HEADY WIN FOR LAKERS L.A. SNAPS LOSING STREAK VS. SPURS LAKERS 100, S.A. 92.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

SAN ANTONIO - The disclaimer has to come first, before anyone gets too carried away with what happened Friday, that the San Antonio Spurs were playing their fourth game in five nights, the toughest test for an NBA team.

They also were playing the second game of a back-to-back set, much like the Detroit Pistons were when they came to Staples Center last Saturday, a case of what Lakers coach Phil Jackson so often calls ``attrition of scheduling.''

With that out of the way, the Lakers now have beaten both of last season's NBA Finals teams in the last week, taking care of the Spurs 100-92 at AT&T Center and showing signs of coming together with 19 games left in the season.

It was the Lakers' first victory over the Spurs in seven games since Shaquille O'Neal was traded and came in one of the toughest places in the NBA to win. The defending champion Spurs have gone 26-4 at home this season and were 38-3 last season.

The good feelings afterward in the locker room were such that assistant coach Brian Shaw felt the need to alert the media to breaking news. Something that had to be in the paper this morning.

After years of debate, Shaw and forward Devean George finally had measured the size of each other's heads. It was official: George's was bigger by three-quarters of an inch, and everybody could now put the championship days behind them.

The Lakers could be forgiven for feeling a little big-headed Friday, when they had five players finish in double figures and moved into sole possession of seventh place in the Western Conference after the Hornets' loss to Indiana.

``We're starting to play with more of a purpose,'' Kobe Bryant said, ``and having a clear concept of what we're trying to accomplish out there.''

The Lakers (33-30) broke open the game with a big second quarter and held off the Spurs the rest of the way. More than the victory, though, the Lakers looked like the team Jackson had envisioned when he returned as coach last June.

If one play summed up the night, it came with 9:44 left and the Lakers holding a 76-66 lead. They gave the ball to Bryant with the shot clock running out, just like so many times this season.

Instead of standing and watching Bryant take the jumper, however, Luke Walton caught Michael Finley flat-footed and cut along the baseline at the last second. Bryant rose and fired a pass to Walton, who caught it and went up for a dunk.

``The reason why that play might not have been there earlier in the season is that everybody would have been clogging up the lane,'' Bryant said. ``Our spacing wouldn't have been good.

``Now we understand how to space the floor out. When you space the floor out, you're able to read one another better and make cuts and defensively teams can't just pack the lane in.''

On a night when Walton finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds, back to playing the game instead of drowning in his thoughts about it, that might have been the biggest play of all.

``I think that's part of the stuff that comes with being a team,'' Walton said. ``You know when Kobe's going to make the move. I think he's starting to trust us more down the stretch. Those are things you have to do as a team to win.''

Bryant finished with 29 points despite missing his first seven shots of the second half. He did make a 14-foot fadeaway from an almost impossible angle with 5:08 left and Bruce Bowen and Manu Ginobili all over him.

Then there was Kwame Brown, who played the entire fourth quarter, finished with 10 points and eight rebounds, and bodied up Tim Duncan on defense. It was Brown's 24th birthday and he celebrated with one of his best games as a Laker.

Duncan finished with 12 points, four rebounds and three turnovers, modest numbers for a former NBA MVP. Brown, meanwhile, capped his night with an alley-oop dunk late in the fourth quarter off a pass from Smush Parker.

``That's what he's capable of doing, defending those guys,'' Lamar Odom said of Brown. ``He's real quick on his feet, light on his feet, so strong. That was a great game for him, especially against a great player like Tim Duncan.''

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Kobe Bryant drives past the Spurs' Manu Ginobili, front right, and Bruce Bowen on his way to the basket during the Lakers' victory in San Antonio on Friday.

Eric Gay/Associated Press