Lakers creak and crawl to the brink

The frustration continued to seep through the cracks in the Lakers’ facade as another day of practice turned into another time to wonder where it all went wrong.

The Lakers said the right things -- their backs are against the wall, they’re taking it game by game, etc. -- but just enough slipped out to confirm the existence of doubt and remorse heading into Game 5 tonight in Phoenix.

Details of Phil Jackson’s hi-and-bye video session Monday began to evolve, as did the continued note of aggravation in Kobe Bryant’s voice. It didn’t exactly paint a grand picture for a team trying to overcome a 3-1 series deficit.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse for the Lakers, they suddenly did, when Bryant sat out practice Tuesday because of a stiff back. He is expected to play tonight, which might be the only good news awaiting the Lakers.

When asked whether he was perturbed in the wake of Game 4, the Lakers coach spoke of the post players’ failure to play a more physical brand of ball and the guards’ inability to cover the Suns’ three-point threats on a more consistent basis.

“I did tell them that they have the brain power of slugs or earthworms,” Jackson said. “That was just in the moment of irritation. That part is disappointing.”

He also could have pointed to the Lakers’ inability to get any production from their other guard spot. Or the up-and-down nature of center Kwame Brown, who fell from 19 points in Game 3 to nine in Game 4. Or the one-sided average score in the series through four games: Phoenix 105.8, Lakers 95.

Bryant, meanwhile, continued to field questions about the apparent lack of progress by a team that won three fewer games in the regular season than it did a year ago and would need to win the next two games to force another seven-game series against the Suns.

The latest questioning centered on whether Bryant was disappointed to be in this position at this point in his career after so many earlier successes.

“Oh, yeah. Very disappointing,” Bryant said. “This is the third year we’ve kind of been struggling a little bit and it’s very frustrating.”

All in all, it’s been a dour few days for the Lakers.

On Monday, Jackson showed the players a brief clip from “Hustle & Flow,” yelled at them for demonstrating neither of the verbs in the movie’s title, and then immediately sent them home, the latest sign he wasn’t exactly enamored with the way things have gone.

Bryant, who has played under him for 10 of his 11 years in the NBA, has never seen Jackson so incensed.

“As irritated as I’ve seen him,” Bryant said matter-of-factly. “He was really upset, just frustrated. Hopefully the message got across.”

Did it?

“I’m not sure,” Jackson said. “I’m really not sure about that. They came out here and got rid of some bad karma, I think, from Sunday’s game. It spilled over onto the court here and uglied up the court for about 20 minutes and I finally got them to work a little bit and get things done.”

It remains to be seen if they can work together tonight.

As forward Lamar Odom rolled out of the Lakers’ practice facility in the passenger seat of a white sports-utility vehicle, one hopeful fan shouted out encouragement.

“Just bring it back to L.A.!” the fan yelled, summing up a most difficult task.

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Cognizant that Jordan Farmar was scoreless in Game 4 and had trouble stopping Steve Nash, Jackson suggested the Lakers might have a new starter in the backcourt tonight.

“I’m thinking about making a change,” he said, remaining characteristically coy when asked for details. “Smush, Sasha or Shammond.”

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The Suns have the luxury of a two-game lead, but they are also looking at tonight as a big one.

“It is a must-win because we’ve got to knock them out,” Suns Coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters in Phoenix. “We don’t give them any hope. Anytime you have somebody like KB or LO, you can’t just say, ‘Oh, normally you would beat them.’ So anytime you have a chance to put them away, you’ve got to do that.”

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Bryant leads all playoff scorers with 32.5 points a game, but Odom is the only other Laker averaging double figures (16 points a game). Brown is averaging 9.8 points.... D’Antoni, on the injuries that have piled up for Odom: “If he’s hurt, thank goodness. He’s one of the most talented players in the league. He’s really good. He can present a lot of problems to a lot of people. He’s long and athletic and knows how to play.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com