Lakers Are in Sorry State for a Visit to the Capital

That’s what the map says, at least. Right now the Lakers are stuck somewhere between resignation and defiance.

Before the Lakers played the role of Sac-rificial lambs to the Kings on Friday night, Coach Phil Jackson talked about his hope that the Lakers could keep the score close early on and rely on the Kings’ tendency to let opponents back into games. Notice he didn’t say anything about jumping out to a big lead and breaking the Kings’ spirit.

But in the course of the same interview session, Jackson refused to give a concession speech in the race for Western Conference playoff seeding.

“First,” he shot back when asked where he hoped the Lakers could finish, given their current depleted state.

“We’re still not giving up the hope that we can play in a [winning] streak. We’ll just have to put together another streak at some point in the season and see where that takes us.”

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lakers string up another 10-game run. Well, it would be a shock if it happened now, with the injured Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone out of the lineup.

The question is, if it does happen, will it be too late? Will the Lakers lose too much ground while their three superstars make a pit stop?

There’s still a minimum of three more games before Bryant can come off the injured list, and still no definite word on when O’Neal and Malone will return.

This 103-83 King victory didn’t mean much in the ongoing mental wars between these two franchises. Jackson even called it “a good experience for [the players] because they learned a lot about the team they played against.” But it did count in the standings. The Lakers now trail the Kings by three games in the loss column and 1-0 in head-to-head meetings, which would be the first tiebreaker.

That all projects to more time in Sacramento, which I wouldn’t wish on anybody.

The Lakers don’t fear the road. They clinched their last two NBA titles on the road, have won their last five NBA Finals games on the road and have won two of the last three series in which they were the lower-seeded team.

But they’re fooling themselves if they expect to take Game 1 and Game 7 in Sacramento again, the way they did in those memorable 2002 conference finals.

Even if Lakers Lite played well for a half Friday without their full complement of stars, they had to realize they didn’t exactly get the best effort from the Kings.

Brad Miller, who’s been playing like a Western Conference (which means legitimate) All-Star center this season, didn’t score until 3 1/2 minutes into the fourth quarter. And Chris Webber sat behind the Kings’ bench in street clothes, as he has all season while rehabbing the knee he blew out in last year’s playoffs. He’s working out at half-speed for now, still not close to stepping back on the court.

Finally, the Lakers didn’t face the full wrath of the Arco Arena fans, who couldn’t quite fool themselves into believing that these were really the hated Lakers or that the Kings really accomplished anything by beating them. The crowd wasn’t its usual frenzied self.

Peja Stojakovic, who has emerged as the king of Kings, said, “Of course it wasn’t. The Lakers are missing three good players -- three very good players. That’s sports. That happens, injuries.”

It’s no fun for the fans if they can’t howl at Shaq, mock Kobe or taunt No. 1 villain Rick Fox.

They did have their old nemesis, Jackson. But their only shot at him came when his name was announced before the game. It’s not as if he ever gets the ball in his hands, dribbling upcourt and presenting himself as a target for the 17,317 packed in Arco.

Besides, Jackson hasn’t issued a fresh set of derogatory comments about Sac-town in three years. This season he moved his scope down Interstate 80 and took a few shots at Oakland (calling it the “dregs” and “dank”), but left our state capital alone.

The fans had to settle for a hearty booing of Derek Fisher -- the only Laker in uniform who was around for all three playoff beatings of the Kings -- when he checked into the game.

The Lakers had to settle for at least coming out to play.

Visiting NBA teams often take two buses to the arena, with reserves and those needing a little more treatment or pregame work taking the first bus. When the Lakers entered the building and walked across the floor I kept waiting for the main bus to come ... before realizing this was the main bus. All Brian Cook and Kareem Rush and Jamal Sampson, who took a spot in the starting lineup because O’Neal’s replacement, Horace Grant, was in Atlanta with his ailing father.

The Lakers didn’t want to hear any sympathy or read any obituaries before the game.

“We might be wounded,” Bryon Russell said. “But ... “

“We ain’t punks,” Rush finished.

They didn’t play like punks in the first half. They hung in, they did what they could. But if there was one player who symbolized the Lakers’ futility it was Sampson. He battled for rebounds, he hit the floor for loose balls ... and he couldn’t make a basket.

The Lakers’ patience and offensive execution did translate into a slow pace and close score, but Mike Bibby hit a three-pointer from the corner and the Lakers trailed by nine at halftime.

Then the third quarter began, the bottom dropped out on the Lakers and the Kings went on a 17-0 run. Ballgame.

And, for one rare occasion in the best rivalry in the NBA, that’s all it was.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Adande go to latimes.com/Adande.