CRUISIN' FOR A BRUISIN'; LAKERS' EXTENDED JOURNEY WILL TEST TALENT AND STAMINA.

Byline: Howard Beck Daily News Staff Writer

Six games in six cities in nine days. On paper alone, it's enough to make an NBA veteran's tendinitis flare up.

Throw in three time zones, two sets of back-to-back games in the last five days, jumping from Cleveland to Philadelphia to Orlando to Dallas, contending along the way with guys named Brandon and Iverson and Hardaway . . . and, well, suddenly the lockout didn't seem so bad.

``It's a very tough stretch,'' 37-year-old Derek Harper said of the Lakers' toughest road trip of the season, which begins today in Sacramento. ``Personally, I have to keep massage therapists in business on this road trip. That's the only way I'm gonna get through it.''

Between Saturday, when the Lakers left town, and next Monday night, March 22, the team will cover 6,795 miles, hitting both coasts and several climate changes. Their 10-game winning streak won't just be tested, it could be outright negated if the Lakers blink too hard.

And they don't exactly enter this gauntlet at full strength. Harper and Kobe Bryant have sore ankles, Robert Horry suffered dizziness Friday - perhaps thinking about the schedule? - and Dennis Rodman has left the team for undisclosed reasons, for an undetermined period.

Sound like fun? It all depends on your perspective, and the date stamped on your birth certificate.

Six games in six cities in nine days? No big deal to the 20-year-old.

``Aw man, you're making it sound hard,'' Bryant said to the reporter droning on about the details. It looks hard. ``It looks fun.''

Ah, youth. Bryant fully embraces the compacted schedule, which will take him home to Philadelphia on Friday. With the Lakers having recently added reinforcements in Glen Rice and J.R. Reid, without a loss since Feb. 23, everything sounds fun to the exuberant Bryant.

``We're having so much fun playing, so I think it's gonna be a fun road trip to go out and compete every night, especially because it is our only big road trip,'' he said. ``You're going up against Eastern Conference teams and they're going to be looking forward to playing you, beating your butt. So you gotta be ready.''

Easier said than accomplished. The Lakers start slowly, a game tonight against the Kings, then a day off before playing at Minneapolis on Tuesday, then another off day.

Then it gets exhausting. They play Thursday in Cleveland, hop on the team charter plane, get to Philadelphia sometime after midnight Friday, play again that night, then take a day off before an afternoon game in Orlando - just 36 hours after the final buzzer in Philly.

``It's very tiring, without a doubt,'' Harper said. ``But I think the fact that we have a lot of depth on our team will come into play. More guys are obviously gonna have to play and hopefully everybody that plays will step up and do things that need to be done to win.''

Again, no easy task considering the opponents. Minnesota is 8-1 at Target Center, Orlando is 10-1 at home. The Sixers are 12-8, winning seven of their past 10. Even the Kings, struggling of late, have a winning record at home. The only soft opponent is Dallas, and the Mavericks catch the Lakers for Game 6, a day after playing in Florida.

``It's gonna be tough, especially that Dallas game,'' Bryant said. ``That's a game that you really can't sleep on. (If you lose), you'll look back at the end of the season like, `Damn, we might have missed having home-court advantage (in the playoffs) because of that game.' ''

For rookie coach Kurt Rambis, the challenge is to maximize the 12-man roster, or 11 if Rodman skips the entire trip. But he still has to play his starters enough to win each night.

``We're gonna find out what the team is made of,'' Rambis said. ``Nobody said it was gonna be easy.''

Even for the youngsters.

``This is only my third year, and by the time we hit Cleveland Thursday night and going into Philly Friday night on the back-to-back, that makes it harder to chase a guy like (Allen) Iverson around,'' Derek Fisher said. ``But we accept the challenge. And we expect to win every game.''

Just keep the massage therapists and trainers close by.

HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE 

Here's a look at the Lakers' road-trip opponents and their records at home this season:

Team Record

Sacramento 4-3

Minnesota 8-1

Cleveland 6-4

Philadelphia 7-6

Orlando 10-1

Dallas 5-4

Total 40-19 (.678)

CAPTION(S):

Map, Box

MAP: SIX GAMES, NINE DAYS

Travel distances for Lakers road trip, March 14 to 23.

Total Miles: 6,795

Gregg Miller/Daily News

BOX: HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE (see text)