A Miss Isn’t Just a Miss for Divac : His Failure to Make Free Throws in Game 2 Haunts Him All Week

Time may heal all wounds, but 40 hours isn’t enough to close the one on Vlade Divac’s psyche.

His family, the Laker family, even neighbors who have knocked on his door in Pacific Palisades have all tried to force feed positive feelings the last two days, with mixed results.

No, he won’t collapse under the anguish of two missed free throws.

Yes, it still hurts.

“I tried to forget, but you can’t,” Divac said after Wednesday afternoon’s practice. “You have to go through it. You have to think about it, just let time help you. Every time I go into bed, I’m just reminded and my stomach goes. I can’t help myself.

“I have to stay positive because we have two games here at the Forum that we want to win. If I think about the last game, I’ll just get myself down.”

The two missed free throws Monday night that could have put the Lakers ahead with 4.6 seconds remaining in Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals still haunt him.

The San Antonio Spurs won, 97-90, in overtime and hold a 2-0 advantage in the best-of-seven series that continues Friday night at the Forum.

“When you do something bad, you can’t sleep,” Divac said. “That’s what’s happened to me.”

He was home by about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday after the Lakers’ charter flight from Texas, then spent about 90 minutes waiting for sleep that would not come. So he got out of bed and watched television.

Finally, he got to sleep at about 5:30.

“Just barely,” he said.

He spent Tuesday, an off day, around the house, trying to forget the first shot hitting the front of the rim and the second bouncing off the heel. He tried to think positively.

Wednesday, he went back to work. The Lakers practiced at the Forum, and their starting center, who played such an important role in their success this season, tried to sweat out the demons.

The media came in afterward and surrounded Divac with minicams and tape recorders as he rested at a courtside seat. He politely answered all questions.

But at least he had been able to get back on the court.

“I think it was a normal practice for him in terms of his result,” Coach Del Harris said. “He’s still feeling the hurt, and it’s normal. But it’s unnecessary.

“Unnecessary because everybody has tried to reassure him that without his huge efforts, not only in that game but throughout the season, we wouldn’t even be playing right now. I’m sure if we had kept track, he has probably made as many points in the last minutes of games this year as anybody on the team.”

Added guard Nick Van Exel: “He missed his free throws, but we shouldn’t have been in that situation. We were up by five points with (three) minutes left in the game, so we can’t say it’s Vlade’s fault because he missed the free throws. We’ve got to keep him positive because we know he’s going to be very important in this series.”

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Laker Notes

Elden Campbell is shooting 55.2% in the last five games against Dennis Rodman and Shawn Kemp, but that’s only the start. He set career highs with 18 rebounds and 51 minutes in Game 2 against the Spurs and had a playoff career-best 29 points in Game 1. “Hopefully Elden is seeing now that he has probably stepped up to a new level,” Coach Del Harris said. “If he wants to maintain it, and if he likes it, and I think he does, he can stay here. He can be a star player.” . . . Campbell, Vlade Divac and Nick Van Exel have combined to average 61.5 points and shoot 48% in the series. The other two starters, Cedric Ceballos and Anthony Peeler, are at 8.5 and 21.4%. . . . Only 11 teams have come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a playoff series, although two did it last season in the West: Houston against Phoenix in the conference semifinals and Denver against Seattle in the best-of-five first round.