Lakers can’t make getaway

Of course it would happen.

The Lakers were playing the San Antonio Spurs, not New Orleans or Charlotte, so victory was inevitable. Write it up and post it.

Unless ...

A nine-point lead disappeared in the final five minutes of regulation, Tony Parker finally found his scoring touch and Michael Finley, of all Spurs, made the deciding shot with 1.3 seconds left in overtime.

It happened Sunday, a 96-94 Spurs victory at Staples Center, the beginning of something the Lakers would rather not own up to -- consecutive home losses for the first time this season, and the end of their home crowds for a while. An eight-game trip, their longest since 1989, now beckons.

The same team that was 0-4 against the Hornets and Bobcats had plenty of chances to improve to 8-4 against the top Western Conference teams -- San Antonio, Dallas, Phoenix, Houston and Utah -- before it all crumbled amid poor free-throw shooting (58.1%), and stagnant rebounding (16-5, Spurs, on the offensive boards).

Even Coach Phil Jackson’s postgame news conference was a study in confusion when his usual room was taken over by the Bakersfield Jam for a Development League game immediately afterward. As the media eventually gathered in a much smaller room farther down the hall, Jackson didn’t seem overly irritated.

“You let San Antonio hang around long enough, they can find a way to win it, and they showed us how to close,” Jackson said.

The Lakers’ locker room was quieter than it was after Friday’s less forgivable home loss to Charlotte, anger apparently turning to fatigue and a touch of resignation after they frittered away a chance to sweep the Spurs in the season series for the first time since 1997-98. The Lakers will have to be happy with a 2-1 record against them.

That this loss came against a Spurs unit that had lost six of its last seven against teams with winning records didn’t help.

Kobe Bryant’s free throws with 5:09 left in regulation provided a 75-66 Lakers lead that would be gone quickly, and then some, the Lakers needing Vladimir Radmanovic’s three-pointer to tie the score at 80-80 with 27.5 seconds left in the fourth.

Bryant had a chance to end it in regulation, but his 19-foot attempt from the left side was blocked by Manu Ginobili with 0.2 of a second left.

Bryant’s 20-footer from the left wing gave the Lakers a 94-93 lead with seven seconds left in overtime, but the three-pointer by Finley -- left open by Lamar Odom, who’d double-teamed Tim Duncan -- was the deal-sealer.

Radmanovic airballed an awkward turnaround three-point attempt as time expired.

“We’re going to try and stop the bleeding as quickly as possible,” said Bryant, who had 31 points on 13-for-25 shooting, along with seven assists and six rebounds.

The Lakers had numerous opportunities to tuck the game away, holding an 11-point lead in the third quarter as Ginobili, Parker and Bruce Bowen struggled, making a combined two of 21 shots at one point.

“Both teams looked like they went out together last night through the whole first half,” Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich said.

But Parker finished with 19 points, seven in overtime, and Duncan was razor-close to a triple-double, finishing with 21 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.

Ready or not, the Lakers hit the road against Eastern teams, half of them with losing records -- New York, Boston, Indiana, Washington, Atlanta, Detroit, Toronto and Cleveland.

For more than a month, the Lakers (27-17) have lingered in the range of nine to 13 games over .500 -- nothing more, nothing less, although Jackson understandably wants more.

“You just don’t want to sit at that particular point and cruise through this part of the year,” he said. “You look at the road and if you go .500 on the road, you’re really happy about it. We just can’t be satisfied with that right now. We just have to go on the road trip with, ‘Let’s try to win six. Let’s try to push the limits of what we can do on this road trip.’ ”

There are always alternative measures, Jackson pointed out.

“Guys are going to start losing playing time,” he said. “When you do that, then that message comes really clear. You don’t have to say a word. That speaks volumes.”

*

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com

*

Traveling call

The Lakers will play their next eight games on the road,

the team’s longest trip since 1989. A look at their opponents and the teams’ overall records through Sunday:

*--* Tuesday at New York 19-27 Wednesday at Boston 12-31 Friday at Indiana 23-21 Saturday at Washington 26-17 Feb. 5 at Atlanta 15-27 Feb. 8 at Detroit 25-17 Feb. 9 at Toronto 22-23 Feb. 11 at Cleveland 25-19

*--*