HOUSTON — My colleague, Ramona Shelburne, sent me a text near the end of tonight’s game, wondering what Kobe Bryant and Houston’s Ron Artest were saying to each other. Clearly, they were jawing back and forth. They also were shoving, which earned them matching technical fouls with a little less than 7 minutes left in the game.

I wasn’t close enough to hear what was said, but my answer to Ramona was this:

Artest: “Eff you.”

Kobe: “No, eff you.”

Artest: “No, no, eff you.”

Kobe: “No, no, no, eff you.”

Bryant would later say only that their conversation was “edgy.” I ran my guess of their conversation by Derek Fisher and he laughed and said, “Yeah, something like that.”

HOUSTON — So, it turns out that Lakers coach Phil Jackson was not alone in thinking the team might benefit if Luke Walton rejoined the second unit in the wake of Lamar Odom’s one-game suspension. Walton went to Jackson on Tuesday and suggested moving to a reserve role for tonight’s game against the Houston Rockets.

His rationale: the backups, better known as the Bench Mob, had been stagnant offensively lately and with Walton joining them, they would have one more playmaker on the court. Jackson agreed, starting Trevor Ariza in place of Walton at small forward.

Ariza and Walton each scored eight points in the Lakers’ 102-96 victory tonight over the Rockets at the Toyota Center. Ariza also had six rebounds and three assists in a little less than 30 minutes and Walton had five rebounds and two assists in a little more than 23 minutes.

Odom is eligible to return to the starting lineup for Thursday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, and Powell is expected to return to the bench. Ariza probably will start again and Walton will join Powell in the second unit.

HOUSTON — Josh Powell started in place of Lamar Odom, who served his one-game suspension tonight for leaving the bench area to join in Monday’s scuffle with the Portland Trail Blazers. The surprise was that Trevor Ariza replaced Luke Walton for the Lakers’ game against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers started out fine, but watched the Rockets take the lead with a 15-2 run over the middle of the second quarter. Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 10 points. Ariza, Powell, Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher had six apiece. Yao Ming led the Rockets with 12 points, and Luis Scola added 10.

HOUSTON — Lamar Odom made good point Monday about the Lakers’ need to take the Portland Trail Blazers a bit more seriously when they meet again April 10. Said Odom: “It’s a good team and we have to approach them like that. Obviously, we haven’t. They haven’t been close games (the Lakers have lost seven in a row in Portland). We have to respect our opponent and play them like they’re Boston or Cleveland. They play us like we’re a tough team, or one of the best teams in the league. So why not play against every other team like that? It would be smart for us to do.”

HOUSTON — As expected, Lamar Odom drew a one-game suspension without pay for leaving the bench area during an altercation between the Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night. Odom will sit out Wednesday’s game against the Houston Rockets and then return to play with his teammates Thursday in San Antonio.

Odom was on the bench when teammate Trevor Ariza was charged with a flagrant foul against Portland’s Rudy Fernandez. Odom left his seat and took several steps toward the ensuing fracas that broke out. He attempted to play the role of peacemaker before assistant coach Kurt Rambis pushed him back toward the bench. Under league rules, players cannot leave the bench area to join an altercation under any circumstances.

Ariza was ejected from Monday’s game, but escaped further punishment by the league.

HOUSTON — Trevor Ariza won’t be suspended for his flagrant foul Monday night that sent Portland’s Rudy Fernandez to the hospital. The NBA is still looking at the scuffle that broke out after Fernandez hit the deck. Fernandez was expected to be released from the hospital this afternoon, according to a blog post on the Oregonian newspaper’s Web site. Fernandez suffered a bruised chest and a rip hip pointer from his fall. He is doubtful to play in Wednesday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, however.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Here’s some of the best postgame comments after the Lakers’ 111-94 loss tonight to the Portland Trail Blazers, their seventh consecutive defeat at the Rose Garden:

Trevor Ariza on his flagrant-2 foul that knocked Portland’s Rudy Fernandez to the floor and sent him to the hospital with a soft tissue injury to his chest: “I was trying to go for the ball, trying to make a play on the ball. Unfortunately somebody got hurt.”

Ariza on the Trail Blazers’ reaction to his foul and the scuffle that followed: “That’s one of their teammates. If it were one of my teammates, I’d probably do the same thing. I know there are no hard feelings. they were just protecting a teammate.”

Lamar Odom on whether he left the bench area to act as peacemaker: “I stayed on the bench. I stood up, but I stood right there. I didn’t go nowhere.”

Phil Jackson on Ariza’s foul and the ensuing altercation: “That was something that was unfortunate. … Trevor went for the ball. He went for the ball (but) that’s obviously going to be called a flagrant foul. But he went for the ball.”

PORTLAND, Ore. — Rudy Fernandez was taken from the court on a stretcher after falling heavily to the floor after Trevor Ariza fouled him on a layup try in the closing seconds of the third quarter. Ariza drew a flagrant-2 foul and was ejected.

It remains to be seen whether Ariza will be suspended. It’s also possible Lamar Odom could be suspended for leaving the bench area after Portland’s Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge confronted Ariza along the baseline near the Lakers’ bench.

Odom appeared to be playing the role of peace-maker, but NBA punishment czar Stu Jackson won’t care why Odom moved into the fray. Jackson will only care that Odom left the bench. No punches were thrown. Aldridge also could be suspended for escalating matters with a push to Ariza, which prompted the scrum in front of the Lakers’ bench.

UPDATE: Fernandez was taken to a local hospital, where X-rays and a CT scan were negative. He has a soft tissue injury to his upper right chest inside area, according to a Trail Blazers spokeswoman. He will be kept overnight in the hospital for observations.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Let’s, see, the Lakers return to the Rose Garden on April 10. Maybe they can break their four-year losing streak then. Because they sure aren’t breaking much of anything tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers. The Lakers can’t shoot, can’t defend and can’t rebound. Otherwise, they look great. The Lakers set a season low with 38 points in the first half, breaking the 40 they scored in a loss to the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 27. They shot 38.5 percent compared to 58.5 percent for the Trail Blazers. Travis Outlaw scored 17 points in a reserve role, outscoring the Lakers’ bench by 10 points.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Here are three things to watch as the Lakers begin their final regular-season push with a game tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers. With 20 games remaining, these are three themes that bear monitoring:

First, shooting for the league’s best overall record and securing home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Lakers went into tonight’s game atop the overall standings with a 50-12 mark, ahead of Cleveland (49-13), Boston (49-15) and Orlando (46-16).

Second, strong and consistent play from the backups. The Bench Mob won’t be asked to carry the Lakers down the stretch. They will be asked to play a steadier overall game, however. They have been up and down and all around at times this season.

Third, defense and rebounding. Lakers coach Phil Jackson called these two items key to the team’s success. We’ll add another: free throws. The Lakers went into tonight’s game shooting 77 percent, which is a high number. If they can kick it up a point or two, all the better.