Lakers keep going bad against worse

It’s getting to the point of predictability, really, a hiccup that can’t be shaken from an otherwise healthy and robust system.

Mark it down and be prepared: Whenever the Lakers play a woeful team on the road, they lose.

The same Lakers who have beaten San Antonio (twice), Dallas, Utah and Phoenix have now lost road games to a posse of teams whose sole entertainment in June will probably be the NBA lottery in Secaucus, N.J.

The latest such loss came Saturday night, a 113-103 freefall against the New Orleans Hornets at Ford Center.

The Hornets had lost the night before in San Antonio and were without Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic, but, sure enough, forward David West had 26 points and 12 rebounds in only his second game back from elbow surgery, and the league’s most pitiful offense (89.9 points a game before Saturday) burst free against a pliant, casual defense.

It gave the Lakers road losses to Seattle, Portland, Charlotte, Memphis and New Orleans. Combined record: 72-129.

Coach Phil Jackson usually begins his postgame interview session with a brief opening statement before taking reporters’ questions. Not so Saturday. He walked out of the locker room and offered no insights until asked.

“Giving them 113 points, that’s a problem,” Jackson said. “Not having a chance down the stretch, that’s not smart on our part.”

It certainly wasn’t the way the Lakers (26-15) wanted to hit the halfway point of their regular season.

Just three nights earlier, they had won in San Antonio, a promising start to a three-game trip that slipped a little with a loss in Dallas the next night and fully fell apart against the Hornets (16-23).

Kobe Bryant had a forgettable night, making only seven of 22 shots and scoring 23 points. He missed all three of his shots in the first half and had only three points as the Lakers fell behind at halftime, 59-51.

“I’m just reading the flow of the game, just trying to get things out of the rhythm of the offense, catching and shooting, and doing things like that,” he said. “The first half isn’t a situation where I have to get the ball and start attacking, but more sitting in the pocket and just relying on our execution to get it going.”

If he was sitting in the pocket in the first half, he was sacked in the second half, making seven of 19 shots.

Afterward, when assessing the team’s troubles against the weaker ones, he even went back to an old alibi that hadn’t been heard since last season.

“We’re still building,” he said. “It’s a long process. But we’ll get that rhythm. The important thing is we get it come playoff time.”

Then again, how much can the Lakers really be blamed?

They’ve easily maintained a winning record without Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown, who are expected back any day now. Brown, out since Dec. 31 because of a sprained ankle, almost came with them on this trip. Odom, out since Dec. 12 because of a sprained knee ligament, began practicing lightly with the team before it left for this trip.

“It’ll be good to get them back,” Bryant said. “They’ll definitely help our defense. Right now, we’re pretty inexperienced. When we get those guys back to carry that experience and veteran know-how of how to guard people, I think it will help us out.”

The only Hornet the Lakers could have guarded Saturday was the fuzzy blue mascot.

Four of New Orleans’ five starters made at least half their shots, and Desmond Mason was close, making three of eight.

The Lakers trailed by 13 early in the third quarter, but eventually pulled within 102-99 on Bryant’s three-pointer with 2:33 to play. Bryant hadn’t scored in the fourth quarter until hitting a free throw with 3:09 to play.

Then, with a chance to make things really interesting, Bryant had a layup attempt blocked by Rasual Butler, who hit a three-pointer at the other end for a 105-99 lead with 1:52 to play. The Lakers were done.

It all meant a wasted effort by Maurice Evans, who scored a career-best 23 points on eight-for-nine shooting.

“I’m frustrated and upset more than anything,” Evans said. “For us to go into San Antonio, one of the toughest environments in the NBA, and be successful, then we come here and, not to say anything against this team, but we shot ourselves in the foot all night.”

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mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* Kobe Bryant never seemed on track, making only seven of 22 shots and scoring 23 points. He had three points in the first quarter, none in the second, 14 in the third and was scoreless in the fourth until making a free throw with 3:09 to play. He finished with seven assists.

* The Lakers were beaten on the boards again, a recurring theme in recent losses. New Orleans had 46 rebounds, the Lakers 37.

* It was almost the third consecutive game in which Bryant was the only Lakers starter to score in double figures. Smush Parker, however, finished with 13 points.

-- MIKE BRESNAHAN