NO MIDDLE GROUND FOR THE LAKERS LAKERS 108, G. STATE 103.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

There has to be a middle ground for the Lakers, between Kobe Bryant doing all the scoring and all the passing, between Luke Walton missing every shot and making the game's biggest, between beating good teams and losing to bad ones.

All the same, the Lakers had to like where they stood after beating the Golden State Warriors 108-103 on Monday night at Staples Center to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season.

Bryant scored 42 points - - 14 in the fourth quarter - - with just one assist in 39 minutes. Walton missed his first eight shots of the game but delivered when it counted late. The Lakers improved to 19-4 at home this season.

After disappointing losses to Dallas and the Hornets on the road, the Lakers regrouped at home and beat Golden State for the sixth consecutive time since Phil Jackson's return as coach.

If everything goes accordingly, the Lakers also played their final game without injured starters Lamar Odom and Kwame Brown. The two will practice today in the hope of returning Friday against Charlotte.

Walton played 31 minutes and wasn't able to hit a shot the first 29.But Walton hustled his way into two baskets late. The first came with 1:44 left as Walton got to a loose ball and scored after Maurice Evans had been blocked.

On the next possession, Walton came up with the offensive rebound after Bryant missed a 3-pointer. Walton tossed a shot with 1:11 to play as the Lakers went ahead for good, 103-101.

Stephen Jackson missed a jumper for Golden State with 49 seconds left and Bryant converted two free throws with 26.6 seconds left.

Walton finished with eight points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Bryant returned with 9:23 to play and scored nine straight points for the Lakers. He drilled jumpers over Mickael Pietrus and got to the line by drawing a fifth foul on Pietrus. For the night, Bryant went 11 of 22 from the field and 16 of 19 at the foul line.

The Lakers took the lead 95-94 with 4:46 to play by running out after a Baron Davis miss. Smush Parker feathered an alley-oop pass that Evans finished with a dunk. Davis left the game with a cramp in his calf.

The Lakers got caught up in running with the Warriors and matched a season-high for turnovers in a game (23) by the end of three quarters. Even when Jordan Farmar made a nice steal at one end, he flattened Davis at the other end for a charge.

The bad news for the Lakers was that the Warriors came in averaging 105.5 points per game in coach Don Nelson's run-and-gun offense. The good news was that the Warriors also allowed 106.8 points and were playing their second game since a major trade. They acquired Al Harrington and Jackson as the centerpieces of an eight-player swap with Indiana.

Harrington led Golden State with 30 points as the Lakers once again had no capable defender with Odom out injured.

Bryant was playing on the one-year anniversary of his 81-point game and Jackson talked beforehand about Bryant's all-or-nothing recent games. There has been little middle ground between the superstar guard getting others involved and scoring himself.

``There's this either/or we're getting into where either Kobe's like a facilitator or he's going into scoring mode,'' Jackson said. ``It's not quite that way. It's not that cut and dried. ``He can find his way (to score) out of the offense and also the other players can find their way to score out of the offense.

``A lot of the focus from the media has come about, `Wow, Kobe's really including everybody.' That's what a system offense is all about. It's just part of what we do.''

For example, Bryant scored three points - - all at the foul line - - in the first half of Saturday's loss to the Hornets. He had 21 points without an assist by halftime Monday, making 6 of 11 shots.

The Lakers failed to take care of the ball in the first quarter, which they finished with 10 turnovers, and couldn't even set up for a last shot with Bryant resting on the bench.

Sasha Vujacic was stripped by Baron Davis, who raced the other way and released a layup an instant before the horn sounded. The Warriors led 35-32 after the quarter with nine steals.

Andrew Bynum might have been playing his last game as a starter, with Brown hoping to return Friday. He finished with 10 points - - all in the first quarter - - and a career-high 15 rebounds.

The Lakers led 66-59 early in the third quarter but gave up a 15-1 run to the Warriors. It started with Brian Cook picking up his fourth foul with 9:24 left and Vladimir Radmanovic coming off the bench.

Radmanovic missed a 3-pointer and bricked a shot after Bryant found him cutting the lane. His run ended after 2:49, with Jackson sending Evans into the game and Radmanovic slow to realize Evans was replacing him.

Walton was so reluctant to shoot that he passed the ball on to Bynum with the 24-second clock a tick away from expiring in the third quarter. Jackson sat Walton for Cook at the next timeout.

Walton came into Monday shooting just 42.3 percent in January, having made 25 percent of his 3-pointers. Jackson said pregame that Walton seemed to be ``aiming'' the ball rather than just shooting it.

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

The Lakers' Kobe Bryant drives around the Warriors' Stephen Jackson in the second period.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer