Looking to the Day They All Play

BOSTON —  Nineteen games left, and the Lakers are still waiting for that playoff lineup. Any day now.

Somewhere between Rick Fox’s recovery and April 18 -- Series 1, Game 1 -- everything started to wobble, and now the Laker trainer’s room is filled with superstars who could have new trainer’s rooms next season.

Just those 19 games, and Karl Malone hasn’t played since Dec. 21, Kobe Bryant has played 13 games since Jan. 12, Fox has never played with Malone, Gary Payton’s game still gets swamped by Bryant’s and Shaquille O’Neal isn’t yet where he was before he sat out 12 games in January.

Road losses to inferior teams in Atlanta and Utah aside, the Lakers have played decently since the All-Star break, winning 10 of 13 games and giving themselves a fair chance of playing host to a series or two in the playoffs. And, the lightest portion of their schedule is ahead.

Beginning Monday, the Lakers play nine consecutive games at Staples Center. In the last two months, they have played nine home games.

Coach Phil Jackson said Monday he thought Malone and Bryant would play on the trip, which concludes Saturday in Chicago, and by then Horace Grant and Slava Medvedenko are expected to be on the floor as well. But, then, Payton apparently has been bothered recently by a sore shoulder, and Devean George is limping, and, well, by now, everyone’s become a bit gun shy.

Malone, who came to Los Angeles after 18 seasons in the league, none of which ended in a championship, called this his most difficult.

“It’s disappointing, but life is sometimes disappointing,” he said. “You’ve just got to deal with it and go on. I got adversity pretty much all year, since my mom passed. So, all of this stuff is kind of comical. I said the other day, ‘I’m almost back. What else could happen?’ Then Kobe gets hurt. I said to myself, ‘I’m not saying anything else.’ ”

Reminded that the Sacramento Kings and Minnesota Timberwolves have replaced the Lakers as favorites in some circles, Malone smiled and said, “That’s fine. We’re starting to play well in spite of some things. So, that’s just fine.”

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League vice president Stu Jackson was expected to decide today whether Jackson would be punished for criticizing referee Bob Delaney after Monday night’s loss in Utah.

Delaney called two technical fouls on O’Neal in the fourth quarter, leading to the center’s ejection and Jackson’s postgame claim the referee had it in for O’Neal.

Jackson could be fined.

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Before the Lakers played the Jazz, before he stomped off after his ejection, O’Neal had revealed he was happy if not entirely healthy. The offense is temporarily his again, he being the beneficiary of a rotation of pliable young players who are eager to satisfy him and believe in the cause.

“Yeah, I’m hurt,” O’Neal said. “My shoulders, my calf. But, when you get the food, you feel good. When you don’t get the food, you feel deprived. And you look deprived. That’s why I look good.”

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When they drafted Luke Walton in the second round, the Lakers loved his instincts and hoped he might develop a jump shot.

Four months into the season, it’s coming. Since the start of January, about the time he began to spend time with shooting coach Bob Thate, Walton has made about half of his field-goal attempts. On the road, he shoots with assistant Kurt Rambis.

“He can’t shoot, but I think he’s a good shooting coach,” Walton said, smiling, of Rambis. “Even though, I agree with you, he can’t shoot to save his life.”

Offensively, Walton errs on the side of finding O’Neal, which, of course, plays pretty well with O’Neal.

“Luke comes from pretty good stock,” he said. “Not his father. His mother.”

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Rather than accompanying the team to Boston, Bryant flew instead to Orange County, where he tended to personal business. He is expected to rejoin the team today in Boston.... The Lakers took Tuesday as a travel day and did not practice.

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TONIGHT

at Boston, 4 PST

Channel 9 (5:30)

Site -- FleetCenter.

Radio -- KLAC (570), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Lakers 41-22, Celtics 29-36.

Record vs. Celtics -- 1-0.

Update -- Since the Lakers beat them, 105-82, in late December, the Celtics have seen Coach Jim O’Brien resign, Vin Baker waived, Chucky Atkins and Lindsey Hunter acquired and Hunter waived. The Celtics start Jiri Welsch and Brandon Hunter at forward, Mark Blount at center and Atkins and Paul Pierce at guard.