Down the Stretch They Come

The only things smudged around the Lakers on Thursday were a few egos, a reputation or two, any real chance of winning the Pacific Division and the old MRI exam on Kobe Bryant’s left ankle.

If they were going to set fire to anything that would smoke up their locker room--”smudging,” the mystical Phil Jackson calls it--it would be the tapes of their last two games, both blowout losses, both to division rivals, and by a combined 45 points.

So sure they were on the right path only 10 days ago, the Lakers have serious loss-column issues and only 10 games to rectify them. In the Western Conference, the Lakers are four losses behind San Antonio, three behind Sacramento, one behind the Jazz and tied, at 25 losses, with Portland and Dallas.

As they considered the mortality of home-court advantage throughout the playoffs--so critical in last season’s championship and all but gone this season--the Lakers had little time to mourn four losses in six games and a suddenly desperate situation. They play the Mavericks tonight, probably without Bryant, and the New York Knicks on Sunday, then leave for four games, the first of them at Utah.

“We definitely have our eye on the standings, absolutely,” Bryant said. “We know Dallas is going to come out hungry and ready to jump on top of things. We have Dallas breathing down our neck. We have Portland breathing down our neck.”

Bryant did not practice Thursday and is very doubtful for tonight’s game. He’s trying out some new orthotics, and in the parking lot outside the team’s practice facility he showed he could raise up on his toes and squat down, but not all the way.

“That’s pretty much it,” he said. “When it comes, it comes. It’s a tendon. I don’t really understand that part of my body too much. They’ve been educating me.”

Bryant probably would play Sunday at the earliest, and more likely sometime next week.

“We’ve been assured by the doctors that there’s nothing he’s going to hurt,” Jackson said. “He may not be able to play at the level he wants to play, where he started the season off, but nobody can who’s played a lot of minutes. I want him to have confidence in his shot, to feel like he can do the things he needs to do to help us win. Otherwise, it may not be helpful to him or to us.”

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Since serving his five-game suspension for violating the terms of the league’s anti-drug program, Isaiah “J.R.” Rider has played in five of eight games and is seven for 26 from the field. Short as they are, his recent minutes have been marred by personal fouls and turnovers.

“J.R. is very concerned about his lack of productivity,” Jackson said. “I know that bothered him a lot. It’s been kind of a spiral down, because he’s not getting foul calls, he’s being whistled for violations or fouls. It looks like a double whammy--they’re not going to let him play.

“That really is something we’ve been concerned about.”

TONIGHT

vs. Dallas

7:30, Fox Sports Net

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 47-25, Mavericks 46-25.

* Record vs. Mavericks--3-0.

* Update--The Lakers have averaged 108.7 points scored and 103 allowed against Dallas this season. While Shaquille O’Neal has received a lot of the attention come time to play the Mavericks, Kobe Bryant scored 38 points on Dec. 3 and 35 points on Dec. 22. Asked Thursday if he still liked Maverick Coach Don Nelson, O’Neal smiled and said, “I like everybody.”

* Tickets--(800) 462-2849.