Pau Gasol day-to-day (sore hamstring)

HOUSTON -- The Los Angeles Lakers were finally able to hold Pau Gasol's minutes-played total under 40 Wednesday, but the reason for the rest is the last thing the Lakers wanted.

Gasol checked out of the game with 40.2 seconds left in the third quarter and went straight to the locker room, where team trainer Gary Vitti stretched out Gasol's sore left hamstring. Gasol tweaked the hamstring Wednesday night against Memphis.

After Vitti worked on him Gasol re-entered the game with 9:26 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers were outscored 29-15 from that point until the final buzzer. The Lakers lost 109-99 to the Rockets and are now enduring a four-game losing streak for the first time since April 8-13, 2007. Gasol was hampered by the injury, going 0-of-2 from the field and grabbing only two rebounds in the period.

More on the Lakers

For more news, notes and analysis of the Lakers, check out the Land O' Lakers blog from the Kamenetzky Brothers. Blog

"It's a little sore," Gasol said. "It bothered me out there. Today it didn't get loose at all so I couldn't play the way I wanted to. ... I'll take it day-by-day and see how it feels [Thursday]. Hopefully I will give it a rest tomorrow and recover. As you all know, I've been playing quite a bit.

For the game, Gasol finished with a season-low eight points on 2-of-8 shooting and nine rebounds in 39 minutes. Coming into the game the 7-footer had been averaging 21.1 points and 12.1 rebounds per game for the season.

"We're concerned with the way Gasol played," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. "This was probably his worst game of the season. He had some hamstring issues and it bothered him."

Last year Gasol missed 17 games at the start of the season because of strains to both his hamstrings.

"Hopefully it's just tight from fatigue," said Gasol, who played 40-plus minutes in each of L.A.'s past four games coming into Wednesday and seven of their past 10. "My concern is that it doesn't get better or gets worse and becomes a problem. ... Then we'll really have a problem."

The Lakers have a light practice scheduled Thursday in El Segundo, Calif., and Gasol will undergo more treatment. Andrew Bynum, still approximately two weeks away from a return to game action, will practice with bench reserves who played sparingly Wednesday.

Their next game is Friday at home against the 4-12