NO POSTSEASON, JUST POSTMORTEM LOSS TO SUNS MAKES ELIMINATION OFFICIAL FOR LAKERS PHOENIX 125, LAKERS 99.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

PHOENIX - Some were convinced of it from the day Shaquille O'Neal was traded last July. Others saw it coming as soon as Rudy Tomjanovich resigned as coach at midseason. The rest came around during last month's eight-game losing streak.

The Lakers - the franchise of Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant - were going to miss the playoffs for the first time in 11 years and only the fourth time since moving to Los Angeles in 1960.

What was a foregone conclusion for weeks became reality Tuesday night at America West Arena. A 125-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns coupled with Denver's 94-91 victory over Memphis laid to rest the most disappointing Lakers season in recent memory.

``I think that in their minds, we were eliminated before tonight's game,'' interim coach Frank Hamblen said.

Bryant, who sat out with a bruised shin, was the first player to exit the locker room afterward, carrying a pair of game shoes that went unworn. For the first time in his NBA career, Bryant will not be a part of the postseason.

``You know what? Stuff happens,'' Bryant said. ``This is the path that we're on right now. We will bounce back, and we will be back.

``This is the course of action that we have to take. We're going to take it, we're going to take our lumps and get back up to the top.''

Bryant was asked how he would spend his first May off, whether he would watch the playoffs on television or not, and answered: ``I'm going to work.''

Even so, the second-guessing will start this morning, the first question being how the Lakers could send O'Neal to Miami, turn things over to Bryant and end up as only the seventh team in history to play in the NBA Finals one season and miss the playoffs the next.

To make matters worse, the Lakers (33-41) now trail the Clippers by a half-game in the standings. The only consolation available Tuesday? At least the Lakers won't have to face the Suns in the first round of the playoffs.

If not for the purple jerseys, the Lakers would have been all but unrecognizable as they were eliminated. Bryant did not dress for the game, Lamar Odom is on the injured list, and Chris Mihm joined him there with a sprained ankle.

That left the Lakers down three starters and forced to make do with Brian Grant, Luke Walton and Devean George against the Suns, who boast the NBA's best record at 57-17.

Caron Butler did his best to spark the Lakers, finishing with 30 points, but Phoenix connected on 17 3-pointers - a record for a Lakers opponent - and totaled 70 points in the first half alone.

That started the countdown to the May 24 draft lottery. The end had been forecast for weeks, with the only hope Tuesday coming from the minute possibility that Denver would lose its remaining games and the Lakers would win all of theirs.

``Next year, when we're rolling,'' Butler said, ``we'll look back at this and just remember where we were at.''

The last time the Lakers missed the playoffs was 1994, when they finished 33-49 and lost their final 10 games of the season with Johnson as coach. Vlade Divac, who returned from the injured list Tuesday, played on that team.

``It's a rebuilding process,'' Divac said. ``The Lakers are going to be OK, I'm sure.''

These Lakers are in the midst of a similarly spectacular collapse as that team from 11 years ago. They opened March with a one-game lead for the Western Conference's eighth and final playoff spot.

Now they have lost 12 of 13 games for the first time in franchise history, winning only once in the past 24 days. The current losing streak stands at four games.

From the beginning, this season was star-crossed, with Divac lost to a back injury in September, Karl Malone and Bryant having a spectacular falling out, Tomjanovich resigning in February and Bryant missing 14 games with a severely sprained ankle.

``In hindsight, you can look at that as being signs,'' Bryant said. ``Going through it, we just looked at it as obstacles for us to overcome.''

Phoenix's Quentin Richardson, who won the long-distance shootout at All-Star weekend, connected on seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points. The Suns took 39 3-pointers and still managed to shoot 55.7 percent overall.

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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(color) Kobe Bryant could only watch as the Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention.

Paul Connors/Associated Press

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