The team has failed, not once, not twice, but three times over the course of the 2008-09 season to post an eight-game winning streak.

Sure, a healthy-again Andrew Bynum — the Lakers' other seven-footer — scored 22 the other night. But don't be fooled by that. They still can't beat Portland in Portland.

Even worse, there's Jordan Farmar. What of his demotion to third-string point guard status? Say it ain't so. Has Phil lost faith in him? Perish the thought.

I mean, when will it end?

Pretty soon, I hope. In the absence of authentic hardship, artificial obstacles were invented. The dearth of compelling storylines resulted in counterfeit ones. Curiously enough, the real angle has remained virtually ignored. Until now. The only way to judge this particular Lakers vintage is in the postseason. The line of demarcation separating success and disappointment could not be more clear. Anything short of a championship is failure, a resounding one at that.

You can't say this about many teams. But it certainly applies here, to this Lakers team, to their championship coach, and their star, the reigning MVP. Kobe Bryant has been proclaimed Michael Jordan's rightful heir — a title he sought — so many times that people have actually started believing it.

But I don't recall Jordan's team ever losing in the Finals. Bryant's team has — twice, in fact. Last year, he won the MVP award because he was considered the greatest player never to have gotten one. This year, the award seems hollow, beneath him, not unlike the distinctions accorded Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, another award winner whose favored team was defeated in Game 6 of the Finals. (OK, I'm cheating a little. Nowitzki won the award the year after Dallas lost to Miami).

Then again, at least Nowitzki's team put up more of a fight in the Finals. That's what seems to escape everyone, especially out here in Los Angeles. Bryant is acutely aware of his place in the game, now and for generations to come. He's playing for posterity. But for all his team's talent, and his much-alleged killer instinct, last year's Lakers quit at the finish line.

I've wondered how certain teams ever made it to the Finals. The Knicks in '99, the Nets in '02 and '03 come readily to mind. But I've never seen a squad give up in the elimination game of a championship round the way the last year's Lakers quit in Boston last June 17.

As that game provides context for this entire Lakers season, it's worth citing some of the details. Mr. Killer Instinct went without a basket from 5:30 of the first quarter until 7:09 of the third. The Lakers first offensive rebound came courtesy of Sasha Vujajic — but not until 11:11 of the fourth quarter. The Celtics had 18 steals, compared to the Lakers' four. The Lakers didn't block a shot.

When it ended, Kobe needed about an hour to come out of his darkened room.

Finally, on his way to the interview podium, Boston's tipsy third-string center, Brian Scalabrine, told him to take heart. "Kobe," Scalabrine shrugged apologetically, "You already got three." Three rings, he meant.

Kobe mumbled his congratulations. There can be nothing more demeaning to a great player than the tipsy consolations of the other team's scrub.

A year later, it's a wonder that Game 6 in Boston never became a cause celeb out here in Lakerland. But, to paraphrase the young Springsteen, the poets out here don't write nothing at all. It's like Game 6 never happened. Or maybe the local basketball mandarins don't want to believe it can happen again.

Whatever the case, the Lakers have no excuses this time, none. A year later, they're a much, much better team. They have that vaunted "championship experience." They also have a healthy Andrew Bynum. And he is more than a double-double in the box score. To me, his real worth was amply, if succinctly demonstrated in a mere moment back in January at the Staples Center. It was a hard foul — not a dirty one — that sent LeBron James, who's built like a municipal statue, crashing to the floor.

The Lakers beat an undermanned Cavaliers team that day. They beat them again, in Cleveland, the following month. So forget all that "best record" stuff. The Cavs would have the same record, or close to it, if LeBron had played with the Lakers second unit.

As for the Celtics — also winless against the Lakers this season — they've only gotten older. Without Kevin Garnett, that championship renaissance in Boston is one and done.

That leaves the West, which is to say, not much. The teams that were expected to make that mythical "Next Step" — Utah and New Orleans — took a step back. The Spurs have no shot at all without Manu Ginobili. Denver? Please. The only team that can make it interesting is Portland.

In other words, now more than ever, it's championship or bust for the Lakers.

Then, maybe, Jordan Farmar can get the help he needs.