Too little, much too late

Just when it looked like Kobe Bryant was back to his old scoring self

The Detroit Pistons showed up, the Lakers pretty much didn’t until the fourth quarter, and the result was a 97-83 loss Friday at Staples Center that became even more confounding after Bryant’s first three quarters were analyzed.

Two points. One-for-four shooting. Two rebounds. Two assists. Three turnovers. Twenty-seven minutes.

Bryant picked it up in the fourth quarter and finished with 19 points on five-for-11 shooting, but by that time, the Lakers were well on their way to a loss, never coming closer than 11 after Bryant surfaced.

The Staples Center crowd, longtime chanters of his name, booed after the Lakers fell behind by 18 midway through the third quarter. There were even concerned queries in the third quarter, one fan wondering aloud incredulously, “Two points, Kobe?”

Coming off his best effort of the season -- a 32-point night Wednesday in Portland -- Bryant was scarcely a part of the first half Friday.

He then took a shot 45 seconds into the third quarter, a three-pointer that rimmed out, and checked out for a while with 2:28 left in the quarter, shortly after being faked to the floor by Tayshaun Prince.

Bryant sat on the bench next to assistant coach Brian Shaw, a towel draped around his shoulders and a heating pad on his knee. He returned with 8:43 left in the fourth quarter and made four of seven shots the rest of the way.

“I feel good,” Bryant insisted afterward. “I’m not forcing the issue, just moving the ball around. When it’s time to come to me, they’ll recognize it’s time to come to me.

“I’m OK coast-to-coast, just can’t go into that sixth gear. Just not strong enough yet. It’s extremely frustrating. The most challenging thing for me now is to change directions.”

Bryant feels occasional stiffness in the knee, and his leg strength, timing and conditioning are not yet up to speed.

“He was laboring tonight,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “That’s going to happen right now. We have to go without him a lot of minutes out there on the floor. He was getting frustrated in the third quarter because things just weren’t working out right. We couldn’t seek him out in the same way that we’ve done before because he just wasn’t feeling that [way].”

There were other troubles.

Lamar Odom was ejected with 2:16 left to play, picking up his second technical foul after protesting a call by throwing his wrist band on the court. Odom, who had pledged to show a better attitude toward referees, finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Kwame Brown, who was expected to make his season debut Friday, sat out because of a sore neck.

But the talk centered around Bryant’s condition. “Day to day, it’ll be different,” Jackson said. “We’re not going to panic about something like this right now.”

Coincidentally, another superstar coming off injury, Houston’s Tracy McGrady, noticed Bryant’s game earlier this week.

“He’s still a great player,” McGrady told Sports Illustrated, “but he had to sort of change his game a little bit because we’re getting older. He’s breaking down as well with the surgeries. I saw him [last week] and he doesn’t look the same. He doesn’t look the same at all. He looks heavier and he looks slower.”

The Pistons, meanwhile, came in with a 2-3 record and played without Richard Hamilton, who was averaging 22 points a game but sat out because of a hyperextended elbow.

Prince, who tied his career high with 31 points, helped ensure victory.

A bad day for the Lakers, summed by up Jackson: “That was as bad a performance as I think we’ve had here in some time.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Kobe Bryant scored only two points through three quarters before finishing with 19.

* The Lakers had trouble all night against the zone defense of the Pistons, who employed it for about 40 of the game’s 48 minutes.

* The Pistons made nine of 18 three-point attempts. The Lakers made only six of 21 from beyond the arc.