The New Jersey Nets matched the worst start to an NBA season with their 17th straight loss 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 undermanned Nets had little prayer of keeping up with the defending league champions, who won their sixth straight game.

Falling behind by 27 points in the first half despite clearly playing hard for temporary head coach Tom Barrise, the Nets matched the starts of the 1988-89 Miami Heat and the 1999 Los Angeles Clippers.

"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."

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."

Pau 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 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.

The Lakers' public address announcer recognized the Nets' historic loss after the game, though he had the decency to wait until New Jersey was in its locker room.

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.