No Garden, but Lakers Have a Party

Nice place this new FleetCenter. The hot water stays on in the visitor’s showers, the parquet floor that made the trip from next door has a fresh coat of varnish to make those divots look glossy, and the host Boston Celtics are most accommodating. They don’t bother to play defense.

Wednesday night, it was the Lakers’ turn to make themselves at home. That took all of 2 1/2 quarters, by which time they had built a 26-point lead en route to a 124-107 victory that included the 18,624 booing the Celtics and cheering a player wearing purple and, of all things, an appearance by Elden Campbell.

Campbell had the advantage of being rested, having pretty much taken the previous two games off--he lasted all of 19 minutes Saturday against Cleveland before getting the hook, long enough to get worked over by Danny Ferry, and a night earlier managed two rebounds in 38 minutes against the Clippers.

The Celtics greeted him with single coverage by Dino Radja and Eric Montross, proving that their coach, M.L. Carr, can at least read a box score even if he can’t get his players to stop anybody. With no one able to deny him great post position or stop him once he got the ball there, Campbell made eight of nine shots in the first half.

“I was kind of surprised,” Laker guard Nick Van Exel said. “I think everyone was. He would get the ball and be waiting for the double team, but it never came.”

It did in the second half, but that was too late for the Celtics. The Lakers were already rolling and Campbell, who had 30 points last season in the final visit to Boston Garden, was on his way to a season-high 26 on this night with 10-of-12 shooting along with 10 rebounds.

“It was a combination of things,” Montross said. “At this level, it’s always difficult to guard somebody one-on-one. But at the same time, there should have been more defensive pressure because he really was catching the ball deep while making his shots.”

Campbell was not alone in his recovery from the Cavalier game. Vlade Divac was part of the starting front line that totaled seven rebounds, three less than Ferry, and he had 16 points, many from the perimeter, and 11 rebounds against the Celtics and good friend Radja.

“You always feel like you want to bounce back,” Campbell said.

Even as the Lakers as a whole went from 82 points, tying a season low, to 124, a season high, it was a particularly significant outing for Campbell and Divac. Not only was this a defense they should shred--everybody else does--but it came after Coach Del Harris had challenged them in the wake of the Cleveland debacle.

“You could say that,” Harris said. “I wasn’t totally complimentary after the last game. Let’s put it that way.”

And now?

Put it this way: “We got a solid performance from our big people, which makes it a lot easier,” Harris said.

“Vlade has been stroking the ball good the last three weeks from the 17-18 foot range. It does put a damper on a defense for a 7-footer to be out there hitting 17-footers. And for another 6-11 man to be inside hammering ‘em at the same time.”

Said Divac: “Some nights you don’t feel good. But today was our day. Both of us.”

The game was never really in doubt in the second half, not since the Celtics, giving up a league-worst 108.8 points per outings, couldn’t stop the Lakers from scoring. It got a little interesting when Boston cut the deficit to 11, 60-49, with 9:42 remaining in the third quarter, but the Lakers responded with a 17-2 charge. Van Exel had seven of his 18 points in that stretch.

The Lakers finished at 53.1%, and that was with Cedric Ceballos making only four of 12. The Celtics shot 51.9%, but committed 21 turnovers and gave up 98 shots, 16 more than the Laker average coming in.

Laker Notes

Seldom-used Fred Roberts, a Celtic for two seasons in the 1980s, got a nice ovation when he left the bench to check in late in the game, a loud greeting when he was announced, and a huge roar when he made a 14-foot fall-away with 32 seconds left. “That wouldn’t have happened in the Garden,” Coach Del Harris said. “This may have been the first time Celtics’ fans have cheered a Laker.” Said Roberts: “The game had become so uninteresting they were just looking for something to get excited about, and they chose me.” . . . The Lakers swept the season series for the first time since 1989-90. They have also won in seven of the last 10 visits to Boston. . . . Longtime Laker assistant coach Bill Bertka, on his first trip to the FleetCenter after years of watching the rivalry across the alley at Boston Garden: “For some reason, it still has the same smell. That smell. I can’t explain it. That rancid, damn smell.”