LOS ANGELES — The usually cheerful Karl Malone might have laughed at the thought of being listed as questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers' playoff opener if he was in that kind of mood Friday.
He wasn't, appearing downright grumpy instead.
The Lakers listed Malone and three teammates as day to day on the eve of Saturday night's game against the Houston Rockets.
Apparently they didn't check with Malone, who joined them this season in search of his first championship after 18 years with the Utah Jazz.
"I came here for this. You've got to shoot me in the head for me not to play," the NBA's second-leading career scorer said firmly at the team's practice facility in suburban El Segundo.
"That's it — end of story."
Rick Fox (dislocated right thumb) and Devean George (strained left calf) also said they intend to play. Derek Fisher (strained groin muscle) expressed hope but said he'll have to see how he feels on game day.
Malone, George and Fisher received treatment Friday and didn't practice. All were injured in Wednesday night's 105-104 double-overtime victory at Portland in the regular-season finale — a victory that gave the Lakers the Pacific Division title and No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Fox, who dislocated his right thumb April 9 and missed the last three games, said he will play Saturday night — "no doubt about it."
Regarding Malone, Fox said: "Having an injury will put you in a grumpy state. This is what he's here for. He wants this more than anybody else."
Fox acknowledged the regular season was anything but smooth sailing for the Lakers.
"That wasn't a pretty 82 games for a lot of reasons," he said. "We've proven that we can crack during the regular season. Karl might not want to go through this again. He's talked about the uncertainty of his future."
Malone and 35-year-old Gary Payton signed free-agent contracts with the Lakers at discount prices last summer. Both have reached the NBA Finals — Malone with Utah and Payton with Seattle — but neither has won a ring.
"Anything can happen in the playoffs — we're all 0-0," Payton said. "With all the ups and downs we had, we're the Pacific Division champs. I'll take that any day. After all the controversy, we still got it done.
"We're the champs, now we have to play like it."
The Lakers won three straight titles before being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs last May by eventual champion San Antonio.
When they added Malone and Payton last summer, many thought it assured them of the championship.
But as Payton pointed out, they've had their ups and downs.
"We know they're the best team in the league," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. "When they have all four of their Hall of Famers (Malone, Payton, Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant), they're 30-9."
Malone missed 39 games because of a torn ligament in his right knee, returning March 12.
"If Malone hadn't gotten hurt, they might have pushed 60 or 65 wins," Van Gundy said.
The Lakers won 14 of their last 17 games to finish 56-26, but they looked shaky in many of those victories and awful in recent losses to Portland and Sacramento.
Houston, meanwhile, had injury problems of its own. The Rockets lost seven of their last 10 games to finish 45-37, but expect to have all their pieces intact against the Lakers.
O'Neal and Bryant avoided the media Friday.
Bryant hasn't spoken with print reporters since a controversy surfaced regarding his effort in a 102-85 loss at Sacramento last Sunday, when he attempted only one shot in the first half.
Some questioned whether Bryant, the league's fourth-leading scorer, was sending a message to coach Phil Jackson and his teammates by not playing his normal game in the aftermath of having his shot selection questioned.
The Rockets haven't qualified for the playoffs since 1999, when they were eliminated by the Lakers in the first round.
"Now that we're here, we have to do something," said Mobley, the only player remaining with the Rockets from their last playoff team. "We can't be content that we made it."
Jackson enters the playoffs having coached nine championship teams to tie him with former Boston coach Red Auerbach for the most in NBA history. Jackson's 162 postseason wins and .725 postseason winning percentage are tops in league history.
The Lakers and Rockets split their four regular-season games. O'Neal averaged 23.0 points and 8.5 rebounds while Houston center Yao Ming averaged 21.5 points and 8.8 rebounds. O'Neal dominated the final meeting April 1 in a 93-85 Los Angeles victory, holding Yao to six points on 3-of-15 shooting.
In other first-round matchups in the West:
NO. 1 MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES VS. NO. 8 DENVER NUGGETS: Kevin Garnett simply won't let the Timberwolves lose in the first round this time. Now he has true help in point guard Sam Cassell and Milwaukee native Latrell Sprewell, along with a healthy Wally Szczerbiak.
NO. 3 SAN ANTONIO SPURS VS. NO. 6 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES: Memphis stumbled a bit down the stretch after a marvelous season that could bring Hubie Brown the league's coach of the year award. Brown will continue to go with his 10-player rotation, but it won't be enough against Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.
NO. 4 SACRAMENTO KINGS VS. NO. 5 DALLAS MAVERICKS: This figures to be the most closely contested opening-round series, with the fading Kings trying to revive their once explosive offense. They will need it in what figures to be a shootout, with Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki and Sacramento's Peja Stojakovic trading three-pointers. Chris Webber could recover his pre-injury form in time to send the Kings to the next round, but the guess is he won't.
Contributing: Knight-Ridder contributed to this report