Shaq Just Can’t Break Free From Throes of Futility

Shaqitis: the epidemic.

It’s the ailment Charles Barkley joked about that kept Hakeem Olajuwon far away from the Forum Sunday night, even if doctors say it really, truly, honestly was that Olajuwon was recovering from his bout with an irregular heartbeat and not suffering from a bad case of intimidation. So it spread instead back to its source and his original plague, for which there is still no cure.

Shaquille O’Neal missed all four free throws in the final 73 seconds and the Lakers missed a chance to beat Houston again. It ended with the Rockets claiming a 90-85 victory before 17,505, avenging a double-overtime loss Nov. 12 at the Summit that remains their only loss in the 12-1 start, and with O’Neal on the line one more time.

The misfiring line.

“I’m going to take the blame for the loss tonight,” he said after going three of 11 from the stripe.

“Usually in this situation, with time running down, I usually hit those shots. But they didn’t go in.”

There hasn’t been a usually to his Laker career, this being the first time O’Neal has been in position to decide a game, or at least greatly influence the outcome, with free throws. Not that his problems there weren’t getting noticed anyway--he came in 47.7%, then missed four of his first seven.

There was no stated Haq-a-Shaq plan from the Rockets when the game was on the line, but there probably didn’t need to be. O’Neal got the ball inside when the Lakers were clinging to an 85-83 advantage, so he was going to be fouled by Kevin Willis with 1:13 left before having a chance to go up with the ball.

He missed the first free throw.

He missed the second free throw.

The Rockets got the defensive rebound and called a timeout. Fifteen seconds later, Charles Barkley hit a three-pointer for the lead.

Nick Van Exel tried to put the Lakers back up, but he missed inside. O’Neal got the rebound, and was fouled by Barkley with 43 seconds remaining, again before being able to shoot from close range. He would have to earn it, the hard way.

O’Neal went to the line and took a deep breath.

Then missed the first.

Then missed the second.

“He better get used to them, he’s going to see them all year,” Barkley, who finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds, said of the fouls. “That’s why I don’t think they can beat us.”

Elden Campbell grabbed the offensive rebound off the second misfire, but Clyde Drexler stripped the ball, then passed ahead. O’Neal quickly fouled Barkley to stop the fast break. But Barkley was fouled again with 18.9 seconds left, this time by Campbell, putting the Rockets in the bonus and getting a trip to the line where the first hit the heel of the rim and bounced away and the second went through.

The Rockets led, 87-85, and the Lakers called a timeout. They still had two more left and an opportunity to use them.

Because of the Rockets’ defense, Jerome Kersey couldn’t get the ball in to one of the guards, instead throwing it to Campbell. Campbell threw it back to Kersey. The Lakers weren’t in much of an offense.

“Our instructions if the play breaks down was to take one and we’ll start over,” Coach Del Harris said.

Instead, they played on. Van Exel, playing another fine game with 21 points and 12 assists, finally got his hands on the ball. O’Neal was on the court, but didn’t get the pass.

“We would have thrown it to him if he was open,” Harris said. “That was an option. I’m not going to say we won’t throw it to him [in that situation]. We will.”

Van Exel went to Kersey instead. Kersey got down the lane, but his off-balance 10-footer with about seven seconds to go was too hard.

“He just missed a shot,” Van Exel said. “You can’t blame the whole game on a timeout. If he would have made the shot, it would have been, ‘Whoopee.’ ”

Matt Bullard got the rebound for the Rockets, then got it ahead to Willis, who made a layup at the other end while being fouled with 1.1 seconds left. That free throw provided the five-point margin.

The Lakers were outscored, 9-0, in the final 1:37.

(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 14 OF 82

* Record 9-5

* Standing 2nd place

Pacific Division

1996-97 LAKERS VS. THE BEST LAKER TEAMS

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Year Gm. 14 Overall 1987-88 10-4 62-20 1986-87 12-2 65-17 1984-85 9-5 62-20 1979-80 10-4 60-22 1971-72 11-3 69-13

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Note: The five teams above all won NBA championships

THE SHAQ SCOREBOARD

Basketball Numbers

* Sunday’s Game:

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Min FG FT Reb Blk Pts 37 10-16 3-11 11 2 23

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* 1996-97 Season Averages:

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Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 38.8 .603 .458 13.1 2.5 25.1

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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

* Sunday’s Salary$130,658.53

* Season Totals $1,829,219.42

* FACTOID: One day before the 14th game of the 1979-80 season, Laker Coach Jack McKinney suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident near his home in Rancho Palos Verdes. Assistant coach Paul Westhead took over as coach for Game 14, a 126-122 overtime victory against Denver. Jamaal Wilkes scored 26 points.