Jackson Feels Team Is Due

For those who had hopes for a record number of regular-season victories and unprecedented focus from the team with four Hall of Famers on the floor and a fifth on the bench, there’s always this: 52-0.

Thirty games into a season in which they were expected to club teams senseless with fist and finesse, the Lakers have lost six of their last nine games, but can win out to 73-9. They are without Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone, either won’t or can’t play defense depending on the night, and either are fortified by Kobe Bryant’s heroics or undone by his recklessness, depending on which corner of the locker room is talking.

In the midst of this, the Lakers gathered in El Segundo for practice Monday, and talked about stopping the basketball on defense and getting to loose balls before they become an opponent’s second-chance points. They ran some sprints and shot some free throws. Then a few of them talked about their situation before flying to Minneapolis, where they’ll begin a two-night, two-city trip that will continue -- and conclude -- in Denver, awkwardly, perhaps, for Bryant.

Phil Jackson was asked if he believed his team was in a familiar rut for a franchise that won three titles despite complete disdain for the regular season, or whether this was a new kind of funk they’d just invented.

“Neither one,” he said. “We feel we’ve been competitive in games. We haven’t been able to finish games off due to some situational things that happened. And that we’ve given it a good shot and it’s our turn to win some of these games now if we can get into those positions.... The long picture is to get our players back on the floor together as a group and find a spot in the playoffs we’ll be able to defend and ultimately win.”

There is little hope that O’Neal, who suffered a strained calf muscle Friday night in Seattle, will play on the trip and none at all for Malone, who is on the injured list for the first time in his career. So, the frontcourt will remain the domain of Horace Grant, game but 38, and Slava Medvedenko, game but 24.

In the two games since O’Neal injured his calf, Bryant has not only found his thirst for shooting, he has discovered his touch for it. He has made 25 of his last 52 field-goal attempts, including seven of 11 three-pointers, and averaged 38 points. Of course, the Lakers lost both games, and nobody’s exactly congratulating Bryant.

After Sunday’s loss to the Clippers, Gary Payton, with Bryant one of two true scorers remaining, pleaded for better ball movement, echoing Grant’s sentiments after Friday’s loss to the SuperSonics.