Odd Results From Rush-George Duo

If you see Devean George out and about, chances are you’ll see Kareem Rush right behind him. On a Laker roster filled with players who often go their separate ways, these two have developed a bond.

George, 26, is actually closest in age to Kobe Bryant, who is 25. But Bryant operates in his own orbit, away from the role players and away from the other superstars. So George has gravitated toward Rush, the 23-year-old who is in his second season.

Right now, however, they’re heading in opposite directions. While Rush has used the spate of Laker injuries as an opportunity to showcase the skills that made him a first-round draft pick in 2002, George isn’t even a shadow of the former NCAA Division III player who earned an $18.5-million contract that same year.

With blowout games and injuries leading to increased playing time, Rush is shooting 48% and averaging 13.9 points in the last eight games.

He’s discovering the same formula that worked for George in his career-best 2001-2002 season: more minutes equals more confidence. That year was the first time Phil Jackson used George in all 82 games and allowed him to play through his mistakes.

Now Rush is getting the same treatment.

“I can make a turnover and it’s like, whatever,” Rush said.

But he knows these special privileges end once Bryant returns.

“I’m enjoying it while I can.

“I’ve got a lot of freedom ... to go out and get FGAs.”

Those are field-goal attempts and they’re what every shooter lives for.

To watch Rush during warmups is to see the purest shooting stroke on the team. But in games, his mind clogs with thoughts about the offense: Where he should be, what he should be doing next, constantly looking over at the bench to see if he’ll be taken out.

After Bryant sprained his right shoulder against Cleveland on Jan. 12, Jackson picked Rush to take Bryant’s place in the starting lineup and gave him 30 minutes a night. The only previous start of Rush’s career was Dec. 19, when Bryant had a court appearance in Colorado and didn’t arrive at Staples Center until the first quarter.

It turned out that Rush’s next start was against Denver as well, on Jan. 14. After a tentative game that night he went for a career-high 30 at Sacramento. Then he came back down to Earth with a 10-point night against the Clippers on Saturday.

That gets to one of the elements the coaching staff wants to see from Rush: consistency. They also want him to be more aggressive and stay tougher on defense (his man on Monday, Joe Johnson, went for 26 points).

At least Rush gave the Lakers 18 points Monday night, including a three-pointer that tied the score with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter.

George gave them nothing. He missed all 10 of his field goals, didn’t get to the line and at times couldn’t even hold on to the ball.

As a result, the Lakers lost to the Phoenix Suns, 88-85.

And if they can’t beat the worst team in the Western Conference at home, how are they supposed to win when they play in Dallas?

Jackson might have been overly optimistic before the Phoenix game when discussing the upcoming trip to Memphis, Dallas and Utah.

“We’d like to go out this week and find a road game,” Jackson said. “I’m sure we can compete and find a chance to win.”

They competed Monday night because five players scored in double figures. Something, anything in the scoring column from George could have made the difference.

The question before the season was whether George could make the open shots that were sure to come his way as the fifth member of the All-Star lineup that featured Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Gary Payton and Karl Malone.

Through the first two months of the season the answer was a resounding yes. He shot 52% in the first 26 games and he made the winning shot against Utah on Dec. 7.

But when the stars started going down, so did George’s numbers. He made six of 10 shots in the first game after Malone sprained a ligament in his right knee, but has made more than 50% of his shots in a game only once since then.

He is 20 for 71(28%) since O’Neal went out with a strained calf muscle and 10 for 34 (29%) in the four games since Bryant injured his shoulder. The open shots are gone, and he isn’t creating any for himself.

“I’ve had some looks that I should knock down, but I haven’t been,” George said. “They are contested, but they’re definitely looks that I think I’ll make.

The whole, sad stretch includes 0-fers against the Clippers and the Denver Nuggets and then another one, a whopping 0 for 10 against the Suns.

“I thought when I went 0 for 8 a couple of weeks ago it couldn’t get any worse,” George said. “But I guess it can.”

Monday night was as bad as it gets.

After he airballed a jumper a fan yelled out: “Don’t shoot it, Devean.”

There were times you wanted Jackson to take George out of the game for George’s own sake, to save him from more humiliation.

In the fourth quarter he missed a driving layup, then missed a put-back attempt from point blank.

What made it even worse was that was only his second rebound of the game.

Jackson took him out, leaving him on the bench until the final eight seconds, when the Lakers had the ball trailing by three points.

“That was a tough night for him,” Jackson said. “Let’s hope he’s bottomed out.”

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J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/adande.