No Longer So-So, Divac Now So Impressive as Lakers Win

Consistent became dependable, which became impressive, which became terrific until, finally, new words were found to describe the play of Vlade Divac, courtesy, of all people, Vlade Divac.

“That’s the best month of my basketball career,” he said after leading Sunday’s 105-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. “I can’t find one game where I played so-so. Almost all have been big games.”

Rescuing the Lakers from what would have been a terrible loss right when they seemed to have regained some momentum, Divac had a season-high 30 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, four blocks and made the winning basket and key defensive play.

If being redundant is boring, Divac has become a big yawn. The latest installment before 11,943 at the Forum was another in what has become a longer line of great performances than Andrew Lloyd Webber. He has averaged 21.6 points, 15.1 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 59.7% shooting the last eight games. In the last 12, going back to Feb. 8, he’s at 20.6 points, 14.3 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 59.6%.

The hot streak includes back-to-back 20-point, 20-rebound outings. Two games after that, he settled for 27 points and 19 rebounds. When double-teamed in the post, the No. 1 assist man among NBA centers has passed outside to the open man: He has racked up at least seven assists in eight of the last 12 outings.

“Everybody knows we’re going to him, we go to him, and he still gets the job done,” Coach Del Harris said.

Said Divac: “I think I’ve grown up. You know when you feel like you have made the transition from one level to the next level? That’s what happened to me this year.”

What happened to him this night came largely after the Lakers blew an 11-point cushion with 4:55 to go, after the Timberwolves had fought back to earn a 99-99 tie with 2:14 remaining, primarily behind three three-point baskets by Chris Smith. From there, Divac scored five of his team’s last six points, highlighted by the layin in traffic under the basket with 31.9 seconds left that provided a 104-102 lead.

Divac then made sure that it became the winning basket. The Timberwolves, looking to take advantage of a gift possession that came when official Danny Crawford ruled incorrectly that the Laker center had knocked the ball out of bounds, went right back inside, this time to Christian Laettner.

He was only a few feet from the basket and appeared ready to shoot when Divac knocked the ball away. It went out to Darrick Martin, who launched a straight-away three-point shot with about 14 seconds showing. When it missed--one of the few mistakes Martin made while getting 13 points and 10 assists off the bench--Randolph Keys grabbed the rebound for the Lakers.

“It was a good defensive play,” Harris said of Divac’s quick hands. “They had the ball in the paint. Punching that out, they had to start all over. They had to free-lance.”

Keys got the ball to Nick Van Exel, who was fouled intentionally with 4.4 seconds left. Van Exel made one of two from the line to finish the victory, an appropriate role considering he had contributed a career-high 17 assists along with 11 points.

Laker Notes

Anthony Peeler had 24 points for the Lakers. . . . The Timberwolves were without leading scorer Isaiah Rider for the second game in a row because of a sprained right ankle. They got a team-high 24 points from Chris Smith.

Nick Van Exel playing 56 of a possible 58 minutes in Friday’s double-overtime victory over Sacramento--the most by a Laker in 15 years--was even more impressive considering he didn’t even participate in the shoot-around earlier in the day because of a cold. “Everybody knows it’s tough to go to work when you’re not feeling well,” Coach Del Harris said. “Then to do the kind of work that he does, with the mental and physical toll, and go 56 minutes at a very productive rate is really more than a boss has the right to ask. But he did a great job with it and it again emphasizes his competitive nature.” No Laker had played as many minutes since Jamaal Wilkes went 59, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 60 and Norm Nixon a team-record 64 in a four-overtime loss at Cleveland on Jan. 29, 1980.