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LOS ANGELES – What most people fail to understand about Kobe Bryant is that when he fails, he immediately starts thinking about the quickest way he can succeed again.

That’s his addiction.

And based on what Bryant said after the Lakers‘ Game 4 collapse, Pau Gasol’s his curse.

“Pau’s got to be more assertive,” Bryant said late Saturday night. “He’s the guy that they’re leaving. When he catches the ball, he’s looking to pass. He’s got to be more aggressive. He’s got to shoot the ball, drive the ball to the basket.”

And then Bryant added: “And he will be next game.”

Bryant doesn’t care what a jerk he might look like, pointing fingers. He is desperate to win Game 5 in Oklahoma City on Monday night, and there is a bit of a track record as far as Gasol needing Bryant to motivate him to increase the intensity.

It was barely more than a week ago that Bryant called out Gasol publicly after a meek Game 6 in Denver and privately encouraged him to remember that extra gear he found to be so tough-minded and aggressive in winning Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals over Boston.

Gasol responded with 23 points, 17 rebounds and six assists in Game 7 to beat Denver.

Gasol had 10 points, five rebounds and two assists in this Game 4 loss to Oklahoma City, one that featured a 13-point lead lost in the last eight minutes and shall loom as one of the costliest losses in Bryant’s 4 ½-year history with Gasol.

So Bryant wasn’t nearly as gentle with his prodding this time, repeated answering postgame questions by explaining what a drain Gasol was as Serge Ibaka, supposedly assigned to shadow Gasol and well-known in NBA circles as a sensational help defender who is undependable on his own man, was drifting to support Kendrick Perkins’ fronting defense against Andrew Bynum and hedging to close off Bryant’s driving lanes.

Gasol did not attempt a shot in the fourth quarter and somehow only took three in the second half, fewer than backup Jordan Hill despite playing 14 more minutes. Gasol owned up to his passivity in not shooting enough and especially not shooting before throwing the pass toward Metta World Peace that Kevin Durant stole with the score tied and 33.9 seconds left.

“That was a look that I had,” Gasol said, “and unfortunately, I made a mistake.”

Bryant’s postgame criticism was meant to make sure Gasol doesn’t make those mistakes again as the Lakers try to rally in this series. But even as Bryant attempts to push Gasol forward the rest of this season, it’s just as obvious that this season should be the last for this once-great partnership.

Bryant has tired to having to prop Gasol up time and again. Bryant did it often last season in pursuit of a third consecutive title on a bad knee and before Bynum was ready, offering the compelling Natalie Portman-inspired narrative that Gasol is too often the “white swan” instead of the “black swan.” Like the movie, it didn’t end well.

This season, Bryant has still believed that Gasol can come through when it matters most. Bryant’s public request that the Lakers stop dangling Gasol in the trade market was him believing Gasol needed that support to persevere. When I was comparing the very night before the March trade deadline the emerging Bynum and Bryant to the regular one-two punch of Shaquille O’Neal and Bryant, it was Bryant who digressed to say: “We still have Pau.”

Even though Gasol has been loyal and tried to stay invested in the Lakers after the aborted preseason trade for Chris Paul, it hasn’t been the same. And effective or not, no matter how much unwavering respect he has for Bryant, Gasol has also developed his own pocket of resentment for all of Kobe’s high horsing, fire breathing and string pulling in recent years.

Here’s what it boils down to, though:

Lakers coach Mike Brown said just an hour and a half before Gasol’s ill-fated Game 4 that the message just delivered to Gasol was: “You’ve got to get a little selfish.”

There was Gasol after the defeat, talking about how he is an “unselfish” player … and how “sometimes that plays against me a little bit.”

With Bynum anchoring the paint, Gasol has played this season in a new coach’s system without a defined role. It’s legitimately difficult for anyone simply to rev the engine louder when ordered to – when it’s not clear where he’s supposed to go.

Yet compare what Gasol has been like this postseason to Kevin Garnett in Boston. And take note that trading Gasol this offseason for younger perimeter talent and payroll savings while landing KG on a bargain free-agent contract to replace Gasol and finally unite with Bryant’s fire would have the Lakers cooking again.

Gasol believes he’s hungry for more titles. If he really was, his baseline level of focus would be higher instead of only spiking high.

At a time in his career when Bryant needs more help and not less, this mix of talent has gone sour. Not toxic, mind you, but sour.

It’s why the Lakers frittered away Games 2 and 4 to Oklahoma City. They don’t quite have that old confidence that they deserve to win and will make the key plays that demonstrate to the world how they deserve to win.

Consider the recent years besides 2009 and ’10, when the Lakers won it all:

In 2008, they blew a 24-point lead in the NBA Finals’ worst meltdown ever in Game 4, giving the Celtics a sudden 3-1 advantage.

In 2011, their Game 1 implosion at home against Dallas erased a 16-point third-quarter lead and a seven-point lead in the final minutes, with Gasol faltering badly down the stretch and the last chance being a missed Bryant 3-pointer bearing an uncanny resemblance to the one Bryant missed near the end Saturday night.

