Clippers See No Shaq, Attack

What are the Lakers without Shaquille O’Neal?

Nothing.

Playing without O’Neal, sidelined because of a sprained ligament in his right knee, and guard Byron Scott, out with a bruised right knee, the Lakers looked woefully inadequate.

The Clippers built a 26-point, fourth-quarter lead and handed the Lakers their first loss in seven games, 108-86, Tuesday night before a sellout of 18,462 at the Pond of Anaheim.

“I have no excuses,” Laker Coach Del Harris said. “They outplayed us, it’s that simple. The players feel bad about it, we all feel bad about it.”

In what could be a preview of the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Clippers (19-25) made their first 12 shots of the third quarter and handed the Lakers their second-worst defeat of the season. Utah gave them a 26-point shellacking Dec. 4 at Salt Lake City.

“If it’s a preview of the playoffs and Shaq misses ‘em all, then I’ll go for that, but that’s a long ways away and there’s a lot of people chasing us for that eighth spot,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “But a game like tonight helps your confidence.”

Playing their second game of the season without O’Neal, who will be reevaluated before tonight’s game against the Chicago Bulls, the Lakers were defenseless in the middle, as the Clippers outscored them, 54-40, in the paint.

“Nobody looked past them, they just beat us,” said Laker guard Nick Van Exel, who had 20 points. “We can’t make any excuses.

“It wasn’t a matter of we didn’t get up to play, it seemed as if they were more focused.”

The Clippers also did a nice job of keeping Laker guard Eddie Jones in check. Jones missed nine of 10 shots and scored five points in 29 minutes as the Lakers shot 35%, their second-lowest field-goal percentage of the season.

Outrebounded, 54-31, the Lakers could have used suspended Chicago Bull forward Dennis Rodman, who watched the game from a courtside seat near the Laker bench. It was the first time in six games the Lakers had been outrebounded.

Clipper forward Rodney Rogers had 24 points, a season-high 14 rebounds and six assists as the Clippers recorded their biggest margin of victory this season and evened their season series with the Lakers (34-13) at 1-1.

Rogers took the win in stride.

“Why should I be excited?” Rogers asked. “What does that mean, because they’re the Lakers? You’re saying it like they’re the world champs or something. I mean, I’m glad we won, but I’m not excited because we beat them.

“It’s a big win for us, but we can’t look at it like they’re the greatest team in the league.”

Clipper forward Loy Vaught made 10 consecutive shots after missing his first and had 22 points and eight rebounds.

“Loy wasn’t that open,” Harris said. “He shot them right in our face. He was good.”

Someone handed Vaught a victory cigar in the locker room.

“This is a huge win,” Vaught said. “It helps the respect level in the city for us. This is a big confidence boost for us.”

Guard Malik Sealy, who made three three-point shots in the third quarter, when the Clippers shot 70.6%, had 22 points.

“It’s a terrific win for us,” Sealy said. “I’m proud of everything we did.”

Elden Campbell, who started at center in place of O’Neal, had 20 points and three rebounds.

The Clippers were eager to get even with the Lakers, who beat them by seven points in the first meeting last November.

“It’s their city, I guess you could say, and they’re letting us live in it,” Fitch said. “Naturally, you get your juices up. This is the game that gets the attention.”

The Clippers got the Lakers’ attention.

Rogers, who sat out the last 6:40 of the first quarter after being poked in the right eye, had 11 points and two assists in the second quarter, and the Clippers took a 50-43 halftime lead.

Pooh Richardson had five points in the spurt and Rogers made five of 10 shots and set up rookie center Lorenzen Wright for a dunk and Eric Piatkowski for a layup.

* OUT AGAIN: Often-injured Clipper Stanley Roberts says he’ll undergo back surgery Saturday. C4

* THE BIG QUESTION: Shaquille O’Neal’s status for tonight’s game will be determined after practice today. C5

* GENEROUS GESTURE: Dennis Rodman will play the 11 games following his suspension for free. C5

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Season of Expectations

The Lakers acquired nine new players before the 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 47 OF 82

* Record 34-13

* Standing 1st 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

Tuesday’s Game:

Did not play--injured

1996-97 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 39.3 .560 .468 13.0 3.2 3.1 26.2

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1995-96 Season Averages:

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Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 36.0 .573 .487 11.0 2.9 2.1 26.6

*--*

Money Numbers

* Tuesday’s Salary: $130,658.53

* Season Totals: $6,140,950.91

* FACTOID: Byron Scott scored 38 points and the Lakers went on a 33-13 run to start the fourth quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics, 115-106, in game 47 of the 1987-88 season. When asked if the Lakers were the best team in basketball after the game, Larry Bird said “Absolutely. There’s no question about it.” Bird scored 27 points.