Malone Steps On Lakers

Here lies the Laker home winning streak. Right under Karl Malone’s size 16s.

Their Forum superiority lasted four games, then into the third quarter Wednesday night, at which time Malone showed his. He got 20 in the quarter, a season-high 37 in all and the Utah Jazz, with an additional 16 points and 13 assists from John Stockton, got a 113-97 victory before 16,122.

“He has the ability to do that,” said Malone’s Laker counterpart, Elden Campbell. “We’ve got to stay with him. Or try to anyway.”

They tried.

They failed.

“It was terrific,” Laker Coach Del Harris said. “It wasn’t, realistically, bad defense. A skeptic or a cynic may say that. But those were hard-earned shots.

“Utah played a tremendous game, obviously. Karl Malone seems never to run down. We have to give them credit for a superb game. For us to have won, we would have had to play our best game of the year.”

Instead, the Lakers, their three-game winning streak over, were dominated in the second half and shot just 42.9% in all, the concession being that tends to happen a lot against the Jazz. The 26 points and 15 rebounds from Shaquille O’Neal and 20 points and 11 assists from Nick Van Exel wasn’t close to being enough.

The game was a challenge for the Lakers not only because of the opponent, tough as always and No. 1 in the league in shooting percentage-against coming in, but because of the situation. The second night of a back-to-back.

Previously, that had meant a pair of bad losses, at Charlotte after winning at New York the night before and then at wounded San Antonio some 24 hours after handing the Houston Rockets what is still their only defeat. At least the Lakers were at home this time.

That may have helped them get into halftime with a 48-46 lead, but the 16 points and six rebounds by O’Neal and the 13 points and eight assists from Van Exel were bigger factors. Besides, Malone was four of 11 from the field, for 10 points, and had just four rebounds.

And then came the third quarter.

It was a Jazz festival, Utah tying the game on its first possession and then turning the game into a rout with a 25-14 surge. That made it 73-62 with 2:48 remaining, an 11-point margin that would hold at the end of the quarter, 80-69.

This came as Malone was looking, well, looking more like Malone. He was eight of eight during the 12 minutes, scoring 20 points, just one less than all the Lakers, while showing off the full arsenal. Jumpers out to 15 feet, a hook, driving layups, a dunk, etc.

“He just got on a roll,” Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said.

“Whenever he gets like that, he just wants the basketball. And we’ve always tried to throw him the ball.”

Nothing could help the Lakers at this point. Not even Rumeal Robinson.

A night after being inserted as a defensive replacement at Golden State when Eddie Jones picked up two first-quarter fouls and then making a huge contribution on offense, Robinson was back in his familiar spot: out of the rotation.

“Del has surprised me all year,” Robinson said after getting 10 points and three assists in 13 minutes Tuesday against the Warriors. “I’ve just got to stay ready for the surprises.”

Wednesday, Robinson stayed on the bench the first three quarters, then got garbage time, five minutes in all. Surprise.

The Lakers got as close as 90-78 in the fourth quarter. But the Jazz, winning for the fourth time in a row, quickly put an end to any real comeback hopes.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Season of Expectations

The Lakers acquired nine new players this season, including Shaquille O’Neal and his $120-million contract. In turn, with big acquisitions come big expectations. Throughout the season, The Times will monitor O’Neal’s numbers along with how the team compares to some of the best Laker teams in history.

GAME 12 OF 82

* Record 8-4

* Standing 2nd place

Pacific Division

1996-97 LAKERS VS. THE BEST LAKER TEAMS

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Year Gm. 3 Overall 1987-88 3-0 62-20 1986-87 2-1 65-17 1984-85 1-2 62-20 1979-80 2-1 60-22 1971-72 3-0 69-13

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Note: The five teams above all won NBA championships

THE SHAQ SCOREBOARD

Basketball Numbers

Wednesday’s Game:

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Min FG FT Reb Blk Pts 41 11-22 4-10 15 4 26

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1996-97 Season Averages:

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Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 39 .594 .494 12.7 2.6 25

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1995-96 Season Averages:

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Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 36.0 .573 .487 11.0 2.1 26.6

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Money Numbers

* Wed. Salary: $130,658.53

* Season Totals: $1,767,902.36

* FACTOID: In the 12th game of the 1986-87 season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 18 points and held Benoit Benjamin to three as the Lakers handed the Clippers their eighth consecutive loss, 126-92. After the game, Clipper Coach Don Chaney said of Benjamin: “He just didn’t show up to play tonight. And I’m getting tired of it.”