It’s open season on the Lakers

There’s really no defending these losses by the Lakers, mainly because there’s really no defense.

Monday night meant another free-for-all for another opponent, 48 minutes in which to work on reverse dunks, alley-oops, fast-break layups -- pretty much whatever the Denver Nuggets felt like doing, they did.

Then the Lakers did something practically unheard of in the Phil Jackson book of coaching -- they went to a zone, which actually worked but couldn’t change the outcome of the game.

The Lakers lost again, 115-111, falling to the Nuggets at Pepsi Center and all but conceding the sixth spot in the Western Conference to Denver.

Making things a little more awkward, uncomfortable and even desperate for them was another Golden State victory. With four games left to play, the Lakers lead Golden State and the Clippers by two games. The Lakers play the Clippers on Thursday in a designated home game for the Lakers.

If end-of-season momentum is important for success in the playoffs, the Lakers are beyond being troubled. Losers in six of their last eight games, they look nothing like last season’s seventh-place team, which went on an 11-3 run at the end of the regular season and pushed Phoenix to seven games in the first round.

In fact ...

“We’re playing pretty bad,” Lamar Odom said in a quiet locker room. “The way we’re playing right now is definitely not the way you want to go into the postseason.”

It looked more like preseason basketball in the first half, with the Lakers surrendering 65 points to the Nuggets, who had a total of eight layups, dunks and tip-ins in the second quarter alone.

The Lakers came into the game with the league’s 25th-rated defense, giving up 103.2 points a game, and their effort Monday wouldn’t exactly put a scare into Phoenix, San Antonio or Dallas -- or even Golden State or the Clippers, both of which could potentially end the Lakers’ playoff hopes by passing them in the standings.

The Lakers have given up at least 100 points in 16 of their last 18 games.

“It’s a huge concern,” forward Luke Walton said. “It’s been a concern all year. We’re not getting back on defense. You let teams get all these points on fastbreak layups ... it turns into being a long night.”

It was bad enough that Jackson gave the green light for a zone defense, which isn’t really his style.

“Not at all,” Walton said.

Funny thing, though, the Nuggets couldn’t penetrate any longer, lost what had been a 13-point lead with nine minutes to play, and then the Lakers actually took a 105-104 lead on Brian Cook’s three-point basket with 4:20 to play.

Then it was the Lakers’ turn to stall. Odom and Kobe Bryant each missed one of two free throws in the final two minutes, and Cook uncorked an off-balance attempt that was half hook shot, half layup, and a complete miss with 30.9 seconds left and the Lakers down two points.

The Lakers had a chance to tie, but Bryant’s off-balance 28-foot three-point attempt, which he shot off his left foot, was no good with 2.9 seconds left.

It was symptomatic of Bryant’s shooting throughout the night. He made only nine of 30 attempts and finished with 23 points. He also had 10 assists and, somewhat surprisingly, a quiet confidence afterward about the team’s near future.

“We can get a hot streak,” he said. “I’m confident. I’m optimistic we can play much better.”

It would start with defense, which still might be a couple of games away from arriving.

Center Kwame Brown, the Lakers’ main defensive presence down low, underwent another MRI exam Monday, basically confirming that his sprained left ankle hadn’t gone away. He probably won’t try to play again until there are two games left in the regular season, perhaps even later, a team spokesman said.

It leaves the Lakers with what they’ve got now -- a 40-38 record, no momentum, no defense and not much more time to turn it around.

They also have no chance of matching last season’s 45-37 record.

“They just ran us ragged in the first half,” Jackson said. “We just couldn’t get back in time. We gave up layups. They shot 60%. All of those things were killing us.”

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Playoff race

A look at the five teams fighting for the last three playoff spots in the Western Conference:

*--* W L GB 6. Denver 41 36 -- 7. LAKERS 40 38 -- t8. Golden State 38 40 -- t8. CLIPPERS 37 39 -- 10. New Orleans 36 41 1 1/2

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*--* LAKERS REMAINING GAMES

*--*

*--* Thursday Clippers 7:30 p.m. Friday at Phoenix 7:30 p.m. Sunday Seattle 6:30 p.m. April 18 at Sacramento 7 p.m.

*--*

*--* CLIPPERS REMAINING GAMES

*--*

*--* Today at N. Orleans 5 p.m. Thursday at Lakers 7:30 p.m. Friday Portland 7:30 p.m. Sunday Sacramento 12:30 p.m. April 17 at Phoenix 7 p.m. April 18 New Orleans 7:30 p.m.

*--*