Lakers can’t take Christmas Heat

MIAMI —  And on the 12th day of Christmas, the Lakers received the same thing they got last year, and the year before that, a gift they’d just as soon return if they could ever beat the Miami Heat on Dec. 25.

It was the only NBA game scheduled Monday, and it was never in doubt. The Lakers never led, trailed by as many as 19, and were broken down again and again by Dwyane Wade in a 101-85 Heat victory at AmericanAirlines Arena.

Who needs Shaquille O’Neal when Wade plays the way he did, scoring 40 points, collecting 11 assists and pushing the Heat onward with behind-the-back passes, fruitful drives to the basket and breezy jump shots.

Kobe Bryant couldn’t answer -- didn’t come close really -- making only four of 17 shots and scoring 16 points in his lowest-impact game of the season.

The Lakers’ big picture still remains clear -- 18-10 overall and a respectable 2-2 on their current six-game trip -- but the prints of Monday’s effort were definitely smudged.

“I told my coaches at halftime, I think I’ll stay in the locker room and watch ‘A Christmas Carol,’ and you guys can do the rest of this game, the way we were playing out there,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. “We weren’t right from the opening tap on in this game.”

The only thing the Lakers could take with them was a high-end toiletry bag stuffed with pricey supplies, a gift from the league for each player on the two teams.

Other than that, it was history repeating itself, the Heat winning again, this time with Wade destroying the Lakers by coming off numerous high screen-and-rolls. A typical Heat possession: Bryant, who was guarding Wade, gets picked off by a screen, Wade blows into open space and scores easily, perhaps needing to fake a Lakers big man out of the way, perhaps not.

Bryant was more deferential in his post-game remarks than he was a week ago after Gilbert Arenas torched the Lakers for 60 points.

“Hell of a performance,” he said about Wade. “ ... It was really masterful for him, coming off those screen-and-rolls and attacking. He’s a phenomenal young player.

“When we have Kwame [Brown] in there, there’s certain things that we can do defensively. But he was in foul trouble most of the night, so when he would go out, we’d put Andrew in there. Putting an 18-year-old kid up there, trying to control Wade coming off that pick, it might be a little too much for them.”

Bynum, who’s actually 19, had five fouls and two points in seven minutes. Wade made 15 of 16 free throws.

Bryant never found a rhythm, missing eight of his first nine and 11 of his first 13 shots.

He faced scores of double-teams and, unlike Friday against New Jersey, had only four assists. (He had 11 against the Nets despite being slowed by an upper respiratory infection.)

“He was chasing Wade all night long and it was just tough for him,” Jackson said. “Kobe just didn’t have a great night tonight.”

History hasn’t been that great for the Lakers in this rivalry since they traded O’Neal: They are now 1-4 against the Heat. This was the most one-sided of their defeats, topping a 102-89 loss to the Heat in March 2005.

O’Neal has played only four games this season and is not scheduled to return from knee surgery until mid-January, but he watched from the bench, wearing a striped three-piece suit.

He didn’t give an interview after the game, other than to compare Jackson to Benedict Arnold a day after Jackson dinged his work ethic. He couldn’t have been unhappy with the result.

Bryant, O’Neal’s sparring partner in recent years, summed it up: “All in all, we just played horribly.”

After three quarters, the Heat’s leading scorer was Wade, with 34 points, and the Lakers’ leading scorer at the time was Ronny Turiaf, who had 13.

The Lakers were again shoddy from the three-point line, making only five of 23 (21.7%). Bryant and Vladimir Radmanovic each missed all four of their three-point attempts.

“Did you guys check the three-point shooting out?” Jackson asked. “Pretty pathetic. That’s where we’ve lived and died lately. You can’t depend on it and rely on it. It’s got to be more than that.”

Toward the end, with the game firmly in the Heat’s control, Wade fed Jason Kapono for a three-point attempt and began running downcourt, holding three fingers above his head, not needing to see whether Kapono’s shot went in or not. (It did.)

It was that kind of a day for the Lakers.

“Everyone in here had their families watching,” Luke Walton said. “It’s nice when you have the big stage to come out and play well and get a win. That’s what they did and that’s what we did not do.”

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Holiday workers

The Lakers have played on Christmas Day 33 times and are 18-15 overall. Most appearances by active NBA franchises on Christmas. Source: NBA

*--* TEAM APP RECORD HOME ROAD FIRST RECENT NEW YORK 44 20-24 19-18 1-6 1947 2001 LAKERS 33 18-15 10-6 8-9 1949 2006 DETROIT 32 10-22 6-2 4-20 1948 2005 PHILADELPHIA 29 16-13 9-4 7-9 1949 2001 SACRAMENTO 29 18-11 15-9 3-2 1948 2003

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Dwyane Wade couldn’t be stopped. The Heat guard was thoroughly efficient in high screen-and-rolls, carving up the Lakers for 40 points and 11 assists.

* Centers Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum combined for nine points and eight fouls. Ronny Turiaf (13 points) was the only contributing factor at center for the Lakers.

* Kobe Bryant was amiss from the start, making only four of 17 shots. He was one for nine at halftime.

-- MIKE BRESNAHAN