BRYANT IS HOT, BUT SUNS ARE HOTTER KOBE SCORES 51 POINTS, BUT LAKERS STILL LOSE PHOENIX 107, LAKERS 96.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

PHOENIX - They could be disappointed in their play at the start of the fourth quarter, concerned about their playoff position with five games left in the regular season and amazed at yet another Kobe Bryant scoring show.

The end result, though, was all too familiar Friday night for the Lakers, a 107-96 loss to the Phoenix Suns, dropping them to 0-7 against their Pacific Division rival since the Shaquille O'Neal trade.

Bryant set a US Airways Center record with 51 points on 19-of-33 shooting but the Suns had seven of eight players finish in double figures and ran away with the game with Bryant on the bench to start the fourth.

"Kobe has a 50-point game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "and he shoots as well as he does, we should be able to ride that to some value, and we weren't able to do that."

It might have been a playoff preview for the Lakers, but little is guaranteed in that respect.

The loss Friday, coupled with Sacramento's 96-93 victory over the Clippers, dropped the Lakers and Kings into a tie for the Western Conference's bottom two playoff spots at 40-37.

With the teams having split their season series, the Lakers would be seeded eighth by virtue of the Kings having the better division record. Sacramento is 10-5 in the Pacific; the Lakers are 6-7.

At least the Lakers can take comfort with a schedule that has them playing their final five games at Staples Center. Then again, the Lakers also are only two games ahead of the ninth-place Hornets.

Jackson was asked afterward whether it matters to face either Phoenix or San Antonio, the possible difference between the seventh and eighth seeds, in the first round.

"I'd just as soon not fly to San Antonio," Jackson said. "It's pretty simple, isn't it?

It was only the third time the Lakers have lost in the 10 games Bryant has scored 50 points or more in his career.

The Lakers trailed all night but closed to 80-79 at the end of the third. But the question was whether Thursday's marathon overtime loss to Denver would catch up to them.

With Bryant on the bench, Shawn Marion soared for an alley-oop dunk and the Suns were off and running. Marion had only two points entering the fourth quarter but finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds for the game.

Lamar Odom closed the third quarter with a series of strong plays but missed a 20-footer early in the fourth and hit the side of the backboard with another shot on the first possession after Bryant returned.

The Suns did all their damage in the fourth with MVP guard Steve Nash sitting. Leandro Barbosa finished with 23 points and Eddie House added 10 off the bench. The Lakers, meanwhile, got six points on 2-of-14 shooting from their bench.

Bryant also was called for his 14th technical foul of the season in the third quarter. He was yelling at referee Mike Callahan for not calling a foul at the other end of the floor when Raja Bell plowed into him driving to the basket.

Bryant was whistled for the blocking foul and Callahan followed with the technical. If he receives two more technical fouls in the regular season, Bryant faces a one-game suspension.

Nash finished with 25 points and eight assists, flipping one pass behind him in the lane to Tim Thomas for a layup in the first quarter.

Bryant, meanwhile, broke the arena scoring record shared by Amare Stoudemire and Clifford Robinson, both of whom had 50-point games. If nothing else, Bryant all but clinched the NBA scoring title.

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