LAKERS LOSING GROUND ONLY 1 1/2 AHEAD OF DENVER AFTER LOSS DENVER 111, LAKERS 105.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND 

Staff Writer

At a time in the season when confidence should be building, not waning, the Lakers wobbled Tuesday.

Instead of an impressive, momentum-building victory over a playoff-bound team, the Lakers turned in an uneven effort against Denver and displayed a disturbing inability to execute plays down the stretch.

In a flurry of airballs, missed free throws and blown defensive assignments, the Lakers stumbled in the fourth quarter and the Nuggets pulled out a 111-105 victory at Staples Center.

Kobe Bryant scored 39 points and Lamar Odom recorded his third career triple-double (17 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists) but the Nuggets moved to within 1 1/2 games of the Lakers for sixth place in the Western Conference.

The Clippers, tonight's opponent, loom just 2 1/2 games back and are playing well of late.

"It doesn't matter who is behind us," said Odom, who tied a career high in assists. "We lost to Memphis and it hurt the same way. It just happens that we're playing the teams that are chasing us. We've shown that we can play well against any team in the league, and we've shown that we can stink it up a little bit too."

And since it isn't a Laker game without some type of injury drama, Kwame Brown once again fell victim. Brown aggravated his sprained left ankle in the second quarter and didn't play in the second half.

"He twisted the ankle again," Jackson said. "We'll try to get him ready for (tonight)."

The Lakers were in it late and even led with five minutes left, but couldn't convert on either end.

With the score tied 102-102 and fourminutes remaining, Denver's J.R. Smith hit a 3-pointer to give Denver the lead for good. Moments later, Carmelo Anthony's dunk gave Denver a five-point lead.

Then, on consecutive possessions, Smush Parker shot an airball and had a layup attempt blocked.

With the Lakers down by three and 91seconds left, Smith committed a flagrant foul, but Andrew Bynum missed both free throws and Bryant missed a jumper on the ensuing possession. Anthony's two free throws with 48.2 seconds left made it 109-104, and even Bryant couldn't rescue the Lakers from there.

"We didn't execute well, it's that simple," Bryant said. "We turned the ball over, and we weren't able to capitalize on opportunities and it got away from us. We played well in spurts but not enough to win."

Despite a Denver defense seemingly designed to thwart him, Bryant shot often, made 14 of 31 attempts and became the youngest player in NBA history to reach 19,000 points.

Carmelo Anthony had 31 points and Marcus Camby had 21 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks for Denver.

Asked before Tuesday night's game against Denver if he knew, from game to game, what type of game to expect from Bryant, Jackson said, "No," then quickly corrected himself.

"I mean, I do on some nights," Jackson said. "Against some teams, like (Denver), he's going to be double-teamed and they're going to rotate their defense."

So Tuesday's game would be a pass-first effort for Bryant, right?

Wrong. By the end of the first quarter, Bryant had already taken 10 shots and scored 12 points and didn't let up from there.

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The Lakers' Lamar Odom, left, and Kobe Bryant defend Denver's Carmelo Anthony.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer