Loss Has Lakers an Imperfect 10th

The ignominies of the Laker season have been many, with the latest low presenting itself Sunday night.

Tenth place.

The damaged and depleted Seattle SuperSonics, who ended the game with nine healthy players, knocked the Lakers back another notch in what can barely be called a playoff chase much longer.

Kobe Bryant finally put together a healthy fourth quarter until he missed three three-point attempts in the final 22 seconds, and the Lakers lost a fifth consecutive game for the first time since April 1994, falling to the SuperSonics, 102-100, in front of 18,997 Sunday at Staples Center.

And with that, the Lakers fell to 10th in the Western Conference as the league’s longest active playoff streak -- 10 consecutive seasons for the Lakers -- came one loss closer to ending.

The Lakers (32-34) have 16 games left and are 3 1/2 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West. They were passed in the standings by the Minnesota Timberwolves, who took a one-game lead over them for ninth place.

Along the way, as the Lakers fell two games below .500 for the first time this season, there were concerns that Bryant was too aggressive in trying to get his hands on the ball, distorting the flow of the triangle offense and confusing teammates who are still trying to digest the complex scheme that has been the Lakers’ primary offense for about a month.

“Kobe tries to do too much and it gets the other guys out of whack in the triangle,” Coach Frank Hamblen said. “He’s so far ahead in the triangle ... they’re thinking, ‘What am I supposed to do now?’

“He just goes places and it kind of confuses our guys at times. He wants to win as much or more than anybody. He’s a competitor.”

Bryant, who totaled nine points in the Lakers’ last four fourth quarters, had 16 Sunday in the final quarter on the way to 30. Caron Butler had 29, Chucky Atkins had 12 and no other Laker finished in double figures.

“You’re trying to install a complex offense like the triangle, it’s going to be up and down,” Bryant said. “It’s going to be tough for players to read situations. You have to have a great deal of expertise to be able to read it and for all five players to be on the same page when you read it. It’s been up and down.”

Mostly down.

The Lakers were without Lamar Odom, who sat out because of a strained left shoulder, but the SuperSonics played without starting center Jerome James, sixth man Vladimir Radmanovic and enforcer Danny Fortson, all out because of injuries.

Then Seattle All-Star guard Ray Allen left in the first quarter because of a sprained right ankle. He had six points and three assists in 10 minutes.

The Lakers have made a habit of allowing the unheralded to hit them for season-highs, and Sunday was no different when reserve guard Ronald “Flip” Murray took Allen’s spot and had a season-high 25 points.

The Lakers were powerless in trying to stop Murray’s penetration, often fouling him on his way to the basket. He made nine of 13 free throws. The SuperSonics made 28 of 35; the Lakers made 13 of 20 free throws.

“Free throws did us in,” Hamblen said. “We couldn’t stop their penetration.”

The Lakers trailed, 98-95, when Bryant missed a three-point attempt with 22 seconds left.

Bryant missed another shot from behind the arc with 16 seconds left and the Lakers behind, 98-97. They trailed, 100-97, when he missed a three-point attempt with eight seconds left.

Afterward, he refused to say the Lakers’ playoff hopes were done.

“If it is mathematically possible, then it is possible,” Bryant said.

“You never know when we can get hot, but it all starts on the defensive end.”