STREAK MARCHES ON LAKERS BEAT GRIZZLIES FOR 13TH STRAIGHT VICTORY LAKERS 103, VANCOUVER 91.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

March arrived, the march continued, though often in stop-motion action.

Twenty-four hours removed from their ballyhooed battle in the Pacific Northwest, the Lakers returned home for a date with considerably less sizzle, and certainly none of the intrigue of their just-completed victory over rival Portland.

And though the Vancouver Grizzlies provided their own sort of drama, of the upset variety, it was a short-lived notion. The Lakers marched over their overmatched opponent to their 13th consecutive victory, 103-91, on Wednesday at Staples Center.

Coupled with their previous 16-game winning streak, the Lakers (47-11) are once again tilling new ground. This is the longest pair of double-digit streaks a Lakers team has had in one season.

Shaquille O'Neal, newly crowned NBA player of the month, scored 25 points as the Lakers also won their seventh in a row at home. O'Neal added 17 rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 2:43 left to play.

Kobe Bryant, despite another off shooting night, scored a game-high 27 points. He was 9 for 22 from the field.

Fresh off their inspired victory at Portland, the Lakers bench maintained its heightened play. Robert Horry scored 10 points, leading a 32-point effort from the reserves.

But the Lakers mostly muddled through this game. They never led by more than six points until late in the third quarter, then buried the Grizzlies (18-39) under an avalanche of 3-pointers.

With the Lakers down by a point, Brian Shaw, Horry, Rick Fox and Bryant hit successive 3s to take a 77-69 lead into the fourth. Travis Knight's putback jam and another 3-pointer from Fox made it a double-digit lead, 82-71, less than three minutes into the final period, and the Grizzlies never got close again.

For fourth-quarter excitement, fans had to settle for a couple of spiffy Bryant dunks and Derek Fisher's flying leap over the $1,000 courtside seats - complete with a foot to actor Jon Lovitz's head - to save a ball.

Michael Dickerson and Shareef Abdur-Rahim kept it interesting for most of three quarters, scoring 18 points each for Vancouver.

A steep dropoff in Laker emotion and intensity was only natural after Tuesday's explosive showdown in Portland. In fact, it was anticipated.

``There's got to be some letdown, certainly,'' coach Phil Jackson said, ``but we know how we can win this ballgame, we discussed the opportunity of what we have ahead of us.''

And the Grizzlies presented enough challenges to command the Lakers' attention, even if they don't much resemble the Trail Blazers.

``We have the right kind of situation for us. They're a young team, they're aggressive, a good point guard (Mike Bibby), all those combination of things, like an outside-shooting center, that have bothered us,'' said Jackson, named NBA coach of the month for February. ``But this kind of team we know how to beat.''

There were few glimmers of that knowledge in the first half, as the Lakers emerged flat and barely took a 48-47 halftime lead on Bryant's buzzer-beating bank shot.

O'Neal returned to form after a tough shooting night against Portland. He hit 7 of 11 shots from the field and had 16 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in the half.

Bryant struggled early but scored eight points in the half on 4-of-10 shooting. Rice had just four points by halftime, but the bench crew of Horry, Fox, Fisher and Shaw combined for 11 points.

Defense was harder to find. The Grizzlies shot 47.6 percent and got a huge boost from an unlikely source. Grant Long, who does not resemble Rasheed Wallace, scored 11 points, hitting all five of his field-goal attempts.

Jackson admitted some concern about keeping his team focused during the dog days of March, but the Lakers have some more inspiring opponents due at Staples soon. Eastern powers Indiana and Miami are here Friday and Sunday, respectively.

And there's a four-game trip to the East, with stops in New York and Miami, in two weeks.

``It's just a critical (time) because we have a short span of time next week in which we have an opportunity to have a little bit of down time, and then it's back-to-back (games) on Sunday-Monday, and that East Coast trip is going to really challenge us,'' Jackson said. ``That's ahead of us and looms out as our next real big challenge as a basketball club.

``We know that we have to get through this part of the season as best as possible, stay healthy, and go into this mid-March. All eyes turn to college (basketball), and we have to go through this kind of withering schedule and play the best ball possible if we're going to maintain what we've earned up to this point.''

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Photo: (color) Derek Fisher tries to distract Vancouver's Brent Price by leaping high into the air.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Box: Game recap