Third and long odds

Maybe Phil Jackson knew what was coming.

He offered a decree, perhaps even a warning, after the Lakers celebrated their way off the court with a mid-January victory in San Antonio that made them 26-13, half a game behind the Spurs for third place in the Western Conference.

“We’re not going to crown ourselves yet,” the nine-time champion coach said.

The coronation of an NBA champion obviously comes in June, not January, but it’s fair to say the Lakers’ season has gradually become a royal pain since that victory over the Spurs, which would apparently be their high point of their season if they let the Phoenix Suns win two more games.

The Lakers’ latest stumble was more of a stagger, a 126-98 Game 2 defeat that has them one away from tying the team record of six consecutive playoff losses. The Lakers almost had the Suns’ number a year ago, taking a 3-1 lead, but it has been all Suns since then, five playoff victories in a row against the Lakers. Game 3 is tonight at Staples Center.

The Lakers contend they are a victory away from making it an entertaining series, which might be true, but it’s not difficult to read between the lines.

The always optimistic Kobe Bryant, who rarely offers public criticism of his teammates, has slowly let out his frustrations this week, one interview at a time. Wednesday was no different.

Then there were the “camaraderie” issues brought up by Lamar Odom, normally a soft-spoken sort who has dived into a leadership role in recent days, beginning with his locker-room speech to the team a day after Game 1.

Regardless of who the Lakers were in mid-January, this is who they are now. Even their coach is wondering if they can turn it around.

“Not in the mood they were in today,” Jackson said after Wednesday’s practice. “They’ve got to change their mood about playing this game. They were depressed and they were humiliated [Tuesday] night. They still haven’t gotten over it this morning.”

Indeed.

Over the last three years, Bryant has gotten used to saying the Lakers’ rebuilding effort was a “process,” his code word for “everything’s going to work out fine.”

But the spin is no longer in.

He answered with relative honesty Wednesday when asked if he was mad, angry or frustrated.

“A little bit of all of them, actually,” he said. “If we can’t put it in second gear, brother, we stink. We’re just playing bad. There is another level that we can get to. [Tonight], I’m sure everybody will be excited, energized. We should be all right.”

Bryant’s right ankle is sufficiently recovered from a minor sprain in Game 2, which leaves the Lakers dealing with issues that are more psychological than physical.

Odom opened many eyes with his post-Game 2 beliefs that the Lakers weren’t “as close as a team as we need to be in terms of camaraderie.” The subject was brought up again a day later.

“It was evident when you lost like that, right?” he said. “We’ve had it at times this year and played with it, but obviously in a loss like that, it’s obvious guys are separated.”

One look at the Lakers’ bench in the fourth quarter was all that was needed, in particular the contemplative look worn by Bryant. He stared ahead, bouncing his knee as the Lakers fell behind by as many as 32 points.

A day later, he apparently didn’t want to revisit what he was thinking.

“Just air and space,” he said. “Nothing between these ears. Empty cloud.”

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TNT analyst Charles Barkley, watching from a studio in Atlanta, could see exactly what was going on in Phoenix, specifically the clear path Suns guard Leandro Barbosa kept finding to the basket.

“Someone has got to knock him [down] because it’s like he’s playing in a gym by himself,” Barkley said Tuesday night, somewhat bewildered.

*

Bryant finished a distant third in an unofficial most-valuable-player survey of NBA general managers, according to NBA.com. The official MVP award will be announced later in the playoffs.

Bryant, who won a second consecutive scoring title, finished behind Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki and Phoenix guard Steve Nash. He had one first-place vote, one second-place vote and 13 third-place votes. Twenty-five of the league’s 30 general managers participated in the survey.

mike.bresnahan@latimes.com