By CURTIS ZUPKE

The Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO - It’s plain to see that Tuesday’s game against New York is an important launching point for the Lakers’ upcoming road trip, but Coach Phil Jackson didn’t place that kind of emphasis on it.

“No, not at all,” Jackson said with a smile. “We could lose tomorrow. Who knows? Who said this was do-or-die?”

Kobe Bryant also downplayed the importance of getting a victory before they leave for two-week, nine-game trip that will be the longest continuous trip in the team’s Los Angeles era. They leave Wednesday and won’t return until Feb.13 after visiting Detroit, Toronto, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Atlanta, Orlando, Miami, Charlotte and Minnesota - a total of 8,713 miles traveled.

Bryant’s main concern with the impending road trip is getting to a certain state of mind.

“We have to get to a point where we’re playing with confidence,” Bryant said.

Jokes about laundry and choice of winter coats aside, there is a theory that such a long trip could bring the team together in a sort of us-against-the world attitude.

“We don’t have a choice,” said Derek Fisher, who added that “We’ve had some of our best player-to-player talks at the back of the bus after games.”

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