A POORLY TUNED SIX STRING JACKSON HITS NEW LOW, AS LAKERS LOSE AGAIN PORT. 112, LAKERS 108.

Byline: ROSS SILER

Staff Writer

The light at the end of the tunnel couldn't have looked any dimmer than it did Wednesday night for the Lakers, who arrived at the NBA trade deadline as the first Phil Jackson-coached team in history ever to have lost six consecutive games.

They suffered a dispiriting 112-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center, falling apart with Kobe Bryant on the bench midway through the fourth quarter and playing indifferent defense from start to finish.

What was a one-point game when Bryant checked out with eight minutes remaining turned into an 11-point Portland lead in a matter of 3 1/2 minutes.

All Jackson could say afterward was, "That game got away from us real quickly."

The Blazers arrived for the second game of a back-to-back set as the NBA's third-lowest scoring team, averaging 93.8points per game. They scored 18 points more than that average Wednesday and shot a season-best 59.7 percent.

The Lakers lost their fifth straight home game -- with the boos starting late in the fourth quarter -- and fell five games behind Houston for fifth in the Western Conference standings. They are just 4-12 in their past 16 games.

All that was left was for the Lakers to work the phones and try to persuade the New Jersey Nets that they were better off without the remaining $41 million on Jason Kidd's contract than they were with the All-Star guard.

Jackson portrayed things in less than favorable terms before the game, saying that he didn't think the "momentum" was there to make a deal after spending the afternoon huddled with general manager Mitch Kupchak.

At the same time, Jackson questioned whether the Kidd rumors had taken a toll on his young players, saying, "They get focused on the fact that they're going to be traded or their life is iffy and I think it makes them insecure."

After coaching nine championship teams and winning 907games in his career, Jackson took stock of his first six-game losing streak and said, "I think we deserve it."

"We've had a little bad luck with our injury situation," Jackson added, "but we have not outplayed people or played harder than people. We've made mistakes in situations in which I told them there's a pattern almost to their losses."

Bryant finished with 25points, eight rebounds and six assists, but the most telling stat was the Lakers being outscored 25-11 in the 8:17 he spent on the bench. Maurice Evans tied a career-high with 23 points and Smush Parker added 18.

It looked as if Bryant would play to the final horn when he came back for the start of the fourth quarter. He banked in a shot and drove for a layup, but Jackson decided to sit Bryant with 8:03 remaining.

"I thought he forced the action in the fourth quarter and I almost felt I needed to get him out," Jackson said. "He wanted to do so well so bad or he wanted to carry the team that his actions made it more difficult. That was one of the areas that we got stalled in.

"Then I took him out and we immediately were even worse off after that. It went from bad to worse. That was what I thought maybe we had to do to get our offense moving the ball the right way again."

The results were disastrous for the Lakers.

Jackson called one timeout after Dan Dickau stripped Andrew Bynum in the post and Portland ran out for an Ime Udoka layup at the other end. As it turned out, the Blazers were just getting started.

Evans missed a jumper and Zach Randolph scored for the Blazers. Sasha Vujacic fell down on a drive and Lamar Odom missed a 3-pointer, leading to a LaMarcus Aldridge basket for Portland.

Dickau missed a 3-pointer, but the Lakers couldn't grab the rebound, which went to Randolph. He floated in a shot as Portland went ahead 98-89, forcing Jackson to call timeout again and bring back Bryant with 5:06 left.

"It was very helpless," Bryant said. "It was difficult to watch. We just didn't come out ready to play in that particular time."

The Lakers, who are now giving up 102.4 points per game, watched Jarrett Jack drive his way to 30 points and Aldridge drain one jumper after another in finishing with 18 points off the bench.

"(For) a team to shoot 60 percent tells us we're not putting pressure on the ball," Jackson said, "we're not taking teams out of their offense, we're not forcing turnovers or making teams take difficult shots."

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Lakers' Smush Parker drives against Portland's LaMarcus Aldridge, left, and Zach Randolph.

(2) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant looks to pass Wednesday night. The Lakers were outscored 25-11 with Bryant on the bench.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer