Long Trip Starts With Major Test

The Lakers headed out of Los Angeles -- almost all of them, anyway -- and landed Saturday in Detroit, where they begin their longest trip of the season tonight against the Pistons.

Guard Smush Parker missed the team charter for undisclosed reasons -- he was expected to join the team later Saturday -- but forward Lamar Odom was on time the morning after arriving late for Friday’s game against Golden State.

Odom, who showed up 45 minutes before game time instead of the required 90 minutes because of what he said was a minor traffic infraction, will be fined an undisclosed sum for being late and will not be further disciplined, a team official said.

The Lakers, meanwhile, will play seven games in 11 days, a compact task that starts with the Pistons, who keep rolling along, winning 10 consecutive games to improve to 36-5 and giving chase to the record-setting Chicago Bull team that went 72-10 in 1996.

The Lakers have lost seven of their last eight to the Pistons, including Detroit’s five-game victory in the 2004 Finals. The Pistons won handily last season, 103-81 and 111-90, and have not lost to the Lakers in Detroit since January 2002.

“It should be a walk in the park,” said Kobe Bryant, adding a smile in case the Pistons thought he was serious. “It’ll be a good measuring stick for us right off the bat to see where we’re at. It’s a testy one, but we’re looking forward to it. We like getting out on the road and playing in hostile environments.”

Coach Phil Jackson said he hoped the Lakers would go 4-3 on the trip, perhaps even 5-2, with games against Detroit, New York, Indiana, Charlotte, New Orleans/Oklahoma City, Dallas and Houston.

The Lakers, 11-11 on the road, were 5-1 on their last long trip, which included victories over Dallas and Memphis in mid-December.

“Since then, teams have made adjustments defensively,” Bryant said. “Now it’s on us to make adjustments offensively and improve in those areas.”

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Bryant was 51 points shy of his 81-point effort and made only seven of 22 shots Friday against Golden State, but Jackson was fine with the end result, a 106-105 Laker victory in overtime.

“I’m sure it’s not one of those games that he’d say that he played a great game,” Jackson said. “He found a way to help us win and I think that’s one of the keys to his play, and I think that’s what you have to measure a player by. In that regard, can he find a way to get his team to the win column?”

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TONIGHT

at Detroit, 3:30 PST, Ch. 9, ESPN

Site -- The Palace of Auburn Hills.

Radio -- 570, 1330.

Records -- Lakers 23-19; Pistons 36-5.

Record vs. Pistons (2004-05) -- 0-2.

Update -- The Pistons are allowing 90.6 points a game, third-best in the league, and have a snappy new offense that averages 100 points, sixth in the league. Point guard Chauncey Billups is averaging 19.1 points and 8.8 assists, and center Ben Wallace averages 12.4 rebounds, second in the league.