went to Phoenix this season in Nash's return game.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The whole will-he-or-won't-he drama surrounding Kobe Bryant's playing status with that sprained left ankle of his ended up being pretty much a moot point.

Bryant played the entire first quarter, going 0-for-4 from the field with one turnover and two assists, with the Lakers trailing 19-16.

After watching the entire second quarter from the bench and seeing his team compete without him, Bryant called it a night at halftime, spending the rest of the game on the bench with an electric stimulation device strapped to his bum ankle.

For Bryant, he got to keep up his distinction of having played in all 67 games on the Lakers schedule this season and his round-the-clock rehab will surely have his ankle in a better place for the Lakers' next game Sunday than it would have been if he hadn't tried to play Friday.

For the Lakers, the three quarters Bryant didn't play defined the night.

It was about Dwight Howard shaking off early foul trouble and a rough shooting night to still put up 20 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

It was about Metta World Peace coming back to play in front of fan base that knew him as Ron Artest when he was at his worst and scoring 19 points to lead L.A. when the offense stalled.

It was about Steve Blake (18 points) and Antawn Jamison (17 points) barely missing off the bench, combining to shoot 11-for-18 overall and 9-for-14 from 3.

It was about Steve Nash putting up 15 points and nine assists against just two turnovers.

It was about Earl Clark hobbling on a bum right ankle of his own and contributing with eight points and six rebounds.

It was about a team finding a way to win when the odds were not in its favor.


How it happened: The Pacers built an early 11-point lead with Howard parked on the bench with fouls and Bryant being off the mark, but L.A. got all the way back in it, building an 11-point lead of its own in the second quarter. Indiana came out refocused in the third quarter and went on a 13-0 run, but the Lakers wouldn't go away and had the lead down to just one heading into the fourth. With the game tied at 87 with 1:30 to go in the fourth, Howard had one of his biggest plays as a Laker, getting an and-1 layup to go and converting the ensuing free throw to put L.A. up by three. If Howard put the nail in the coffin, Jamison poured dirt on the grave with a 3-pointer the next time down to double L.A.'s lead from three to six and seal the win.

What it means: The Lakers are back to three games over .500 at 35-32 and won one of those gut-check games that define what it is to be a tough-minded group. This one could pay off down the road.

Hits: The Lakers shot 13-for-26 as a team from 3, good for 50 percent.

Against the toughest defensive team in the league, L.A. had just 15 turnovers compared to 16 for Indy.

Misses: The time keeper in Indiana messed up just before halftime, starting the clock while the ball was still in Earl Clark's hands while he was getting ready to inbound the ball with 5.3 seconds left. Steve Nash ended making a jump shot at the foul line that was disallowed because it left his hands just after the buzzer. However, had the time been kept correctly, Nash would have had another 1.5 seconds to get the shot off.

By NBA rules, the Lakers weren't allowed to play the whole 5.3 seconds over again -- just the 1.5 seconds that went missing because of the clock mistake. L.A. tried a similar inbounds alley-oop from the sideline to a cutting Clark that worked when L.A. was in Detroit, but the Pacers broke it up. The officials had to check the replay once again to determine the Lakers had 0.9 seconds left on the clock. L.A. tried one more time to score before the half but could manage only to get it out to Howard for a long heave from 3 that missed.

Stat of the game: The Lakers were just 2-16 on the road against teams with winning records coming into Friday but were able to knock off the Pacers -- the No. 2 team in the East -- who had a 26-7 home record before the loss.

What's next: The Lakers come to the softest portion of their schedule that they'll face all year, at a time when they can use some easy games. Their next three games are over the course of seven days against three teams that are each hovering around 20 games under .500. It starts off Sunday at home against Sacramento, then Monday on the road in Phoenix followed by three days off before they get Washington at home Friday. Adding to the string of gimmes, the Lakers should get Pau Gasol back in the lineup sometime in the next three games. Time to build momentum.