LAKERS NOTEBOOK: SHAKY LAKERS STILL IN TIGHT RACE.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - When the Lakers lost at Denver last week, their psyche and their loss column each took another hit. But then they look around and see the Clippers upset Sacramento and Chicago upset New York and Boston upset Utah, and it once again becomes clear: No one's going to dominate the league this season.

``As I told my staff about a week ago, this is just going to be a dog season,'' coach Phil Jackson said. ``This is going to be one of these seasons that everything's going to be two steps forward, one step back and you're going to go into the playoffs without a whole lot of confidence of what you can do, other than you're just going to have to play hard and make adjustments game by game. And it's going to be the teams that make those adjustments (that win).

``No one has momentum to be what I would call an outright favorite in the NBA right now,'' he said, ``although you can say that Philadelphia has done the best job of it.''

But in the West, the top five teams were within one loss of each other entering play Saturday.

``At the beginning of the season, I think I told you guys that we probably had 11 or 12 teams here that are competitive enough to beat any team on a given night in the West,'' Jackson said, ``and it's more than that. We got beat by the Clippers, which we won four games (against last season). And we got beat by Denver twice, which we won (three of) four games against last year. Those teams have all improved dramatically. We got beat by Minnesota, which we won four games (against) last year. ... And the dominance of top teams, as opposed to the teams that are going to be (low) in the standings is not that evident.''

--So long, farewell: Next time the Lakers and Grizzlies meet, it may well be in Memphis or Louisville, maybe New Orleans, possibly even in Orange County. The only thing that seems certain is it won't be here.

Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley has league permission to ditch Vancouver and plans to have a new home by next season.

David Stern and Steve Francis might not miss Vancouver, but several Lakers will.

``This is usually a favorite place for me to come into,'' Jackson said. ``I have relatives in the area and they were excited about the NBA coming up here. But it's not easy for this economy and the NBA and the type of players that we have to come here, to establish kind of a base and a support system. I think it's affected their standing. It's something you have to give five years for an expansion team, the chance for it to succeed.''

Rick Fox, who was born in Toronto, has relatives here and sings the city's praises. Shaquille O'Neal is indebted to the efforts of Vancouver-based physical therapist Alex McKechnie, who rehabbed his strained abdominal muscle.

--Also: Robert Horry, suffering from soreness in his back and knees, played just five minutes Saturday. ... Fox had his long locks braided into corn rows for the first time. The new 'do was inspired by his 7-year-old stepson, Devon (son of wife Vanessa Williams), who had his hair done up to emulate Latrell Sprewell and Allen Iverson.

LAKERS vs. GOLDEN STATE

Tipoff: 6:30 p.m., at Staples Center

TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net; 570-AM, 1330-AM (Spanish)

Lakers (38-19) update: They're just 6-7 on the second night of back-to-back sets. The Lakers and Warriors split their first two meetings of the season, each winning at home. They haven't met since the Warriors' 125-122 overtime victory in December, when Kobe Bryant and Antawn Jamison scored 51 points each.

Warriors (16-43) update: Heading into Saturday's game at Portland, they'd lost 14 of their last 16 games. Rookie of the year candidate Marc Jackson has been sidelined by a strained groin, and fellow starters Larry Hughes (sore left shoulder) and Bob Sura (sore left knee) also have been slowed by injuries.

- Howard Beck

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Box: LAKERS vs. GOLDEN STATE (see text)