Separation Anxiety for L.A.

The Lakers went on again without Kobe Bryant, who left the Staples Center floor Friday night holding his right shoulder again, and an untenable basketball season became ever more blurred.

Bryant suffered a jammed shoulder, according to the team, before the first minute was gone against the Seattle SuperSonics, a game the Lakers won, 99-91.

An X-ray administered at the arena was inconclusive. Bryant, who was given anti-inflammatory medication and ordered to ice his shoulder through the night, is expected to have an MRI today.

“We’re concerned,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “We’re quite concerned about this.”

Believing they were gaining on familiarity six weeks from the playoffs, the Lakers instead might have lost Bryant for more games.

After the game, the Lakers knew little, other than that Bryant was not among them, and that the complications of last month could be the complications of today, and perhaps the complications of April and May.

He left the arena during the game with the intention of having an MRI at Centinela Hospital Medical Center. According to a club official, Bryant reached the facility in Inglewood, but, told the MRI technician would be delayed, chose to have the test today, and went home to Newport Beach.

“Obviously, we are going to rely on some medical opinions,” Jackson said. “I don’t want to jump the gun. I don’t want to sound pessimistic. I am going to stay optimistic.”

Despite all evidence otherwise.

“It happens to us a lot,” Gary Payton said. “I am not surprised by anything.”

Bryant had avoided serious injuries for much of his career. But a difficult summer spent defending himself against a sexual assault charge and recovering from shoulder and knee operations left him thinner and, apparently, more susceptible to injury. He was not completely healed from knee surgery until two months into the season, and, though Jackson guessed this shoulder injury was “different” from the last, his shoulder has become a recurring issue.

And, so, the Big Four temporarily was two again, Shaquille O’Neal and Payton left to carry the majority of the burden against the SuperSonics.

O’Neal had 32 points and eight rebounds. He made 10 of 16 field goals and, after a miserable week from the line, made 12 of 18 free throws. Payton scored 16 points in 40 minutes. Kareem Rush scored 11 points, three on a late jumper that gave the Lakers a 92-88 lead, and Luke Walton had five points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes. Devean George made a 60-footer at the first-quarter buzzer.

The Lakers have won nine of 11 games since the All-Star break, sometimes appearing to gain momentum as they lose players, other times appearing to simply hang on.

“It’s real tough,” O’Neal said. “But I think if guys master their role, master what they’re supposed to do, we’ll be fine. Guys like Devean and Kareem and Luke filled in very, very nicely tonight. Hopefully, we won’t have to go through too many more games like this.”

Fifty-four seconds into the game, Bryant was caught in a screen. He jerked his right arm away from Ray Allen’s grip and had the back of his shoulder strike Reggie Evans, who was setting a screen from behind.

Bryant went first to one knee and then both. When he stood, the crowd applauded, but the grimace did not leave his face and the arena became silent again, and Bryant, who averaged 28.7 points since the break, left the floor surrounded by medical and security personnel.

On his way from the floor he passed Karl Malone and Horace Grant, already on the bench because of injuries.

Bryant sprained his shoulder Jan. 12 against the Cleveland Cavaliers and did not play the next six games. He returned Jan. 24, played twice and two days later arrived at a shoot-around with a lacerated finger suffered, he said, in an accident in his garage. He sat out seven more games.

So, in a span of 15 games, Bryant sat out 13. Ten games later, Bryant attended a pretrial hearing in Eagle, Colo., while the Lakers lost by a point in Atlanta.

In a season that was going to be defined by the foursome of Bryant, O’Neal, Malone and Payton, Payton has played every game and the other three have combined to sit out 68 games. The Big Four have started together 21 times. They’ve won 16.

“It goes without fail this year that as soon as we are about to get somebody [back], somebody goes down,” Rick Fox said. “This is what the season has been about. I hope for our sake and all the Laker fans out there that Kobe is OK and that there is not any bad news.”