'TIS THE SEASON'S HOLLOW RING LAKERS SALVAGE OT WIN BUT NOT THEIR CONFIDENCE LAKERS 109, TORONTO 107.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

TORONTO - The inevitable declaration came later than expected, but it finally came. The 4,500-mile trip advertised as a quest for renewed glory turned out to be a road to nowhere, and when it reached its conclusion, the Lakers were mired even more firmly in the muck than they were eight days ago.

At the end of it all, after the routs suffered in Minneapolis and New Jersey, the bumbling defeat in Philadelphia and, finally, an unsatisfying 109-107 overtime victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, Robert Horry sat alone at his locker, looked downward and assessed the Lakers' journey with acidic disdain.

There was nothing - ``not a damn thing,'' he hissed - to take from the trip-ending win, though it saved the Lakers from the ignominy of 0-4. Nothing to feel good about here, or in the last week.

``An awful showing out there,'' Horry said. ``It's terrible, man. We're just flat-out terrible.''

So there it is. It took 29 games, and 18 losses, and any number of navel-gazing moments spent on bus rides and plane rides and in hotel suites, but the Lakers now are convinced of their own mortality.

They were good enough Sunday evening to take an early 12-point lead and set a season high for shooting percentage (.532), and then they were just terrible enough to flirt with disaster.

Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal scored 31 points each, but O'Neal again struggled at the line (7 for 18), and Bryant banged his sore right elbow in the fourth and scored just five points in the final 17 minutes.

It all amounted to an unsatisfying victory, but as Bryant said with a stale grin, ``At least we won one.''

Yet Horry complained of complacency, and minutes later Brian Shaw took umbrage at the thought of it. Rick Fox complained of a lack of discipline in the offense. Bryant talked about the fatigue accumulated over three championship runs and smiled again at ``the challenge'' the Lakers have created for themselves.

O'Neal, whose good mood ended after one 10-minute interview Friday, resumed his bitter silence.

The Lakers were due to arrive home late Sunday, with the Sacramento Kings awaiting them Christmas Day and an unclear fate awaiting them after the new year. They aimed for a split on the road trip and fell short of even that modest goal, and now general manager Mitch Kupchak must decide whether they are capable of making progress without help.

``We're just treading water right now,'' coach Phil Jackson said.

The Lakers had an 11-point lead in the third quarter, but the Raptors cut it to five by the start of the fourth. Ex-Laker Lindsey Hunter, traded to Toronto on draft day for Kareem Rush, then dropped back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Raptors an 82-81 lead, and the Lakers spent the rest of the night locked in a battle for their pride.

They had a 101-96 lead with 1:11 to play but came unglued again. Toronto appeared to go ahead when Alvin Williams hit from the arc, just in front of the Lakers' bench, but officials ruled his foot was on the line and called it a 2-pointer, leaving the score tied 102-102.

Bryant scored the eventual game-winner in overtime, stealing the ball from Morris Peterson and converting a fast-break layup for a 108-107 lead. Horry made 1 of 2 free throws, and Toronto's fate was left to Hunter.

He took a hard foul from O'Neal and, still woozy, missed the first free throw. He intentionally missed the second, but Horry slapped the rebound out of bounds with 1.4 seconds to play. The Raptors' last gasp ended when Hunter took the inbounds pass, tripped over Shaw and fell out of bounds.

``It's the same old B.S. we do all the time,'' Horry said. ``It rolled over from last year. You can be complacent. Because in your mind, you think you're good and you go out and you do things that are not showing on the court.''

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Photo:

Kobe Bryant gets tripped as he steals the ball from Toronto guard Lindsey Hunter, bottom.

Frank Gunn/Associated Press

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GAME RECAP