Lakers Reach a Low Five

SALT LAKE CITY — It was unfamiliar territory for Coach Phil Jackson, but the Lakers had been there, lost that.

Not since March 1994 had Jackson coached a team that lost five consecutive games, but the Lakers did just that, falling to the Utah Jazz, 90-80, and bringing back memories of their swoon at the end of last season.

Kobe Bryant did not play, but Andrei Kirilenko certainly did for Utah on Tuesday night at Delta Center.

The All-Star forward, in and out of the Jazz lineup this season because of a variety of injuries, had 14 points, nine assists, eight rebounds, seven blocked shots and six steals as the Lakers dipped below .500.

Now 15-16 overall, the Lakers get Bryant back from his two-game suspension for Friday’s home game against Philadelphia, otherwise known as the great Jackson stand. Jackson has never lost six consecutive games in his 15-year NBA coaching career.

“Is that right?” Jackson said. “Well, things happen.”

Losing happened a lot last season, when the Lakers went 2-19 to end the season and had losing streaks of eight, five and six games toward the end.

After staying with Utah for the better part of three quarters, the Lakers gave way in the fourth when their offense finally foundered without Bryant. There was a surprising 54-46 Laker lead near the midpoint of the third quarter, but it dissipated by the time the fourth quarter rolled around.

Lamar Odom had 25 points and was the only Laker to score in double figures. Reserves Von Wafer, Sasha Vujacic and Kwame Brown each had nine points.

“We needed one more player to come in and play a really good game for us to win this one tonight,” Jackson said.

The Jazz might have won with only one player.

Kirilenko was everywhere, feeding teammates on fastbreaks, stepping into passing lanes, and, most notably, rejecting Laker shots and altering numerous others.

“He was playing pingpong out there, volleyball or something,” Jackson said. “I thought he was playing the wrong sport for a while. It looked like our guys were setting him up with great sets. Some of the guys were just putting it up there on a tee or something. I don’t know what they were doing.”

The hard part for the Lakers would be to count the points not scored by Bryant, who sat out two games and lost $289,943 in salary for intentionally elbowing Memphis guard Mike Miller in the chin last week.

Two days after losing to the Jazz by four at Staples Center, the Lakers collapsed in the fourth against Utah. Bryant, the league’s second-leading scorer, averages 32.7 points.

“Of course we missed him, but we knew we wasn’t going to have him,” Odom said.

Jackson wouldn’t even go there.

“I won’t even speculate on that,” he said. “Didn’t happen.”

The Lakers made only nine of their first 32 shots before making their final seven attempts of the second quarter on the way to a 45-42 halftime edge.

Momentum seeped into the second half, when Smush Parker’s three-pointer with 7:22 left in the third quarter gave the Lakers their largest lead.

Then came a run by Utah, and perhaps, the inevitable.

The Lakers had lost their previous four games by a combined 13 points, but this one wasn’t a close call.

“I think I must not be doing a great job,” Jackson said dryly before the game.

A reporter intoned that Jackson was starting to sound like New York Knick Coach Larry Brown, who can do a pretty good woe-is-me act.

“Don’t throw me in that category,” Jackson said.

Afterward, there were five consecutive losses, something Jackson never experienced in his first five seasons with the Lakers.

“We just multiplied some mistakes in this last week and a half that set ourselves back, right back to where we were a month ago,” Jackson said.

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Losing streak

*--* DATE OPPONENT SCORE Jan. 3 at Utah L 90-80 Jan. 1 Utah L 98-94 Dec. 28 Memphis L 100-99 (OT) Dec. 26 at Washington L 94-91 Dec. 25 at Miami L 97-92

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