Championship teams find a way to win because they aren’t afraid to lose.

And in that regard, the sweet-hearted, good-intending Gasol is unfortunately the Lakers’ No. 1 problem.

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LOS ANGELES – On the one hand, the Lakers have experience.

On the other, they’re slow, complacent and almost all on the downsides of their careers.

You see how they’d better use that experience.

And in Game 3 Friday night at Staples Center, they did. It was a victory for crafty pitchers, linemen who hold without getting called for it and slow-moving, clear-thinking old dudes everywhere.

In sharp contrast to Russell Westbrook strutting around after a victory in Oklahoma City with an ahead-of-trend fish-hooks polo shirt and glasses sans lenses, there was Metta World Peace reclining after this game in his favorite hat, shirt and sportcoat … and only black boxer briefs, not caring what anyone thinks.

The game’s biggest play was Kobe Bryant staying ground-bound and shaking himself but having only the excitable Westbrook explode into the air like the spraying can of beer. Bryant’s pump-fake, the greatest old-man move in the NBA today, lifted Westbrook into the air, and Bryant slowly released himself at just the right angle to avoid any wasteful foam.

Bryant’s free throws, as unexciting as the so-subtle footwork he relies on now to make NBA magic at 33.8 years old, gave the Lakers the lead with 33.8 seconds left.

They preserved that lead only because World Peace and Andrew Bynum appreciated how unlikely it was that the referees would call a foul on them away from the ball in this sort of late-game playoff situation and didn’t just settle for sandwiching Kevin Durant. It was more like they made up an oversized hot-dog bun that made the skinny Durant just disappear.

World Peace and Bynum’s physicality blew up the set play Oklahoma City wanted to run for Durant to answer Bryant’s free throws, and the Thunder wound up having to create out of nothing.

It was the sort of unsteady late-game possession Oklahoma City has proved repeatedly it can be suckered into, and it failed for good when World Peace stripped Durant of the ball under the basket.

The Thunder has four amazing players – Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Serge Ibaka – none of them even 24 years old yet. They’ve each played 30 playoff games.

Bynum isn’t much older at 24, but he just played playoff game No. 72.

World Peace just played No. 80. Pau Gasol just played No. 99.

Bryant just played No. 218.

All season long, the Lakers have clung to the belief that they are built for the playoffs, which rarely open up to fast-break, end-to-end action and often bog down into arduous halfcourt thrusts against a defense that knows what to expect.

The Lakers have size and experience, and that’s about it for a veteran team that is too accustomed to winning to be fully embracing its underdog status or deriving motivation from it.

They’re only in this series because they’ve twice done the old-man thing and had a short memory.

They put the Game 1 debacle behind them to play better for Game 2. They put the Game 2 devastation behind them to play and win Game 3.

Now here’s the toughest test for the aged, coming back for Game 4 in less than 24 hours.

If they don’t have speed and energy and enthusiasm, how can they compete?

“Will and desire and effort,” Gasol said.

It’s not a fair fight, because any sort of letdown means the Thunder’s side of the scoreboard goes pinball-machine-crazy.

World Peace and Bynum thought they were ready but weren’t for how quickly and decisively Durant could get his shot on Oklahoma City’s possession before Bryant’s go-ahead free throws: It was so simple … an inbounds pass from Durant, a pass back with a screen from Ibaka, a curl and shot from Durant.

That play took less than two seconds from the time Durant inbounded the ball to the moment Durant shot it to give the Thunder a 94-93 lead.

Westbrook entering the lane, Harden laying it in and Ibaka swatting a shot away all get done even faster than that.

And so it goes, the teams needing to live up to their names to succeed:

The Lakers trying to be deep and placid, the Thunder ready to deliver sharp, loud cracks.

“Put your big-boy pants on,” Bryant said as he looked ahead to Game 4 Saturday night. “Leave your diaper at home.”

OK, but Pampers or Depends?

PHILADELPHIA — Trailing the Celtics [team stats] by 18 points early in the second half and facing the prospect of heading back to Boston in a 3-1 series hole, the Philadelphia 76ers [team stats] decided if they were going to go down, they were going to go down swinging.

That mindset sparked a 92-83 comeback win for the Sixers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last night.

“Once you’re 2-1 (in the series) and you’re down 18 at one point, everything goes out the window and you just compete,” guard Lou Williams said. “It goes down to a very fundamental thing that you learn in just competing and you live with the results.”

The result was a 24-point advantage for Philly in the second half. Williams sparked the turnaround in the third quarter and then added a pair of key baskets and an assist in Philly’s closing run. He recorded 13 of his 15 points and seven of his eight assists in the second half.

“That’s about as good as I saw him play basketball-wise,” said teammate Andre Iguodala. “He was probably the player of the game.”

Though they made some big shots, it’s not as if the Sixers caught fire in the second half. They shot 51.2 percent, which brought them to just 37.8 percent for the game.

