Bryant’s 44 Not Enough

In the final moments of his -- their -- first loss in eight games, Kobe Bryant let his shoulders sag for only a moment, the Lakers perhaps too heavy for the first time in going on three weeks, the toll of it more than he could bear.

He straightened himself at once, but by then the Lakers were all but finished, on their way to being undone by the San Antonio Spurs, 103-95, Friday night at Staples Center.

Bryant scored 44 points, two more than his average over the previous seven games, a streak that before Friday had meant Laker victories, often by easy margins. But he took 41 shots and missed 22 of them, more than a few rolling on the rim before falling out, four of them layups in the fourth quarter, and that was more than the Lakers could overcome.

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

Then he grinned and added, “I’m not going to panic over one loss. San Antonio’s playing excellent basketball right now. We lost one game.”

They don’t have much margin for error, however, a fact since their 11-19 start, and the general agreement among them is that defeats cannot be rationalized away, no matter the time or place or circumstance. They are 26-24, still a half-game behind the Houston Rockets -- losers to Miami Friday night -- for the Western Conference’s final playoff spot.

Shaquille O’Neal, who admitted before the game his left knee and right big toe are causing him problems again, had 21 points and five rebounds in 41 minutes. Tim Duncan, in 40, had 28 points and 20 rebounds. The Spurs, who played again without center David Robinson, have won seven consecutive games and have three wins in three games against the Lakers this season, two of them at Staples Center.

Nearly three weeks ago, Coach Phil Jackson launched Bryant on his scoring binge with the directive that he be more aggressive on offense, and now Bryant has scored at least 35 points in eight consecutive games, and at least 40 in six of them. Forty-one shots, however well intended, was more than Jackson had in mind, and the rest of the Lakers -- O’Neal included -- at times appeared out of sorts.

Bryant also had seven turnovers, two at critical times of the fourth quarter.

“We looked like a one-man team tonight, maybe a little over the edge in some ways,” Jackson said. “Twenty-five [shots] is a reasonable number. But I think that was over the edge tonight. But, hey, the kid played hard.... We’ll just try to get back in some kind of balance.”

This February, it appears, the Lakers are one thing with O’Neal drafting on Bryant against Denver and New York, and another thing against San Antonio. The Spurs did not shoot well early, but they rebounded and went to many players for their offense, and the balanced game was something the Lakers, playing for the third time in four nights, could not get their arms around.

They fell behind by 13 twice in the third quarter and were never closer than five points in the fourth. They were 11 for 20 from the free-throw line and four for 15 on three-point tries, so their shooting did not bail out a defensive effort that allowed 24 points to Tony Parker and 16 to Stephen Jackson.

“But we were due for a game like that,” Jackson said, “and now it’s back to the drawing board, come back and only lose one and pick it up again Sunday [against New York].”

Many of the shots that had fallen for Bryant for seven games did not in the eighth. Also, Bryant averaged nearly 15 free-throw attempts for seven games and shot six against the Spurs.

“Tonight,” said Rick Fox, who took four shots and didn’t score in 24 minutes, “I thought he left it out there. I appreciate that.”

Turned out, they all left something out there.

Late in the first quarter, the Rockets lost at home and the Lakers were, for the moment and for the first time since the season’s first week, a playoff team.

Eighth in the Western Conference. By .0012.

Two hours later, they had lost their third home game in five.

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The West

The top eight teams qualify for the playoffs in the Western Conference:

*--* W-L Stk GB 1. Dallas 39-12 W1 -- 2. Sacramento 36-17 W2 4 3. San Antonio 35-16 W7 4 4. Portland 32-18 L2 6 1/2 5. Minnesota 32-20 W5 7 1/2 6. Utah 31-21 W1 8 1/2 7. Phoenix 29-23 L2 10 1/2 8. Houston 27-24 L1 12 9. Lakers 26-24 L1 1/2 10. Golden St 24-27 W3 3

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