LOS ANGELES – Speechlessness was a spreading virus at Staples Center Tuesday night.

Kobe Bryant had an excuse. He was all stuffed up even before the Lakers turned back basketball’s hands of time.

“I can’t worry about the 20 free throws we missed,” he croaked, late Tuesday night. “I think about my 10 turnovers. That’s 10 possessions that we didn’t get anything on. That boggles my mind.

“I’ve got to worry about my responsibilities. I’ve got to minimize my mistakes.”

A minimized Bryant would have led to an even more comprehensive embarrassment.

As it was, he got through the flu symptoms to score 40 with 10 rebounds and 13 free throw attempts, and he got the Lakers tied, 77-77, with a glorious three-pointer with 24.5 seconds left.

And then everything slipped out of his control. Indiana’s George Hill, who had contributed to the unsightliness in the fourth quarter, darted to the basket , got past Metta World Peace and Pau Gasol and flicked up a layup before Dwight Howard could swat it.

The shot was hard enough to smash against the backboard and almost, but not quite, bounce off the front rim. It settled in, and the Pacers were the survivors of a massive assault on basketball, 79-77.

This was Game Five with coach Mike D’Antoni. If that sounds familiar, consider that Mike Brown got five games before he was fired. The Lakers were 1-4 then, and 3-2 with D’Antoni, but here they shot 31.6 percent with 20 missed free throws. Even if the Lakers had managed to go 26 for 43 from the line, which is sub-standard, they would have won.

Bryant and Pau Gasol were 17 for 19. Everyone else was 6 for 24. In the final minute Howard missed his customary two, but when World Peace grabbed the rebound and got to the line, he too came up empty twice The Lakers are 29th, or next to last, in NBA free-throwing.

But then they were 12 for 31 in an opening night loss to Dallas and Brown sat right in D’Antoni’s current chair and seemed just as mystified.

D’Antoni said it “defies statistical logic” that the Lakers were in this game, but Indiana is operating without Danny Granger, who might demand MVP money after watching last year’s Eastern semifinalists struggle without him.

“I thought we defended really well today,” D’Antoni said. “I thought we had some energy plays. Metta jumped out of bounds to get a loose ball (which turned into a dunk by Gasol) and then we had an offensive rebound. But it was just bad shooting. I just haven’t witnessed many nights like that when you’re 1 for 100 in everything.

“It was just awful. We were 6 for 28 on three-pointers and they were just wide open. You think you’d be able to make a couple more.”

It was also a night when ball movement took a back seat, with Bryant admitting he pushed the pedal because other shots weren’t going down. The Lakers had only 13 assists, but then Bryant and Gasol had all but five of the field goals. World Peace, who is feeling more energetic than he has in three years and was averaging 14 points with 39.1 percent shooting from 3-point range, was 1 for 8.

“We didn’t put enough pressure on the other team,” World Peace said. “You have to utilize the team to put pressure on the other team.”

Meanwhile, Steve Nash has played 50 minutes all season.

“I think when Steve comes back a lot of this stuff will go away,” D’Antoni said. “That’s what we’re banking on.”

That depends on where you do your banking.

Obviously the Lakers were not designed to function with Darius Morris and Chris Duhon at point. Nash was going to be the Johnny Appleseed figure, sprinkling uncontested layups throughout the floor. The assumption is that he will be the same player, at 39, when his fibula heals, and when his unfamiliar teammates will have already posted 30 or 40 or more games.

In truth the Lakers remain in training camp, or in the Green Room. Nothing has started yet. Two NBA-TV analysts ranked the league’s top 10 teams Tuesday night, and neither included the Lakers, who are now 7-8, with nine teams ahead of them in the West.

Of course it’s ludicrous to think of the playoff matrix at this point, but it is also questionable to expect a magic potion to take effect. It also doesn’t help that the Lakers live in such a hypersensitive universe that D’Antoni’s flippant comments about Gasol last Friday could be interpreted as an implicit trade request, but Gasol followed it up with three sluggish quarters Tuesday.

D’Antoni took pains to support Gasol before this game, and said that his system needs to be re-examined if Gasol can’t find peace within it.

More drama awaits. Are the Lakers banking on real assets here, or are they just big enough to fail?