Philadelphia’s tenacity on defense and the backboards were bigger contributors to the comeback. The Sixers forced the C’s into 17 turnovers and held a 52-38 advantage on the glass, including 17 offensive rebounds.

“We pretty much said at halftime that they’re pushing us around so we’ve got to impose our will on the game,” said forward Thaddeus Young, who had 12 points and nine rebounds. “If we have to knock somebody down, then we have to knock somebody down. Just take the foul and take the ball out on the side and let’s go at it again.”

Philly’s fight was evident early in the third quarter when forward Elton Brand was called for a technical for a hard foul on Kevin Garnett after the whistle. Paul Pierce [stats] made the technical free throw, but the Sixers then went on a 10-0 run to close to within 50-43.

“After we went on that run,” Brand said, “It was like, ‘OK, we’re ready to play, we’re ready to fight and try to win this game.’ ”

The Sixers turned the tide and hope it carries over into the rest of the series.

“It was in our heads: If we lose, we’re down 3-1 going to Boston and we can’t have that,” Brand said. “Now it’s a series. Now we feel like we have more confidence.”

Clippers-Spurs Preview

Spurs Cruise To 2-0 Lead Over Clippers

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Spurs Cruise To 2-0 Lead Over Clippers
  

  Spurs Cruise To 2-0 Lead Over Clippers

• Clippers Head Home Down 2-0
  

  Clippers Head Home Down 2-0

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  Huge Sports Weekend In LA

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  Paul’s Future With Clippers

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Hours before turning 30 years old, Tony Parker grinned Wednesday as though his lowest-scoring playoff game since his early twenties was an early birthday gift from the Los Angeles Clippers.

Across town, Chris Paul wasn’t in such high spirits.

The marquee Paul vs. Parker matchup was a scoring bust for both All-Stars in the Western Conference semifinals opener, which the San Antonio Spurs won 108-92 despite their playmaking point guard scoring just seven points on 1-of-9 shooting. Paul didn’t shine any brighter, scoring six while going 3 for 13.

Paul finished third in the league MVP voting this season, and Parker was fifth. Yet heading into Game 2 on Thursday night, they’re so far together being outscored by Spurs rookie Kawhi Leonard.

“I didn’t play effectively,” Paul said Wednesday. “I’ve got to have a better game.”

Parker’s not beating himself up.

“From the beginning of the game, they wanted to take me out,” Parker said. “Trapping me and forcing me to give the ball up. If they want to do that strategy, Timmy (Duncan) is going to have a lot of wide-open shots and all our shooters is going to have a lot of open shots.”

And that underwhelming start to the headline matchup of the series?

“We basically canceled each other out,” Parker said. “Their strategy was to take me out, our strategy was to take Chris out, too. In the end, we made more shots.”

That much was obvious as the Spurs tied a franchise playoff record with 13 3-pointers. Parker had 11 assists — setting up many wide-open looks when the Clippers swarmed him in the lane — but finished with his fewest points in a postseason game since 2003.

Those days were different: Duncan was already a two-time MVP in his prime and Parker was an unequivocal sidekick. Nine years later, Duncan is 36 and on the downside while everyone from coach Gregg Popovich to Manu Ginobili has acknowledged that these Spurs now belong to Parker.

Parker owned eight of San Antonio’s nine highest-scoring individual games during the regular season and led the Spurs in scoring in 22 times. But armed with his deepest roster in 16 years and a bevy of shooters on the perimeter, Popovich isn’t sweating his leading scorer being held to single digits.

“Good players take what’s given, and Tony did that,” Popovich said.

The Clippers don’t have the same luxury — particularly with Los Angeles banged-up and craving rest heading into what will be its seventh game in 13 days on Thursday night.

All-Star Blake Griffin said Wednesday his ailing left knee generally felt no better or worse than when the Clippers arrived in Texas this weekend after a physical seven-game series with Memphis. He also turned his ankle in Game 1 but said his knee remains the bigger impediment.

Griffin said he’ll be more mindful in Game 2 of how the pain becomes worse as the game drags on.

“I have to do a little bit better job managing that so I have a little bit more left in the fourth, the third — the second half, really,” Griffin said.

He felt at least well enough after shootaround Wednesday to punt basketballs off his right foot into the arena rafters at the ATT Center, including once drilling one high enough to hit Sean Elliot’s retired jersey banner.

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said Paul is also still troubled by an aching hip and groin, even though Paul has insisted that his health is fine since the Grizzlies series ended. Del Negro said the Clippers need Paul to shoot better and control the tempo but acknowledged that his star is too banged-up to “just be Chris Paul” for the entire game.

Paul is averaging 21 points when the Clippers win in the playoffs, and 16 when they lose.

“He’s got to pick his spots, I think,” Del Negro said. “I don’t think he’s healthy enough to be as aggressive as I think he would like on either end of the floor. It didn’t get worse yesterday, but there’s really no time for the healing process because of the time element.”