(My Sportsbook) - A winning road trip is cause for celebration for most NBA teams. For the Los Angeles Lakers, it can be a disappointment.

The Lakers finished a three-game trek at 2-1 when Andrew Bynum scored 19 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, as Los Angeles held on for a 106-104 win over the woeful Washington Wizards on Friday.

Kobe Bryant had 23 points, seven assists and seven boards for the Lakers, but made only 5-of-17 shots. Pau Gasol contributed 17 points, 10 boards and six assists in the win for LA, which has won two in a row and nine of 10.

The win came on the heels of two other uneven performances. The Lakers lost a 16-point fourth quarter lead in Indianapolis on Tuesday and dropped the game on Troy Murphy's tip-in at the buzzer.

LA then let a poor shooting Philadelphia team hang around before finally taking over in the fourth quarter.

A win is a win and no one can complain about a 16-2 record, even the NBA's resident psychiatrist, Phil Jackson. But, complacency can become a habit and Jackson would like to get his team back to the mentality of stepping on the throat of the weak.

"We're a very patient team," Bryant told me in Philadelphia. "We don't rattle easily. We've been through a lot of wars and battles. When a team jumps out early, we just collect ourselves and go back and execute and think about what they're doing and counter them."

ON THE OTHER HAND

The Los Angeles Clippers have almost been the bizarro Lakers this season and stand at a hapless 4-16.

The club did manage to salvage a win on the final game of a five-game swing in the Twin Cities when Baron Davis scored 27 points and dished out nine assists to lead the Clippers in a 107-84 victory over the Timberwolves.

Meanwhile, new Clippers power forward Zach Randolph has been as advertised since being acquired in a trade from the New York Knicks. In five games with the Clips, Randolph is averaging 21 points and 8.6 rebounds.

Mike Dunleavy has built quite the cabal of power since ousting the very popular Elgin Baylor and this team has underachieved mightily.

"We've had a lot of inconsistencies in our play and we've dealt with a lot of injuries," center Marcus Camby said.

Perhaps, but there is just too much talent here to be one of the NBA bottom- feeders.

WARRIORS SEASON SLIPPING AWAY

Don't look now but the Golden State Warriors season is slipping away.

The team lost it's ninth straight contest on Saturday in a city they have a lot of experience losing in, San Antonio.

The Spurs drubbed Golden State, 123-88, and the Warriors haven't won a game in the Alamo City since 1997. That's 21 straight losses in all.

"A game like this you simply just have to flush it down the toilet," said guard Jamal Crawford. "When you lose by forty points the next game can't come fast enough. We just have to try to bounce back and get ready for Oklahoma City."

It may be easy to just write off a blowout but understand the Warriors have not lost as many as nine straight since March 26-April 11 of 2006, and the 35-point margin of victory by the Spurs was the largest by any Warriors opponent then season.

Meanwhile, the team fell to 2-10 on the road and had lost by double figures seven times.

Got a tonic for that?

How about the Thunder. The Warriors will finish a three-game road swing at Oklahoma City on Monday and the 2-19 Thunder may be just the medicine Don Nelson's club needs.

HOME SWEET HOME?

To complete the trio of ineptitude in the Pacific, you have to make a visit to California's capital and take a look at Reggie Theus' Sacramento Kings.

The Kings have lost eight straight and 11 of its last 12 games. The club also matched a franchise record for futility at home when they dropped their eighth straight at ARCO Arena on Saturday after the Denver Nuggets throttled them, 118-85.

The franchise also lost eight consecutive games at home during the 1971-72 season when it toiled in Kansas City and matched that in ARCO Arena during the 1993-1994 season.

Theus is obviously on the hot seat but he has retained at least one important ally. Star guard Kevin Martin, who just returned to the floor after missing 12 games with an ankle injury, has been vocal in support of his mentor.

"It's not (Theus and his staff) losing games," Martin told the Sacramento Bee. "They are putting their hard hours in, giving us their scouting report night in and night out, and they're not playing the games. It's on us. I want him here, Brad (Miller), the vets, they want him here. He's our coach."

SECOND BEST OF A BAD LOT

The Phoenix Suns haven't exactly been lighting things up in Terry Porter's first season in the desert but they are certainly the second best of the bad lot.

When you take the Lakers out of the equation in the Pacific, it's not pretty. The Warriors have lost nine straight, Sacramento had dropped eight in a row and the LA Clippers have been on the wrong side of the score in six of their last eight outings.

The Suns?

Well they snapped a four-game skid on Saturday when Amare Stoudemire recorded a double- double with 22 points and 20 rebounds, as Phoenix pulled out a gutty 106-104 win over the Utah Jazz.

"It's one game, but it's a big game for us and now we have to continue to build," forward Matt Barnes said afterwards.

At 12-9, the Suns are far from the juggernaut they have been under Mike D'Antoni but the weak competition in the division should enable them to pad their record as the season moves on.