[0] JAMISON OUTDUELS BRYANT BOTH SCORE 51 POINTS IN WARRIORS' OT WIN GOLDEN ST. 125, LAKERS 122.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

OAKLAND - The way things have been going, there was no telling when, why or even whether Kobe Bryant would ever slip from that billowing puff of cumulus he's been residing on for the last two weeks. It would take an extraordinary measure to do so.

This just in: Antawn Jamison has changed his name to Extraordinary Measure.

Bryant scored a career-high 51 points, but Jamison answered, incredibly, with 51 points of his own as the Golden State Warriors stunned the Lakers with a 125-122 overtime victory Wednesday night at the Arena in Oakland.

And might we be the first to suggest that the generically dubbed home of the Warriors be renamed Antawn's House.

``Jamison had a fabulous game. Everything he threw up seemed to go in,'' said Shaquille O'Neal, after watching Jamison make 21 of 29 shots.

For Bryant, a career milestone went for naught, as did his tireless effort to deliver the victory. He scored 12 of the Lakers' 15 points in overtime.

``It just hurts just to lose,'' a downcast Bryant said. ``Just to lose, that's it. Forget the 51.''

The Lakers (14-6) lost for just the second time in the last 10 games, to a Warriors team that won for just the sixth time this season. Afterward, there was much explaining to do.

For the Lakers, a 10-point lead lost in the fourth quarter. And for Isaiah Rider, another late arrival. The Oakland-area native arrived 15 minutes late - around 6:15 p.m. for the 7:30 tipoff - then spent the entire game on the bench.

Coach Phil Jackson said ``wasn't aware'' Rider was late.

``I just didn't think he was ready to play the game tonight,'' Jackson said. ``He wasn't involved in our discussions the way I'd like to see him involved, and he wasn't ready to get on the court and play with the team when we went out to get warmed up.''

That explanation sounded a bit hollow, particularly to Rider, who got his first DNP-CD (did not play-coach's decision) as a Laker. And it comes just a week after Rider was benched for all but four minutes of a game for being tardy by an hour.

``There was a reason behind it, you guys know?'' Rider said to reporters. Told of Jackson's explanation, he said: ``It doesn't matter. Whenever he wants to win, he'll play me. That's the way I'm looking at it. Whenever he doesn't want slow starts, I'm ready to play.''

Rider said Jackson never told him he wouldn't play, but he realized after a while that he would not be sent into the game, though he admitted, ``I have no idea'' why.

``That's how he is. He plays me 12 minutes, he plays me 25. Doesn't play me, plays me 18,'' Rider said. ``It's easy to do that when you've got Shaq and Kobe.''

But Rider would not offer explanations of his own for the benching, saying: ``Go ask Phillip. I can't speak for him.''

Then again, nothing Rider would have done could have slowed Jamison, who registered 51 points for the second straight game.

``It's a first for me in this league,'' Lakers forward Rick Fox said of the dueling 50-point efforts.

(The first time two players scored 50 points or more in the same game was Dec. 14, 1962, and that was Wilt Chamberlain with 63 for the Philadelphia Warriors and Elgin Baylor 51 for the Los Angeles Lakers.)

Bryant outscored Jamison 12-8 in overtime, but the Lakers - who had lost a nine-point lead in the last five minutes of regulation - never got the lead back.

The last tie came at 120, on a Bryant 15-foot jumper. Jamison's 20-footer at the other end, with 1:04 to go in overtime, put the Warriors ahead to stay.

Bryant lost one possession when Bobby Sura stripped him in the paint but scored on the next to make it 124-122 with 34.2 seconds left. Brian Shaw then picked off an errant Jamison pass and it appeared the Lakers might forge another tie.

Bryant dished to Horace Grant, who missed a 3-footer. Bryant missed a follow-up and the Lakers were forced to foul Sura, who made 1 of 2 free throws. All Bryant could do was heave a 33-foot prayer at the buzzer, but it bounced off the glass.

``It was very disappointing,'' said O'Neal, who scored 25 points, but just three in overtime. ``We're supposed to beat a team like this. But they were pumped for us, they played with a lot of enthusiasm. And they got one.''

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo: Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 51 points but it wasn't enough as Golden State beat the Lakers. The Warriors' Antawn Jamison also scored 51.

Lloyd Francis Jr./Associated Press

Box: GAME RECAP