Lakers Get Burned While Shaq Plays Second Fiddle

Kobe Bryant took his act from the trapeze to the high wire Friday night, and the Lakers teetered along with him.

The Lakers figured that if Bryant fell off that spot he’s occupied above the rest of the league the last two weeks, they could always rely on the Big Safety Net.

Oops.

What happens when Bryant’s off and Plan B, a.k.a. Shaquille O’Neal, shoots an uncharacteristic nine for 19?

Splat.

San Antonio Spurs 103, Lakers 95.

Bryant’s string of remarkable scoring numbers stayed alive with a big 44 next to his name, but the Lakers’ winning streak is done after seven games.

That’s because Bryant shot only 19 for 41 and the rest of the Lakers, after so much stationary time, couldn’t step up when needed.

“We definitely have to have everybody more in a rhythm,” Bryant said. “Next game I’ll make a more conscious effort to do that.

“I can go either way.”

Coach Phil Jackson had said before the game that this would have to be a night when O’Neal was dominant, and he wasn’t.

Because the Lakers had won two championships since they traded Glen Rice, everyone in Lakerland had forgotten about one of their weaknesses: the lack of a third scoring threat.

With Bryant averaging 42 points in a seven-game stretch, the Lakers did not even need a second option some nights. They won at Denver on Wednesday with O’Neal attempting only six field goals.

NBA people say the restrictive salary cap and the luxury tax have put a chill on trade talks this season. Teams are interested in dumping high-salaried players (i.e. the Knicks’ Latrell Sprewell), but no one wants to take them.

If this game showed the Lakers what they’re missing personnel-wise, it also reminded them of why the defending champions aren’t in a playoff position at the moment.

They’re still not putting in the necessary work on defense and they didn’t do their duty under the backboards Friday night. The Lakers aren’t rushing out to contest three-point shots, and the Spurs knocked down eight of 15. In addition, San Antonio outrebounded the Lakers, 48-46.

For the first time since the winning streak began, the Lakers caught a good team playing well; the Spurs had won six consecutive games to move within four games of the Midwest Division-leading Dallas Mavericks.

“They’re better right now than we are, and they’ve played more consistent all year,” Rick Fox said of the Spurs. “There are not a whole lot of teams out there right now that are better than us. They just happen to be one of them.”

The schedule continued to be kind to the Lakers: they were at home, and the Spurs placed David Robinson on the injured list earlier in the day.

Bryant had racked up easy points at the free-throw line lately (35 in two games against Denver alone), but the officiating crew Friday night didn’t call many fouls at either end of the court. This was going to be a night when Bryant and the Lakers had to earn everything. That’s usually the case against the Spurs, one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.

Bryant required only 48 field-goal attempts in 62 minutes of work to post 93 points against Denver on consecutive nights.

By the end of the third quarter Friday he had taken more shots (29) than he had in either Denver game.

And it seemed as if each one took a little bit more out of him. He couldn’t make twisting layups (he was dunking those during his run) and he even missed an open slam.

Maybe reality and physics finally caught up with him after spending so much time in an otherworldly realm.

His first four days of this week featured three games (including the All-Star game), with a cross-country flight on the off day.

When asked if he was fatigued he said, “Could be,” which is as close as he comes to admitting he ever gets tired.

It also doesn’t help the field-goal percentage to have Tim Duncan lurking around to discourage or deter Bryant’s drives through the lane.

Bryant took far more than his normal share of shots at the beginning of the season, cresting Nov. 7 in Boston when he took 47 shots in 46 minutes of an overtime loss.

I didn’t have a problem with that then, because O’Neal was on the injured list and no other player besides Brian Shaw was doing anything with the ball anyway. And Bryant’s recent shooting spree was fine because the shots were good ones, coming within the flow of the offense.

But you wonder how long O’Neal will tolerate life as a second option. His toe still bothers him, so does his knee, and he might get a strained neck from watching Bryant’s shots sail over his head.

If you’re going to fire away when Shaq and his .562 field-goal percentage are in the game, you’d better make them -- and that’s just what Bryant had been doing. He made 52% of his shots in the five games before Friday night, then came out and knocked down 11 of his 19 shots in the first half against the Spurs.

So torrid has Bryant’s run been that when he scored a quick 11 in the first quarter -- putting him on pace for another 40-point night -- it barely caused a stir.

But by the time Bryant did cross 40, it didn’t even matter.

Forty-plus only really matters when it wins playoff games. When Bryant dropped 40 on the Spurs in the playoffs two years ago it led O’Neal to call him his “idol”.

Apparently, with the rest of the players so off their games, Bryant might require a new title: savior.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.