First there was disbelief. Then came the anger.
Neither emotion had appeared much at Staples Center in recent years, but they each made up for lost time Wednesday, as boos followed Pau Gasol around the court and the Lakers staggered stunningly close to an early playoff flameout.
Lakers fans turned their backs on their team with two minutes to play, heading for the exits for possibly the last time at home in the Phil Jackson era.
Those that stayed until the smoldering end looked up at the scoreboard, took in the Lakers' 93-81 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, and donated more boos.
The Lakers lost the first two games of a series 19 times since moving to Los Angeles and came back to win it only once, in the 1969 West semifinals against Golden State.
Somewhere, Mark Cuban is smiling. Actually, he was behind the Mavericks' bench, smiling.
Where to begin? With Gasol, for sure.
He continued his wilted postseason with 13 points and 10 rebounds, making five of 12 shots and three of six from the free-throw line.
The third quarter, when the Lakers scored only 13 points, marked a new low for him. Lakers fans let him have it.
DeShawn Stevenson blocked his shot from behind, and then Gasol missed badly on a mid-range jumper up top, leading to a host of boos.
This was the guy with 19 points and 18 rebounds in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against Boston? The one who reinvigorated a franchise after being acquired from Memphis? The player who was the 1B to Kobe Bryant's 1A on two championship runs?
Yes, yes and yes.
Jackson said there were "weird things" and "gremlins" in Gasol's game.
"Wish I could have been more productive," Gasol said. "Wish I could have been more effective. Some plays I should have finished better, but I tried my best."
With Gasol a non-factor and atrocious three-point shooting , the Lakers had few options beyond Bryant and Andrew Bynum. Bryant had 23 points on nine-for-20 shooting. Bynum had 18 points and 13 rebounds.
Bynum apparently wanted the ball more often, ominously referring to "trust issues." He made eight of 11 shots.
"We have to come out and discuss them or things won't change," Bynum said. "It's quite obvious if you watch the game. Hesitation on passes, defensively not being there for a teammate because he wasn't there for you before. Little things."
The Lakers made only two of 20 three-point tries. Steve Blake was 0 for 5, all from long distance.
We've been playing with fire for the last three years, dropping games on our own home floor," Bryant said. "We finally got what we deserved. Dropped two."
The Lakers couldn't even lament a lost 16-point lead. Their biggest edge in Game 2 was only four points.
"I plan on flogging them [Thursday]," Jackson said.
The only memorable part of Ron Artest's night was getting ejected after picking up his second technical foul with 24.4 seconds left. In a play that will be carefully reviewed by the NBA office, Artest smacked Jose Barea across the face with his forearm as the diminutive guard dribbled upcourt.
Jackson acknowledged there was a "good chance" Artest would be suspended.
Meanwhile, Dirk Nowitzki continued to drill holes in the Lakers, scoring 24 points on nine-for-16 shooting.
"Dirk's one of the hardest guys to guard in the history of basketball," Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle said.
Jackson has been chronologically working his way through his championship ring collection, wearing a different one each game. On Wednesday, he put on the one from 2000, his first title with the Lakers.
At this rate, he might not even get past the 2002 ring.
Bryant tried to sound optimistic.
"If you want to make history," he said, "you have to do historic things."
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