Throw it down...Andrew DeClercq?

Now there's a phrase that sounds as incongruous coming from the mouth of Bill Walton -- or anyone else, for that matter -- as "the 5-11 Los Angeles Lakers."

DeClercq, he of the 5.1-point career scoring average, had two dunks Wednesday night, the same as Shaquille O'Neal. More importantly, and more amazingly, the Orlando Magic prolonged what has been a miserable first month of the season for the three-time defending NBA champions with a 112-102 defeat of the Lakers behind Tracy McGrady's 38 points.

Bear in mind that the Lakers started last season at 16-1 and didn't suffer their 11th defeat until Jan. 23. Also bear in mind that they lost a total of 15 games in Phil Jackson's first year as their coach.

Shaq's return a week ago from surgery on his right big toe was supposed to restore some order. Instead, the Lakers lost for the second night in a row.

It has been a bad week for Jackson, who was also bypassed in favor of Larry Brown as the man in charge of the U.S. Olympic team in 2004. Shaq had said he would not play in Athens unless Jackson was named, which means he probably won't get a chance to visit the real Parthenon instead of mistaking it for the name of a club.

FAT WITH AN 'F'

For now, the Lakers would settle for getting back to looking like the club they have been in the past three years.

"We're playing hard," Jackson said, "but we're not playing hard enough."

Shaq had 28 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots in his fourth game back and played a season-high 36 minutes. But he was outhustled by DeClercq and -- as hard it this might be to fathom -- Shawn Kemp, on more than one occasion. There was also an unsuccessful lob pass from Rick Fox and a bounce pass from Kobe Bryant that hit O'Neal in the ankle and went out of bounds for one of the Lakers' 15 turnovers.

"Shaq's not doing as well as I'd like him," Jackson said. "He's had a few things going on that he's still adjusting to. But he gets the job done."

"We're probably standing around waiting for him to do what we know he can do," said Brian Shaw, who was the only Laker non-starter to score. "And I think we're playing real mechanical right now. The difference in the way the Magic played and the way we played was their game kind of flowed."

Meanwhile, Shaq kind of jiggled, judging by the "Shaq's Fat" sign in the stands that prompted a loud cheer during a timeout. Maybe he shouldn't deep-fry his turkey when he hosts Thanksgiving dinner at his Isleworth mansion today.

'NO NEED TO PANIC'

Bryant matched McGrady's production, but Jackson wasn't happy about his star's tendency to try doing too much by himself. Bryant hoisted up more than twice as many shots as Shaq in the second half, and the Lakers never got any closer than within six points of the Magic in the fourth quarter.

"We're going to have more losses than this before the season's over, but you know we can still win 70," Jackson said, tongue firmly in cheek.

No, the Lakers won't go 65-1 the rest of the way. But they insist they won't be struggling to avoid falling into last place in the Pacific Division for much longer either.

"We'll be fine," Shaw said. "There's still a lot of time. There's no need to panic."

But this time, Shaq and the Lakers didn't eat the Magic alive.