Lakers Cut Off at the Knee : O’Neal’s Injury Knocks Him Out 8-10 Weeks

Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers’ $120-million center, will sit out at least 8-10 weeks because of an injured left knee.

O’Neal, who has helped the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference, was injured in the first quarter of their 100-84 victory at Minnesota on Wednesday night--his first game after sitting out two games because of an injured right knee.

O’Neal’s injury was diagnosed Thursday by team doctor Stephen Lombardo of the Kerlan-Jobe Medical Group in Inglewood after an examination, X-rays and MRI tests.

The Lakers said O’Neal, one of the NBA’s dominant big men at 7-foot-1 and 320-plus pounds, suffered a hyperextension injury, with damage including a torn capsule, a fractured bone and a partial tear to the lateral collateral ligament.

No surgery will be necessary, the team added, but O’Neal will wear a splint for 2-3 weeks, after which he will begin rehabilitation therapy.

O’Neal was injured when he landed awkwardly on his left leg while trying to control a lob pass from Nick Van Exel.

O’Neal landed hard, but after a brief delay, continued to play and wound up with 12 points and four rebounds in a little more than eight minutes.

He came out of the game with 3:37 left in the first quarter and went to the Lakers’ dressing room with trainer Gary Vitti shortly thereafter.

O’Neal, headphones and sunglasses on, ignored questions as he walked past reporters in the locker room after the game and went to the team bus.

“I asked him, ‘Good or bad?’ and Shaq said, ‘Bad,’ ” Van Exel said.

O’Neal, who turns 25 next month, played four seasons with the Orlando Magic before signing with the Lakers as a free agent last summer. He entered Thursday’s games as the NBA’s third-leading scorer with a 25.8-point average and its fourth-leading rebounder with a 12.8 average.

He is also averaging 3.0 blocked shots and is shooting 56.3%,

In his four seasons with Orlando, he averaged 27.2 points and 12.5 rebounds.

O’Neal injured his right knee late in the third quarter of a game against Washington on Feb. 2 when he planted his foot in the lane, started to twist for a shot and banged legs with Bullet center Gheorghe Muresan.

That injury caused him to sit out two games as well as the All-Star game in Cleveland last Sunday.

Without O’Neal, the Lakers were beaten by the Clippers, 106-84, at the Pond of Anaheim on Feb. 4, but rebounded to beat the Chicago Bulls, 106-90, the following night at the Forum.

In the victory over the Bulls, Elden Campbell moved from forward to center to replace O’Neal and had a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds. Campbell will be counted on to take up much of the slack in O’Neal’s absence. Campbell, who signed a seven-year, $49-million contract last summer, had 21 points and nine rebounds against Minnesota on Wednesday night.

Campbell had 19 of his 21 points and seven of his nine rebounds against Minnesota after O’Neal left the game for good.

“When Shaq’s out, I know I have to be big in the post,” Campbell said afterward. “You have to anchor the offense somewhere.”

After his sterling effort against the Bulls, Campbell said, “I knew I had to be the man. . . . They were trying to play me one-on-one. Any decent post player in the league, if you play him one-on-one, is going to get a lot of good looks and he’s going to score.”

Campbell is averaging 12.2 points and 8.0 rebounds this season. Campbell, 28, is playing in his seventh NBA season. He had career-best averages of 13.9 points and 7.6 assists last year.

The Lakers brought a 36-13 record into Thursday night’s game at Denver. The only NBA teams with better records were Chicago (43-6) and Miami (37-12).

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Knee Ligaments

Shaquille O’Neal’s MRI revealed a hyperextended knee with damage including a torn capsule, a fractured bone, and a partial tear of the lateral co-lateral ligament.