Horry, Jackson Downplay Their Exchange

By TIM KAWAKAMI

Jan. 25, 2000 12 AM PT

Coach Phil Jackson and forward Robert Horry had an eye-catching exchange late in the third quarter of Monday’s loss to Utah, though Horry said it wasn’t an argument so much as his own frustrations with the game.

Jackson barked at Horry as he came off the floor after a Laker timeout, and Horry spoke to him for several seconds, then slammed down his plastic facemask and paced around the bench for most of the timeout before joining the huddle when Jackson began diagraming plays.

“That wasn’t that much--I was just mad at myself,” Horry said after the game. “That wasn’t me and him. It just looked like it was tit-for-tat.

“I was just mad at myself. I throw that [mask, which Horry has worn since breaking his nose earlier this month] around all the time, gives me something to throw.”

Jackson also downplayed the scene.

“It was just a philosophy thing,” Jackson said, “about just hustling and getting down, getting into our offense and be part of what we’re doing.”

Jackson took Horry out of the game at that point, but played him most of the fourth quarter and all of both overtimes.

Horry said that Karl Malone’s 11-point outburst in the fourth quarter was typical of the Hall of Famer rising to the moment before his home crowd.

“That was just him feeling it,” Horry said. “That’s Malone--he’s at home, he’ll throw up stuff like that and it just fell.”

Said Jackson: “I think he was just in a rhythm, and he got in a rhythm and he was hard to stop.”

Before the game, Jackson said he’d noticed his team in a downbeat mood for several days after last Monday’s loss to the Seattle SuperSonics, but lately has seen the team’s attitude lighten.

“I think the loss to Seattle was an unexpected loss,” Jackson said. “Those things really hurt. I think we kind of suffered a malaise behind that. . . .

“They lightened up a little bit [on Sunday] and we had a good practice.”

After the game, Kobe Bryant said the team will remain positive.

“We absolutely have to take this in stride,” Bryant said, after the Lakers lost their fourth game in six tries. “Even though we’re 2-4, I’d probably say it’s a positive [to learn from mistakes].”

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The Big 3

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice have been the driving force behind the Lakers’ success. How they fared:

O’NEAL

*--*

Mon. Season 36 Points 27.6 9 Rebounds 14.6 3 Assists 3.6

*--*

BRYANT

*--*

Mon. Season 26 Points 23.0 7 Rebounds 6.4 1 Assists 3.9

*--*

RICE