LAKERS NOTEBOOK; WHEN WILL LAKERS LOSE?

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

Eventually, one presumes, the Lakers' winning streak will end. It's just getting tougher to figure out how, when or why, or to whom.

In winning 14 straight, they've beaten some of the league's best teams (San Antonio, Toronto, Charlotte) and some of the worst (Dallas, Vancouver). They've won at home (7-0) and on the road (7-0). They've won with routs (122-98 over the Clippers) and with comebacks (beating Seattle after a 19-point deficit).

Even when they seemingly SHOULD lose - Saturday's victory at Seattle was the fourth game in five days, and they had to fight back from a 13-point deficit the night before against Charlotte - they win anyway.

It's hard not to look at the results and think the Lakers, winners of 21 of the last 22, might be, ahem, unstoppable.

``We feel like we're a very good team, we don't feel like we're unstoppable just yet,'' Glen Rice said. ``We've still got a lot of things we've got to work on.''

True, but it only makes the streak more impressive. The Lakers have shown they can win despite their own nightly failures, as the victories over the Hornets and Sonics showed.

``Winning does help that, but you don't want to get into a position where you get comfortable,'' Rice said. ``You don't want to make it a pattern of trying to come back from behind all the time. You want to go out there and get rid of teams early and get the other guys on the bench involved as well.''

The tests will keep coming as the Lakers try to reach 16 consecutive wins - which would match the second-longest streak in franchise history - and stir notions of challenging the NBA record of 33, set by the 1971-72 Lakers.

Eight of the next nine opponents have winning records, and the Lakers have a tough three-game trip this week to Milwaukee, Indiana and Minnesota. So they might have to stop spotting opponents double-digit leads.

``You can't turn it on and off,'' Kobe Bryant said. ``You get on the road in Indiana or Milwaukee, that might bite you in the butt. So we have to nip this in the bud.''

A loss will surely come soon, but that doesn't seem a sure bet anymore. As Rice notes, when the Lakers are clicking the way they did at Seattle, anything seems possible.

``If we can put 48 minutes together like we had that second half,'' he said, ``I don't think there's a team in the league that can come out and even compete with us.''

--The last word: The Bryant-Ruben Patterson grudge match, featured as a prominent subplot by Seattle media, pretty much fizzled. As expected, they rarely guarded each other, and while Patterson reeled off 19 first-half points, he was held to two in the second half.

Bryant did beat Patterson for a few key baskets in the second half as he amassed a game-high 31 points, but said he didn't bother saying anything to the self-proclaimed ``Kobe stopper.''

``For what?'' Bryant said. ``He knows he can't guard me.''

LAKERS vs. DENVER

--Tipoff: 7:30 p.m., at Staples Center 

--TV/Radio: Fox Sports Net; KLAC-AM (570)

LAKERS (29-5) UPDATE: They get a chance to avenge one of their early losses, a 93-82 defeat at Denver on Nov. 18. Incredibly, the Lakers have lost just twice since then.

NUGGETS (17-15) UPDATE: They've been dominant at home (14-5), but awful on the road (3-10). The Nuggets were unable to sustain the hot streak they started in December, when they posted consecutive victories over Sacramento, San Antonio and Portland. Ex-Laker Nick Van Exel is averaging 16.5 points and 8.9 assists.

- Howard Beck

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Box: LAKERS vs. DENVER (see text)