ESPN.com - Lakers might have turned corner in Sactown

ESPN.com: NBA

Monday, March 26, 2001
Lakers might have turned corner in Sactown

By Mitch Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- With first place on the line, the Lakers slap around their No. 1 Pacific Division rival. On the road, in hostile territory. And they do it with a suffocating fourth-quarter defense and MVP-type play out of Shaquille O'Neal down the stretch.


	Shaq had his way with Vlade Divac and the Kings, who scored only 72 points.

Now where have we heard all that before?

The Lakers had no trouble remembering the exact date or place after dismantling the Kings Sunday. In the same arena that boasts a banner advertising "the loudest, most loyal fans in the NBA," the Lakers put on such a championship display in the final quarter, they had the Sacramento (un)faithful streaming to the exits, long before the final buzzer in their 84-72 win.

The magnitude of the victory won't be known for several weeks, but it reminded everyone in the visitor's team dressing room of a certain landmark win from 13 months back.

"It's just like last year when we went up to Portland on February 29," said Derek Fisher of the Lakers' memorable 90-87 win over the Blazers. "We were both tied for first place, too. After that win, they crumbled a little bit and we kept that momentum. This could catapult us just like that win did. It takes only one good win for you to get some momentum. We can build from it."

Or, they can continue to be this season's Lakers, a team that doesn't remotely have the look of those old Chicago Bulls. Or even last year's Lakers. Can they build a second straight championship off it? Maybe. It's just probably too much to ask for a repeat of last season, when they went 21-4 after KO'ing the Blazers, while Portland peetered out to a 14-12 finish.

Two things have to happen for it to be a repeat of last season. The Lakers, 3-0 against the Kings and in a virtual tie with Sacramento for the Pacific lead, have to close with a rush. The Kings will also have to fold. There's no guarantee either will happen.

Truth is, the Lakers are still a long way from approaching their dominance of last season, when they nearly won 70 games. In case you've forgotten, that team reeled off winning streaks of 19, 16 and 11 games during the course of the season and lost back-to-back games only twice.

Meanwhile, this year's team hasn't even been able to win more than five straight and has suffered back-to-back losses a total of six times.

"We've played our worst games against teams that are none playoff teams," Phil Jackson said. "Our effort this year in those games hasn't been as good as last season. We're all to blame for it."


	O'Neal


	Bryant

The fingers are pointed at Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. A year ago they put personal differences aside, for the most part, to combine for their first title. This year, well, unless you've been in a coma since the start of the season, you know the story by now.

"There's been so much overkill on Shaq versus Kobe and vice versa, it's become numbing to us," said Rick Fox. "When we hear it now, we don't cringe anymore."

Make no mistake, the feud still exists. After he toyed with the Kings, someone informed O'Neal that the Lakers raised their record this season to 6-1 in games without "the little guy."

	“	That's a good sign, even if it's only one game. It's coming at the right time. It shows we do have it in ourselves, especially against a team that's so potent, offensively. Maybe it'll be like that Portland game. ”
		— Rick Fox

Deadpanned the Big Fella, "I don't know who you're talking about."

Right.

Obviously, it's still not all patched up between the two superstars. But without the injured Bryant, one of the best defenders in the game, the Lakers put the clamps on Chris Webber and Co. to a degree not seen before. For either team. Sacramento came away with its fewest points in a game this season, along with its lowest field goal percentage (32 percent) and fewest baskets in a game (27). And they sent Webber into a funk by holding the MVP candidate to 7 of 26 shooting.

"That's the kind of defense they played last year," said Sacramento's Nick Anderson. "They didn't give us anything."

It marked a dramatic change for the purple and gold. After having the best field goal percentage defense (41.6) and sixth best overall defense (92.3 ppg) in the league en route to the title, they've been allowing opponents to shoot 44 percent from the field while putting up 98 points a game.

The slippage has been reflected in the fact that they've already surrendered 100 points 32 times, compared to 20 times last season, and in their record of 47-23. At this time last season, they were 58-12.


	Harper

"It's not the team that won the championship," said Jackson, who not only has been missing Bryant, but his other backcourt starter in Ron Harper, out until the playoffs following knee surgery. "We know we're not 100 percent."

Without Bryant, they're missing one of the game's top perimeter defenders and their best break-down player at the offensive end. Without Harper, who intends to be back for the start of the postseason, they don't have the steadying hand at the offensive end or a vital defensive presence.

"We don't have all of our weapons," Jackson said. "We know we still have a ways to go to figure that out."

And they've got only 12 games to go before they set out to defend their title, including one more test against the Kings, Wednesday in L.A. At least they made one breakthrough in their win Sunday. As their coaches reminded them afterward, it was the first time all season when they won a game by imposing their defensive will on an opponent. If you're scoring at home, it took them only 70 games to get back to last season's form.

"That's a good sign, even if it's only one game," said Fox after the Lakers held the Kings to one basket in the first 9:44 of the fourth period and only four buckets for the entire period. "It's coming at the right time. It shows we do have it in ourselves, especially against a team that's so potent, offensively. Maybe it'll be like that Portland game."

But there's always a chance it can be a noisy false alarm.

"You can't put too much emphasis on just one game," Horace Grant cautioned. "We have a game to play (Monday in Phoenix), and if we lose that, this game was worth nothing. We just have to keep everything in perspective until the last week of the season."

Only about 28 other teams will be closely watching.

Rim Shots

The Heat is busy working the phones, looking to add a center. As long as the player hasn't been waived, Miami can add a player as late as the final regular-season game and still have him be eligible for the postseason. In any event, it's just another sign that Alonzo Mourning is not coming back this season.

If the Hornets aren't sold, Mike Fratello is in line to become the new GM-coach over the summer once co-owner Ray Wooldridge takes control from George Shinn. Wooldridge is a close friend of ex-Hawks and Cavs coach. Fratello isn't getting back into the business unless he has GM powers. If Hornets are sold, as has been rumored, then Fratello will have to wait to get back in.


	Sprewell

Guess who's back in the Bay Arena? Latrell Sprewell makes his first stop in Oakland Monday night since running amok last season and racking up a $10G fine. Sprewell says he's not going to back down from any verbal warfare with the fans, but it can't be half as bad as last season when he screamed curses at fans and engaged more than one fan in profanity-laced dialogue in his first trip back to Golden State since the P.J. Carlesimo incident. "That night was a disaster," Carlesimo said. "It was scary. I think without me there, it won't be like that. I think the fans had to support me because I was still the Golden State coach."

No, Carlesimo has no intentions of showing up for the Knicks-Warriors game. The ex-Seton Hall coach also effectively removed his name for the Rutgers coaching vacancy. ?I'm happy doing what I'm doing," said the NBC studio analyst, who still has ties to New Jersey and had been mentioned as a potential replacement for the fired Kevin Bannon. "Hopefully, I'll get another opportunity to coach in the league. There's a chance I'll go back to colleges, but I'm not thinking that way now."

Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com.