The Lakers are 5 ? games behind Denver with 14 to play. They?ve lost 7 in a row, their longest streak in 11 years, which was also the last time they missed the playoffs.

To put things in perspective: even if the Lakers ignite and win 12 of those final 14, the Nuggets would have to finish 6-9 in their final 15. Given that Denver has won 13 of 14, a collapse seems as unlikely as a Lakers surge. While the Nuggets improved to 20-5 under coach George Karl, the Lakers fell to 10-17 under interim coach Frank Hamblen.

Hamblen seemed particularly upset over the Lakers? defensive breakdowns, which led to
63 second-half points, by a short-handed Denver team missing Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin. The Lakers, though they were without Lamar Odom, were with Devean George for the first time all season. And they had Kobe, who scored 14 points in the first half but went 1-4 in the second.

But any hopes of staying with the high-flying Nuggets evaporated in the third quarter, when Denver pushed a 5-point halftime lead to 13. Early in the quarter, Caron Butler stole the ball and went the length of the court for a lay-up that missed. No Laker bothered to run the floor with Butler, and the Nuggets came right back and scored. On the bench, Hamblen looked apoplectic, and later accused the Lakers of quitting.