KEEP KOBE INVOLVED: PLAN IS TO STICK WITH INVOLVED PROCESS L.A. ALSO CONSIDERS HOW TO BLEND IN BRYANT'S SCORING PROWESS.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO - Never forget that the Lakers were 1-0 in the regular season when Kobe Bryant scored 80 points or more.

As outlandish as it sounds, they were 2-0 when he scored at least 60. They were 4-2 when he scored at least 50 and 18-9 when he scored at least 40. When Bryant scored fewer than 40 points, however, the Lakers were 27-28.

The more Bryant has scored this season, the more the Lakers have won. Now, they trail the Phoenix Suns 1-0 in their first-round playoff series after a reserved game out of Bryant in which he finished with just 22 points on 7-of-21 shooting.

"I thought he was going to be a little more aggressive off the bat," center Kwame Brown said. "It's a long series. I think he's going to come out more aggressive the next game."

There was no need for Lakers coach Phil Jackson to worry about his team relying on Bryant to score 40 points in Sunday's opener. Bryant played nearly 47 minutes yet totaled fewer points than he has in some quarters this season.

The Lakers nevertheless nearly came away with a victory. They reconvened at practice Monday to consider Bryant's place as a scorer in Jackson's scheme for beating the Suns that concentrates on slowing the game and getting the ball inside.

Bryant took only 10 shots through the first three quarters and had as many assists (four) as baskets. He tried to deliver a victory in the fourth quarter but missed his first five shots and went 3 for 11 as the Lakers lost 107-102.

Bryant averaged 42.5 points a game against the Suns in the regular season, but focused Sunday on finding Lamar Odom and Brown down low. He played at the top of the floor for the most part and didn't start driving until the game's last six minutes.

The Lakers also were unable to take advantage as Phoenix's Raja Bell, the primary defender against Bryant, played only 10:21 in the second half because of foul trouble. Bryant also missed several jumpers than have been next to automatic this season. Even with the loss, Bryant said he remained committed to getting others involved.

"At the end of the regular season, you look at how well we played together," Bryant said. "I mean, Lamar had triple-doubles, Kwame was getting 15(points) and 15 (rebounds), and I was doing what I've been doing.

"It's just playing in that rhythm, it's just finding that rhythm against this team, that's all."

Jackson was asked whether it was a good move to change the way the Lakers have played all season with Bryant to exploit the Suns' lack of size and strength and stall out their run-and-gun offense.

"I don't know if it's best or not," Jackson said. "Obviously, we didn't win the game. But it was a way in which we wanted to function a little bit, focus on what we thought was the advantage against this team."

When Bryant is on a roll, his scoring can suck the life out of an opposing team. But Jackson is mindful that the Lakers will have to score more than 100 points to beat the Suns, a total they cannot reach with Bryant doing everything.

The Lakers will look to get Bryant involved early when the play Phoenix in Game 2 on Wednesday. Odom likely will spend more time initiating the offense and Bryant will try to drive or post up against Bell.

What Jackson doesn't want to see are the long jumpers that turn into long rebounds and a license to run for the Suns. For now, Bryant might have to work from 15 feet and in.

"I can get any shot I want against this team," Bryant said. "Any time, any place. I can raise up and shoot whenever. I can get to the basket whenever. It's just picking the spots because I've got to make sure I keep everybody involved."

The Lakers spent Monday watching film of the first half and talking about areas for improvement. One came with how they will play the Suns' screen and rolls, in particular involving Steve Nash and Boris Diaw.

Instead of switching, the Lakers will fight to stay with their original man. They don't want to see any more mismatches of Brown on Nash, or Parker on Tim Thomas.

With the Suns expected to make a concerted effort to run Wednesday, Parker vowed to pressure Nash the length of the court, especially trying to force Nash to catch all passes going backward instead of "on the run" and racing up court.

Jackson said his players were encouraged by the effort against the Suns. Bryant said he did not come away from the game wishing he had done more.

"I came out of there thinking, `Damn, we let one get away,"' Bryant said. "We had a lot of free throws that we missed, we had easy baskets that we missed. We blew a lot of opportunities."

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WESTERN CONFERENCE FIRST ROUND BEST-OF-7 PHOENIX LEADS 1-0