LAKERS THE BENCH: L.A. BENCH GAVE GRIEF, NOT RELIEF SUBS MANAGE JUST FOUR POINTS.

Byline: Michael A. Anastasi Sports Editor 

Over three Lakers championship seasons, there have been different names, different styles and one constant: A highly productive bench.

Look no further than Derek Fisher and Kareem Rush for its importance to the Lakers in this postseason as well. And look no further than Fisher and Rush for its abysmal failure Sunday.

Fisher, he of 0.4 lore, scored two points on 1-of-9 shooting. Rush, who closed the Western Conference finals with 18 points - all on 3 pointers - against Minnesota, had none. And with Slava Medvedenko and the almost entirely irrelevant Rick Fox combining for only two more, the Lakers' bench was not only ineffective, it was a liability.

``We defended,'' Detroit's Ben Wallace said. ``We played Shaq and Kobe (59 points total) honest. We didn't let the role players come out and just line up shots from the outside. We played everybody with a hand in their face.''

Meanwhile, former Lakers Elden Campbell and Lindsey Hunter spearheaded an outstanding bench performance from the Pistons. Relying on an 11-man rotation, Detroit received 19 points from its reserves, who played a game-turning role in the second quarter when Rasheed Wallace was forced to the bench with foul trouble.

With Wallace on the bench for all but one minute in the second period and the opportunity to take advantage, the Lakers instead stumbled. Detroit's Corliss Williamson scored seven points in eight minutes as the Pistons kept the game close enough to not risk having Wallace play.

``We've relied on our bench all year - whether it's scoring or defense or bringing energy to the game,'' Williamson said.

That energy found its way back to Wallace, who was so impressed with the reserves' effort he felt he owed them something when he returned to start the second half.

``They were out there busting their butts while I was on the bench,'' he said. ``I had the energy and had to leave it on the floor.''

O'Neal seemed to be the only Laker who was at all concerned about the bench's performance - ``We need to get everyone involved and act like we want it,'' he said - as the rest of the team wrote it off as a bad night.

Campbell, along with the other Pistons, cautioned too against taking too much from one victory, even as he crooned about the contributions of the non-starters.

``We play 10 or 11 guys in the playoffs, and that's unheard of,'' Campbell said. ``But there's a reason for that and you saw what that was tonight. Now, we've got a lot more work to do. We've seen these guys (the Lakers) in the playoffs and we know what they can do.''

Said Williamson: ``In order to beat the Lakers, you have to offset the other guys on their team. Fortunately tonight they had a lot of guys who had off nights. I don't know if that's going to happen in Game 2.''

CAPTION(S):

13 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1) Former Laker Lindsey Hunter knocks the ball loose from Derek Fisher, who had just two points Sunday.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer

(2) KOBE BRYANT

(3) GARY PAYTON

(4) SHAQUILLE O'NEAL

(5) KARL MALONE

(6) DEVEAN GEORGE

(7) DEREK FISHER

(8) RICHARD HAMILTON

(9) CHAUNCY BILLUPS

(10) BEN WALLACE

(12) RASHEED WALLACE

(12) TAYSHAUN PRINCE

(13) CORLISS WILLIAMSON

Box:

(1) A CLOSER LOOK: GAME 1

By Lauren Gustus

(2) REPORT CARD

(3) QUARTER-BY-QUARTER