AGE BEFORE BEAUTY A LAKERS REALITY.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

MINNEAPOLIS - Welcome to the Lakers' new world.

Let me pause here, while I strain to come up with my next sentence.

In this world, just when things appear familiar, they take an unexpected turn. Unexpected, anyway, if you truly weren't paying attention to the regular season. Or suffered under the illusion there really were switches to flip.

These Lakers grunt a lot. They strain. They can get results through unfamiliar means. Sometimes they even get that look, like just what do I have to do to stop this guy?

It's hard work. It's a grind. It's ...

Ah, man, just when I was stringing a couple of smooth paragraphs together.

And not only is their style sometimes undergoing a blue-collar makeover, they now are experiencing something almost completely foreign.

Injuries.

Forward Rick Fox injured his ankle in the early minutes of Sunday's game, left and never returned, and won't be back until the next season tips off. Injured it so badly, he's out for the rest of this postseason.

The Lakers have been remarkably healthy these past three championship runs. Kobe Bryant missed a game during the Finals two years ago, but otherwise good fortune has smiled on their ankles and knees and wrists.

But now Fox is out, and for the first time Kobe is admitting the shoulder he injured early in the series is affecting his shot, which just might explain why he's hitting only 32 percent from the floor since his 12-of-16 explosion in the first half of the series opener.

What's with the hand? I'm just way too young to be bothered by arthritis. I can't type like this.

Injuries loomed as a serious potential problem from the moment management elected in the offseason to go with loyalty and let this aging group lay out its string.

Brian Shaw is 37, Fox is 33, Robert Horry is 32 (hey, that's what they tell us), Shaquille O'Neal 31 and Derek Fisher a two-foot-surgery 28.

Not exactly time for the walkers, but as we all know, the older the athlete, the more likely he is to break down. And the longer it takes to recover.

``It has been a difficult year,'' said Fox, before learning the severity of his injury. ``It's not been the easiest run for us as a group, or myself individually.''

Easy checked out on these Lakers before the season opener. Checked out when Shaq delayed his foot surgery, when Fox was suspended for going Mike Tyson on Doug Christie in exhibition play, when this aging group suddenly had to play big minutes early and the victories became a struggle.

Really, health-wise, overall the Lakers have been lucky the past three seasons. Fisher had his foot surgeries, Shaq finally had his toe surgery and Horry limped around like Chester (if you don't get this reference, it's OK; it's just another age thing). But overall, when the playoffs arrived, the Lakers were in robust shape.

A Fox ankle or Kobe shoulder or a Horry something (something is wrong, right?) was so long overdue, it's almost to be expected. You get older, you play more games (they've played 62 postseason games in the past four years), these things become more likely to happen.

Come on, now, who took my glasses? Can't see the screen without the glasses.

Fox was not enjoying his best postseason but is a true veteran, a smart player, a tough defender who helped set the all-business tone during crucial games and a sometimes-effective offensive threat. He will be missed.

The Lakers have survived losses to starters in the playoffs before, and gone down in flames. They had to play without Magic Johnson, Norm Nixon, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo and Byron Scott at different times during their Showtime era.

This season has been anything but a smooth sail, the next rough waters seemingly always just over the horizon.

``Why should anything be different now?'' Fisher asked. ``I remember a lot of our playoff wins in the past when there were different guys in the game that made major contributions for us.

``I remember watching plenty of Finals when someone came off the bench you barely knew and they made a big impact.''

Devean George, more athletic than Fox and developing as a player by the season, gets the first opportunity to step forward now.

Whatever happens, it does not figure to be easy. A season theme has developed here, and the Lakers will have to go with it. Everything is harder.

Really, I have another transition here some place.

Maybe they still get it done, maybe not. If they do, it's going to be more difficult than anything they've known before.

Welcome to the Lakers' new world.

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Photo:

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers must again find a way to elevate their play in the face of adversity.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer