LAKERS-CLIPPERS REPORT

Having had only two light workouts in the last four days, the Lakers got back to work Monday, practicing for nearly two hours. The objective: continue to learn Coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense and develop some offensive flow.

And considering that the Lakers haven’t played since last Wednesday, Jackson was pleased with what he saw.

“They shot pretty well,” he said. “I was worried about shooting more than anything else. It comes and goes.”

But with the five-day break coming in the midst of a Laker 10-game winning streak, the biggest concern may be regaining focus. Again, Jackson thinks his team has that covered.

Guard Kobe Bryant agreed.

“This was our first real [practice],” he said. “It went pretty good. The intensity was pretty good, the focus was pretty good. We had to get our rhythm.”

But a mental lapse might be understandable, since the Lakers spend the next two evenings playing the Clippers, a team that scored only three points in the second quarter in a 95-68 loss to the Lakers on Dec. 14.

But Jackson said that’s all the more reason for the Lakers to work on maintaining focus.

“They’re very dangerous,” he said of the Clippers. “They want to prove something. . . . They’ve got the potential to rally around and play well.”

Bryant sees it as a chance for the Lakers to work on all facets of their game.

“When we play against good teams, like San Antonio and Miami, which have good defenses, we have to be able to counterattack all the time,” he said. “Against weaker opponents, we can go back door and run our basic stuff, and still beat them.

“We need to be able to counter.”

When asked if the Clippers are a team to worry about or a team the Lakers can just jump on right away, Bryant said, “We’ve got to worry about them and pounce on them.”