Lakers’ Ron Artest feels, and plays, better
Ron Artest weighed the question, chewed on it mentally before answering.
Was this his best game with the Lakers?
“Maybe,” he said after pausing several seconds. “It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but probably as a Laker, it might be.”
Artest had 18 points, four rebounds and three steals in the Lakers’ 99-91 victory Friday night over the Philadelphia 76ers.
It was enough to draw praise from Coach Phil Jackson, who noted Artest’s increased aggressiveness after a week filled with jabbing the starting small forward. Jackson had poked fun at the shoes Artest was wearing, calling them “Frankenstein” shoes.
Artest had an update of his own after the game: The painful swelling on the underside of both his feet has been subsiding.
“They’re feeling a lot better, actually,” Artest said, looking down at his feet as they sat in a bucket of ice.
He made seven of 13 shots, including three of five from three-point range, in 37 minutes against the 76ers.
A new weapon on offense? He didn’t think so.
“I don’t care about those points,” he said. “I could care less about those points. The main thing I can do is run, just run. Hustle. Points are not important.”
The Lakers’ main off-season acquisition has had a herky-jerky season, including a five-game absence because of a Christmas Day concussion. He thought the best was yet to come for this Lakers team.
“By April, I can see us really buckling down and just being ‘that’ team,” he said. “I like how we’ve played our last four games.”
Gasol a given
Pau Gasol sat out 17 games because of hamstring injuries, but Jackson thought the coaches made the right call by selecting him as a reserve All-Star.
“They know quality players when they see them,” Jackson said. “They know the extenuating circumstances of injuries. I don’t think they try to punish him by sending him there.”
As if to prove the point, Gasol had a well-rounded 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists against Philadelphia.
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