Lakers Now 8-8 Without Shaq

The Lakers, who at one time were 3-6 after Shaquille O’Neal went out with his major knee injury, got back to .500 (8-8) without him by beating the Nuggets Monday night.

“And had Robert [Horry not been hurt, probably we’d be in the neighborhood of 12-6 or 13-5,” Coach Del Harris said. “Those close games we lost, if we had Robert, who we regard as a very key player, I think that would have been enough to put us over the top.”

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Elden Campbell turned a potential Sports Illustrated profile into a show of support for a teammate. Citing the story the magazine did on Nick Van Exel last spring, viewed by most in the organization as a hatchet job, Campbell said he would not do an interview. Not that he would have been that anxious in the first place--he turned ESPN down several times before recently consenting for a positive story on how well he has filled the void at center.