Much as we’d all like to believe age is just a number, these young Lakers seem bent on playing heartache to heartache here in Houston.

After the way they bounced back from their stunning swoon here at the Toyota Center last Sunday, it appeared the Lakers were done with all their youthful indiscretions, or at least had learned from them.

But before the Rockets could even summon a bit of red glare Thursday night, the Lakers already seemed caught up in it. They trailed wire-to-wire and lost 95-80.

You thought the Sunday’s first half was awful? Thursday’s start to Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals was even worse, if only because the stakes were so much higher, and the previous mistake so much closer in the rear view mirror.

The Lakers didn’t score a field goal until the first quarter was almost half over. Before they finished their first cup of Gatorade, the Rockets were up 17-1 and Luis Scola was making a bid for mayor.

It got so bad, the normally-patient Phil Jackson yanked Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza out of the game after just five and a half minutes, replacing them with Lamar Odom and Luke Walton, who played smarter and harder, but weren’t all that much more effective at getting the road squad back into the game.

Of the under-25 set, only Jordan Farmar made a meaningful contribution to the bottom line, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers at the end of the first quarter to give the Lakers a faint pulse.

But the rest of the kids — Sasha Vujacic, Andrew Bynum, Shannon Brown and Trevor Ariza — could barely stay on the court, let alone make their mark on the game.

This being a closeout game, the Lakers seemed a bit edgier than they did in the Game 4 loss here.

After that one, their lack of panic nearly created a panic back home in Los Angeles.

But the calm front was just a front to protect the young guys’ developing confidence.

“Most of the young guys are pretty mature. We have a good combination and good understanding with each other,” Lakers forward Pau Gasol said. “But the young guys get more affected by it the nerves and the attention. The older guys use that for motivation.

“We definitely didn’t want to overreact (to the Game 4 loss). So us older guys have to keep the cool and tell the young guys that it’s all good, that we just have to go out there and play the next game.”

Behind closed doors though, Lakers coach Phil Jackson went into Catholic -school-teacher mode.

“We watched a lot of film (after Game 4) and saw how gross that was,” Luke Walton said. “How easy they were penetrating our defense and getting kick out shots and lay-ups. As competitors you take that personal.”

That was apparent from the start of Game 5 back in Los Angeles Tuesday night, but once again it seemed to take the Lakers a full half of playoff basketball to channel that ire on Thursday.

It wasn’t until the Rockets showed highlights of their Games 1 and 4 victories set to the cool, but quickly-being-overplayed “Where Will Amazing Happen Next?” slow-motion commercials, that the Lakers snapped to attention and went on a 16-2 run to cut the Rockets lead down to 54-52.

Unfortunately, by that point, the Rockets already had their confidence back and realized they weren’t going to get steamrolled again.

Which set up a dramatic fourth quarter and had the sellout crowd here acting like they were attending an English Premier League game.

Dramatic, that is, to watch the Rockets hold off Kobe Bryant’s inevitable fourth-quarter attempt to will his team to victory.

Not only could Bryant not bring the Lakers back, they fell further behind under the Rockets relentless pressure.

Which brings us to Game 7 on Sunday, and about the only good thing you can say about that is that it will take place in Los Angeles.