ONCE AGAIN, BUCKS ARE NO MATCH FOR LAKERS LAKERS 111, MILWAUKEE 92.

Byline: Ross Siler Staff Writer

MILWAUKEE - There's not a lot you can count on with the Lakers in the post-Shaquille O'Neal era, but a victory over the Milwaukee Bucks and a frigid day spent by Lake Michigan are at least two certainties.

The Lakers beat the Bucks 111-92 on Tuesday night at Bradley Center, their ninth consecutive victory over Milwaukee, in a game that left them with nothing but warm feelings at the start of a six-game road trip.

Whether a matchup with Milwaukee's Michael Redd was the reason, Kobe Bryant was locked in all night, finishing with a game-high 33 points on 14-for-24 shooting, his best shooting game of the season.

And guard Smush Parker, who was searching for a job in pro basketball as summer began, continued to establish himself, notching his sixth 20-point game of the still-young season and totaling an NBA-season-high seven steals on defense.

``This is more than what I expected,'' Parker said. ``But I'm never satisfied. I'm playing well right now and I want to continue playing well. I don't take nothing for granted. I'm going to continue to get better. I only see me going up from here.''

Parker's play on defense was especially noteworthy considering the Lakers (8-9) ranked 29th in the NBA last season in steals - and flirted for a time with the league's all-time record for fewest in a single season.

He was a disruptive presence all night, even as Milwaukee started a lineup featuring a pair of point guards in T.J. Ford and Mo Williams. The last time a Laker had seven steals in a game came in December 1997, when Eddie Jones did it.

``I'm a thief,'' Parker said, jokingly. ``I'm from Brooklyn, a.k.a. Crooklyn. You develop some hands growing up in New York City.''

Forward Lamar Odom, meanwhile, moved to power forward with the Bucks starting a three-guard lineup and finished with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, narrowly missing his first triple-double since coming to the Lakers.

``The game just had a nice offensive flow,'' Odom said, ``so I was able to get up and down. It doesn't matter where you play me.''

Bryant shut down Redd last season, limiting Milwaukee's star guard to a total of 14 points on 4-of-21 shooting in two games. Redd led the Bucks with 21 points on 7-for-16 shooting Tuesday, but Bryant enjoyed the better night of the two.

Bryant came into the game shooting just 41.6 percent - the worst percentage since his rookie season - with coach Phil Jackson acknowledging the increasing criticism over Bryant taking an average of nearly 30 shots a game.

``We as a team, and me in particular, have been relatively gentle about it,'' Jackson said, ``because we know this is a learning process that we're going through.''

Bryant did put up a shot after a double pump-fake early and missed everything on a 3-pointer over Redd. But Bryant was drilling his jumper for the most part and also found his teammates for six assists.

``When our offense is flowing, I can just stay in the pocket, stay in the rhythm,'' Bryant said. ``I get a lot of easier looks, easier post-up opportunities. Guys are in the right spacing when double-teams come and the game flows a lot easier.''

Jackson added: ``They were good shots. There were some that were eyebrow-raisers out there, I'll tell you, that made us wonder what was going on. But, by and large, most of his shots were good.''

The Lakers' winning streak over the Bucks is their longest over any NBA team, and cabin fever might have had something to do with it Tuesday. The high temperature was 15 degrees, leaving Bryant to joke about the cold hurting his face.

``I went to L.A. and got soft,'' Bryant said.

For the time being, Jackson will downplay the Lakers' immediate prospects. Yet he said before Tuesday's game that he expects the team to ``catch fire'' sometime in January or February and close the season with a flourish.

``We're just out here kind of treading water as a basketball team right now,'' Jackson said. ``We're neither hot nor cold, neither fish nor fowl.''

Ross Siler, [phone]

ross.siler(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Lakers' Kobe Bryant goes up for a shot between Milwaukee's Jamaal Magloire, left, and Andrew Bogut.

(2) Milwaukee's T.J. Ford lands on the Lakers' Sasha Vujacic after making a basket in the fourth quarter on Tuesday's game.

Morry Gash/Associated Press