LAKERS DRIVE STALLS AT FIVE WIN STREAK ENDS AGAINST WORST TEAM IN LEAGUE MEMPHIS 88, LAKERS 86.

Byline: ROSS SILER

Staff Writer

In the three seasons since trading Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers have not been able to stretch a winning streak past five games. All that stood in their way Tuesday night was a Memphis Grizzlies team counting the days to the draft lottery.

Even that was too tall an order, though, as the Lakers were snapped back to reality in an inexplicable 88-86 loss to the Grizzlies, who brought the NBA's worst record (18-53) to Staples Center and were playing without two injured starters.

Only five days after he torched the Grizzlies for 60 points, the fourth- highest scoring game of his career, Kobe Bryant didn't even come close to another milestone number. He finished with 23 points and made just 7 of 26 shots.

"It was just one of those games we couldn't get our rhythm," Bryant said. "Everybody has games like that and we had one tonight."

Bryant finished the game flat on his back, his turnaround jumper with a chance to tie in the final seconds having been swatted by Pau Gasol. Worse than that, the Lakers were stopped dead in their tracks of what had been a compelling playoff push.

"We can set ourself up either to play a seven-game series or get swept," Lakers forward Lamar Odom said. "If we go out there and play like that, it's easy to get swept by good teams. If we go out and play the way we know we can play, we can push any team to seven games."

After giving back what had been a 15-point lead in the first half, the Lakers still had a chance to win on the final possession. Hakim Warrick split a pair of free throws and Lakers coach Phil Jackson diagrammed a final play for Smush Parker, not Bryant.

But Parker came up short on an open 3-pointer from the corner. The rebound bounced right to Bryant, who had his turnaround jumper blocked by Gasol with 1.9 seconds left, and time expired on the Lakers' five-game winning streak.

And Bryant's run of putting up numbers not seen since the days of Wilt Chamberlain also went down the drain. The Lakers had an early clue that things would be different when Bryant stepped to the line and missed two free throws to start the game.

Bryant had been averaging 53.6 points and shooting the lights out the past five games. But the Grizzlies dug in with a zone defense and swarmed Bryant with defenders every time he touched the ball.

"It really was not a very good game," Jackson said, "but Kobe's due to have a game where shots didn't go down and he wasn't shooting the ball well. Those odds are going to function a little bit in that regard."

The result? Bryant was outscored 24-23 by undrafted rookie Tarence Kinsey. The Grizzlies, hoping to win the rights to draft Greg Oden or Kevin Durant, were playing without Mike Miller and Damon Stoudamire, both out with knee tendinitis.

The Lakers blew a chance to move three games ahead of Denver in the standings and solidify their hold on sixth place. Instead, they showed that they were not above a loss to a Memphis team that has not won consecutive games all season.

They also learned only sevenminutes before player introductions that center Kwame Brown could not get his sprained left ankle in shape to play. Andrew Bynum started in his place but Jackson said the 19-year-old center wasn't up to the task.

The Lakers also had no answers for the Memphis' zone defense, scoring just 14 points and making 5 of 23 shots in the third quarter. Bryant missed all six shots he took in the quarter as the Grizzlies took a 68-63 lead into the fourth.

"At some point, I felt like the team was relying on Kobe to do all the scoring," Jackson said, "and nobody could pick it up once they kind of figured he wasn't going to make shots."

The loss was the Lakers' second to Memphis this season.

"We won't sleep too well tonight," Bryant said. "But you have to use that as motivation and just gear up and get ready for the next one."

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Photo:

(color) Kobe Bryant tries to clear his eyes after being hit in the face by Memphis' Pau Gasol.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer