KOBE, PHIL PLAY GOOD COP, BAD COP.

Byline: KEVIN MODESTI

Good cop wears badge No. 24 and a bright, confident, familiar grin.

Bad cop wears smarter-than-thou eyeglasses and, the past week or so, a fed-up expression.

Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson seem to be applying the old interroga-

tion routine to the tricky task of coaxing better basketball behavior out of a young team of Lakers screw-ups.

We'll see how it works in the next eight games, on the poorly-timed Eastern trip that shapes up as the test of the Lakers' season for the head coach, the captain and whoever else is claiming to be a locker-room leader.

Who knows what they're saying behind closed doors, but listen to what Jackson and Bryant had to say after the Lakers fell to the San Antonio Spurs 96-94 on Sunday, their second overtime loss in a row and fourth loss in five games.

Hear the difference.

Jackson said that in the third quarter, as the Lakers' 10-point lead dwindled, he called timeout and ``told them they were screwing it up.''

Bryant spoke of such episodes as steps on the learning curve, saying he's told teammates, ``We, as a young team, need to learn how to tighten the vise'' on opponents.

Jackson said of the Lakers' loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday: ``That was a turd we dropped on the court the other night.''

Bryant avoided such jolting language, urging his teammates to keep ``an even keel'' in the rough waters of six losses in 10 games.

Jackson sounded exasperated about the Lakers' bad-to-worse free-throw shooting, saying: ``I'm sick and tired of taking 20 minutes out of practice to practice free throws ... This is their responsibility.''

Bryant talked up the positive in such negative numbers, saying of the string of losses that should have been wins: ``I use it as motivation for my guys, (to) make sure we stay focused on the details as we go on the road.''

Jackson said (before Sunday's game) that the ``lack of focus'' in the past month's bad losses to Memphis, New Orleans and (twice) Charlotte ``starts with the coach,'' said he's tried not to be ``overbearing'' with his young team, but indicates it might be time to start cracking down.

Bryant said (after Sunday's game) he's told the kids, ``stay cool.''

So it goes. Head coach taking an increasingly hard tone. Captain purring an outwardly soothing song.

The right combination? We'll see in the eight-game stretch that begins Tuesday against the New York Knicks and includes New York-Boston, Indiana-Washington and Detroit-Toronto back-to-backs. We'll see if the Lakers can come up winners on a trip on which, just judging by won-lost records, they could sink as low as 2-6.

A test of leadership is coming up, a test of Jackson's and Bryant's ability to rally the troops.

``Yeah,'' Bryant said when it was put to him that way late Sunday afternoon at Staples Center. ``It's making sure the guys are OK. You can get flustered after a couple of tough losses like this. What I tell them is, relax. They (the Spurs) made big shots tonight, they played like champions. Let's go out on the road and see what we can do.''

Any worry about losing for the fourth time in five games going into an eight-game roadie?

``We've gotta play the eight games anyway, whether we win or lose this one,'' Bryant said.

The Lakers played San Antonio, their most frequent foe of the decade, for the 51st time in the 2000s, counting regular seasons and playoffs. The series was 25-25 going into Sunday.

Not that this game mattered or anything. But winning or losing meant the difference between the Lakers (27-17) being No. 5 in the Western Conference playoff seedings right now, two games behind No. 3 San Antonio, or No. 6, four games behind the Spurs.

Not that it's a pivotal time or anything. But Luke Walton twisted an ankle Friday and is out for at least a week, Lamar Odom (knee sprain) came back Friday, and Kwame Brown (ankle sprain) is expected to return during the trip -- all of this just as the second half of the season gets underway.

A nine-point lead got away in the last six minutes of regulation after the Lakers held the Spurs to 28.8 percent shooting in the first three quarters. Two go-ahead jumpers by Kobe in the final 61 seconds of overtime weren't enough. With seven seconds left, Odom got caught between double-teaming Tim Duncan and guarding Michael Finley, and Finley made the winning 3-pointer.

Coach and captain agreed, the veteran Spurs showed the young Lakers how it's done.

``We just didn't finish it the right way in the end,'' Jackson said.

Bryant said: ``Look at the Spurs and how they operate. They go out and execute even when things aren't going their way. That's how we've got to be.''

Same message, increasingly different deliveries, for Lakers leaders at a crossroads. Will both ways work? Will either?

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The Lakers' Kobe Bryant goes for the steal against San Antonio's Michael Finley in the second half Sunday.

Edna T. Simpson/Daily News