Lakers are way out of it

And that was only the beginning of the dire news for the Lakers, who started Friday evening tied for second place but finished it with the fourth-best record in the Western Conference.

The Lakers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies, 114-111, at Staples Center, their second loss in as many games against a woeful team, a fact that has seriously cramped their attempt to be a player in the West.

"For whatever reason, we like to make things difficult for ourselves," Fisher said. "We definitely have done that now. We'll see what we're made of."

Kobe Bryant looked at what was unfolding and tried to take it upon himself to beat the hapless Grizzlies (19-53), scoring a season-high 53 points. It wasn't enough.

The desperation of the Lakers could easily be traced to their franchise-record 45 three-point attempts. The old record was 44 in a December 2006 overtime game against Washington.

They made 15 three-pointers against the Grizzlies but couldn't get one to fall in the final seconds.

Odom missed an open three-point attempt from the right corner with the Lakers down two points and 22.9 seconds left. He also had a three-point attempt blocked in the final seconds.

With the Grizzlies up two, Rudy Gay tried to intentionally miss a free throw with 0.9 seconds left, but actually made it, giving the Lakers one last chance.

After a timeout, Luke Walton tried to throw an inbounds pass from the side to Bryant a split second before getting a five-second violation, but the Grizzlies knocked the ball away, ending the game.

Bryant bent down and put his head in his hands, obviously unhappy with the result. That's the West these days -- in control on Wednesday and in trouble by Friday night.

The day didn't start well for the Lakers, who were already down three players when two more news items emanated from the trainer's room.

An MRI exam earlier Friday revealed that Fisher had a partially torn tendon in his right foot, an injury that typically requires six to eight weeks of rest, though he will try to keep playing.

Fisher, who was hurt while trying to push off the foot Wednesday against Charlotte, had four points in 24 minutes against Memphis. He was averaging 12.9 points and two assists coming into the game.