Horry’s at a Loss for Trivia

The two-month anniversary of the last Laker loss--79-78 to the New York Knicks at Staples Center--is Friday.

Remember, Kobe Bryant played 11 minutes and could not convince his ankles to carry him any farther, and Shaquille O’Neal’s 31 points weren’t quite enough, and the Lakers had themselves another frustrating moment in a season already brimming with them.

The game has become the dividing line between Bad Lakers and Good Lakers, however. The 19-game winning streak began two days later with an unlikely victory at Utah, and gained real strength nine days later, when Bryant returned for a 26-point win against Phoenix.

During the streak, the Lakers have outscored their opponents by an average of 13.9 points, the last 11 games against 50-game winners in the regular season.

The anniversary was lost on Robert Horry.

With a camera in his face, Horry was asked for the team that last beat the Lakers, and the score of the game. Horry glazed over, “The Weakest Link”-style.

“I couldn’t even tell you the score of the last game,” he said, grinning. “Oh, that’s hard. I just know we lost to, uh, who was that? I think it was Sacramento.”

No.

“Atlanta?” No.

“New York?” Right.

“Oh, yeah. I remember [Tim] Duncan, no, not Duncan, [Latrell] Sprewell had a good game. And the tall guy, skinny guy . . .”

Marcus Camby.

“Camby. Right.”

Phil Jackson does preach staying in the moment.

The Lakers did not practice Wednesday, though a handful lifted weights and tried to remember why. The finals won’t begin until Wednesday.

The good news for the Lakers is, as a whole, they weren’t much of a practice team anyway. Other than Bryant, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and a couple of younger players, they had to be pushed by Jackson in practice.

“The aspect of getting this team into its best shape and continuing their growth and their spectacular play is going to be a challenge for us not to do too much and not to do too little,” Jackson said. “It’ll be important for us to stay really active and progressive, and I think that’s what we’re doing.

“This is a fortunate time for us. We want to use it in a positive realm, not a negative one.”

Said O’Neal: “Focus equals getting rest. Our guys have been getting a lot of rest.”