Lakers Looking a Little Green

What remains of the rivalry is more habit than hate, reduced to a few chants of “Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!” from the stands but nothing from the Boston Celtics themselves, either too young to be concerned with the ‘80s or dealing with their own considerable problems. Or, maybe, understanding it’s not such a huge deal yet to beat these Lakers.

Others in the same position have done it, after all. The Raptors. The Spurs. The Hornets, playing better the first month than most expected but minus their starting backcourt when the Lakers came through. And now, the Celtics, the team that was 3-8 and averaging 95 points a game heading into Wednesday night and then rolled through the second half to a 110-94 victory before 18,624 at the FleetCenter.

This isn’t the Lakers playing down to the level of their competition. This is the Lakers at 10-6, and just down.

“We’re very upset,” Shaquille O’Neal said after getting 22 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, but only one free throw in the fourth quarter against a team without a center. “But it’s just going to take us to pull it together.”

They have pulled together in glimpses--wins at New York and full-strength Houston, making the Lakers still the only team to beat the Rockets--but not for a sustained stretch with the season about 20% gone.

Injuries have obviously been a problem, with Cedric Ceballos out and Kobe Bryant and Jerome Kersey in-and-out, enough to wreak havoc on a rotation that for the second night in a row went without a true small forward. But to get outscored, 59-42, after intermission and outshot, 51.2%-44%, in all?

That is what hurts them.

“My personal opinion?” Eddie Jones said. “I think it’s disappointing even though we have the injuries. We should be better than 10-6. I think we are better than 10-6.

“We are. I know we’re better than our record shows. We play like a great team at times, when we play great teams. When we play someone else, an average opponent, we act like an average team.

“I don’t know what the problem is. One night we hit the shots, one night we don’t. One night we hit the shots, but we don’t play any defense. I don’t think we’ve got everyone on the same track, we don’t get everyone going in the same direction the same night.

“I can sense disappointment. You can sense it.”

With Jones playing 44 more minutes to help compensate for Kersey’s continued absence because of a strained right Achilles’ tendon--and Travis Knight and Derek Fisher again getting the first-half minutes promised by Coach Del Harris the night before--the Lakers lost the lead with 4:45 to play in the third quarter and never regained it. Heading into the fourth, they were down by nine.

The deficit reached 11 with 4:40 left, 96-85, before the Lakers went for the save--to save the night and to save face. Fisher, making a rare appearance with Van Exel instead of as his relief, made a three-point basket. Jones made two free throws. Jones slammed a lob from Van Exel. Elden Campbell made a free throw.

They were within 96-93, and 2 1/2 minutes still remained. The Celtics seemed headed toward collapse, or further collapse.

Instead, they brought out the daggers.

Dana Barros made a three-point shot with 2:27 to go. About a minute later, rookie Antoine Walker made a three-point basket, the biggest contribution in his 19 points and game-high 12 rebounds.

Fans didn’t have to chant “Beat L.A.!” The Celtics did it for real.

“That shot was the back-breaker,” Walker said of his 23-footer. “It felt good. They were trying to come back and that broke them.”

That made the score 102-93. Harris went super small, playing four guards (Van Exel, Fisher, Jones and Bryant) with O’Neal, hoping to generate something, fast. He got practically nothing.

It was too late for O’Neal, because the Lakers, forced to foul on defense, needed points three at a time. Earlier, it could have been a different story, but the Celtics took care of that by swarming inside and forcing him to kick the ball back out to the perimeter. So it was that he had as many points in the fourth quarter as assists: one.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Can’t Get Over the Hump

For the fourth week in a row, the Lakers won Tuesday and lost Wednesday.

Date: Site

Tuesday, Nov. 5: at New York

* Lakers 98, Knicks 92

Wednesday, Nov. 6: at Charlotte

* Hornets 88, Lakers 78

Tuesday, Nov. 12: at Houston

* Lakers 126, Rockets 115 (2 OT)

Wednesday, Nov. 13: at San Antonio

* Spurs 95, Lakers 83

Tuesday, Nov. 19: at San Jose

* Lakers 112, Warriors 109

Wednesday, Nov. 20: at Forum

* Jazz 113, Lakers 97

Tuesday, Nov. 26: at Philadelphia

* Lakers 100, 76ers 88

Wednesday, Nov. 27: at Boston

* Celtics 110, Lakers 94

Lakers’ average score on Tuesday: 109

Lakers’ average score on Wednesday: 88.5

(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 16 OF 82

* Record 10-6

* Standing 2nd place

Pacific Division

1996-97 LAKERS VS. THE BEST LAKER TEAMS

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Year Gm. 16 Overall 1987-88 11-5 62-20 1986-87 13-3 65-17 1984-85 10-6 62-20 1979-80 12-4 60-22 1971-72 13-3 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 38 10-15 2-7 10 4 22

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1996-97 Season Averages:

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Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 38.7 .606 .445 13.4 2.6 24.8

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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

*--*

Money Numbers

* Wednesday’s Salary: $130,658.53

* Season Totals $2,090,536.48

* FACTOID: In Game 16 of the 1971-72 season, Leroy Ellis, acquired from Portland in the off-season, scored a season-high 27 points against his old team to help the Lakers increase their winning streak to seven with a 130-108 victory over the Trail Blazers.

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* HEAT’S ON CLIPPERS

Miami jumped to a 40-14 lead after the first quarter and rolled to a 98-82 victory. C5