By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES(AP) -- When the New Jersey Nets finally reached an
inauspicious NBA record, the Staples Center's public address
announcer let the crowd know all about it.

At least he had the tact to wait until the Nets were out of
earshot after their 17th straight loss.

The undermanned, undertalented Nets matched the worst start to
an NBA season Sunday night, with Kobe Bryant scoring 30 points
in the Los Angeles Lakers' 106-87 victory.

A few hours after New Jersey fired coach Lawrence Frank, the
Nets had little prayer of keeping up with the defending league
champions, who won their sixth straight game. Despite apparently
playing hard for temporary head coach Tom Barrise, New Jersey
fell behind by 27 points in the first half and went into history
with yet another whimper.

"I wish I could explain it," said New Jersey guard Chris
Douglas-Roberts, who only lost 10 games in his three collegiate
seasons at Memphis. "There's not really anything good out of
this. I try to stay positive, but it's extremely hard to stay
positive. All the things going on, it's depressing."

The Nets were in the locker room, shaking their heads and
packing for an uncertain trip home, before the crowd was told
New Jersey's 0-17 start matched the 1988-89 Miami Heat and the
1999 Los Angeles Clippers in hoops futility.

"You have four-game losing streaks, three-game losing streaks,
and you can deal with that," said Barrise, whose tenure might
last just one game. "When you go a whole month, you wake up and
you feel it. You honestly do feel it."

New Jersey must beat the Dallas Mavericks back home in the East
Rutherford swamp on Wednesday night - perhaps while playing for
the club's third coach in three games - to avoid sole possession
of an embarrassing NBA record.

"I don't want to be associated with it," said Devin Harris, who
scored 16 points for the Nets. "That's one record you don't ever
want to be a part of."

The NBA's lowest-scoring and worst-shooting team lived up to its
dire statistics, managing just 60 points on 38.7-percent
shooting in the first three periods before a strong fourth
quarter against Los Angeles' reserves. Although New Jersey
consistently tried to match up on defense, the Nets don't have a
fraction of the Lakers' talent.

"Obviously, we didn't want them to have a chance against us,"
said Pau Gasol, whose Memphis Grizzlies opened the 2003-04
season 0-13. "We didn't want to fall asleep, or relax and lose."

Gasol had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who
cruised to their 12th win in 14 games. Jordan Farmar added 15
points as the Lakers made 13 of their 25 3-point attempts,
including five by Bryant and three for Farmar.

Brook Lopez had 26 points and 12 rebounds for New Jersey, which
went scoreless for nearly 4 1/2 minutes in the first quarter
while Los Angeles posted 13 straight points to build a 27-10
lead.

Bryant's fourth 3-pointer of the first half put Los Angeles up
57-30 shortly before halftime. The Lakers led by 34 midway
through the third quarter, and Bryant left the game with 4:14
left in the third.

"You don't wish that on anybody," Bryant said of the Nets' skid.
"That's tough."

The Nets didn't wait until returning from their four-game West
Coast trip before dumping Frank, the winningest coach in
franchise history and the Eastern Conference's longest-tenured
coach.

Although eight Nets already have missed multiple games this
season with injuries after New Jersey traded star Vince Carter
in the offseason, Frank was held responsible for the woeful
start, which included three straight double-digit losses earlier
on this trip.

Guard Rafer Alston compared the Nets' roster to an awful poker
hand, saying Frank "wasn't dealt a royal flush. It's almost like
he had a pair of 2's, and he tried to fight."

"The day started off with negative energy," said
Douglas-Roberts, who had just five points on 2-of-11 shooting.
"A lot of the staff was sad. It was hard to prepare for today's
game. ... We're letting this really affect us, but we're not
using it as motivation. We're not using it in a good way, and
it's showing."

Barrise, Frank's assistant since the start of his tenure in
early 2004, could be just a one-game replacement. Nets general
manager Kiki Vandeweghe - who attended the game - and assistant
John Loyer are considered the top candidates to replace Frank
for the rest of the season.

"We're struggling, and it was a tough day," Barrise said. "You
lose your coach at 10 o'clock in the morning - you know, the
guys are human. You lose a little bit of that focus. ... It's
mentally a tough thing to deal with right now, but they're
professionals, and they've been professionals all month long."

Barrise made the most of perhaps his only chance to be an NBA
head coach. The former bench boss at Ramapo College in Mahwah,
N.J., stood for nearly every minute of the game, clapping for
his players' successes and stomping his feet in disgust at their
many foibles.

"It's a difficult thing," Barrise said. "But we have a great
group of guys, and they're working hard at it."

NOTES: Shannon Brown scored six points on his 24th birthday.
Farmar turns 23 on Monday. ... Lakers coach Phil Jackson was a
New Jersey assistant in the early 1980s when the club lost 15
games in a row. He said New Jersey made him a lucrative offer to
be its head coach in 1999.