Shaq Helps Point Out Obvious

Nick Van Exel sat stone-faced at his locker Sunday night, even though the Lakers had just partied all over the Golden State Warriors, 132-97.

“Jerry [West] just told me they were about to trade me,” Van Exel said.

The small group of reporters around him was stunned into silence. One finally spoke.

“Are you serious?”

Van Exel looked up.

“Shaq is the point,” he said, grinning.

The point guard, that is, after Shaquille O’Neal fooled around and dropped 27 points and 19 rebounds on the Warriors in only 29 minutes before 14,623 at the Forum, long enough to power the Lakers to their first 4-0 start since 1987-88 and stage an impromptu audition to become the primary ballhandler.

He took one rebound, led the fastbreak and dished off to Eddie Jones for a dunk. One possession later, he grabbed another defensive rebound, of which there were many considering the Warriors shot 39.4% while taking 104 attempts, went end to end and finished with a dunk of his own. Soon after, he tried something similar, fumbled the ball near the basket and was fouled.

“I have to look for a new job,” Van Exel said.

No, O’Neal countered, he’s fine where he is. The little guy can remain the point guard. The big guy, though clearly having enjoyed himself on a night the Lakers were able to be students running roughshod on the substitute teacher--a role played to perfection by the embarrassed and winless-for-a-reason Warriors--still prefers the post moves to the play-making.

“Because that’s how I pay my rent,” he said.

He wasn’t bad at that part of the game, either, making 10 of 17 shots before leaving with 1:59 to play in the third quarter, keeping with the 30-minute guideline established by doctors. The Lakers had a 27-point lead at the time, a disaster for the Warriors that would grow to 36 points late in the fourth quarter Kobe Bryant added a career-high 25 points, Rick Fox scored 22 and Derek Fisher had a career-high 10 assists.

The Lakers got their turn for batting practice after the Warriors had already been served up to Minnesota, Indiana, Toronto, New Jersey and Minnesota, losing by an average of 14 points a game in the process. Saturday’s 97-90 defeat against the Timberwolves in the inaugural game in the renovated Oakland Coliseum Arena, a project that forced a temporary move to San Jose last season, marked the first time that Golden State lost by fewer than double digits.

Of course, that also made for another problem Sunday: the Warriors playing the second night of back-to-back games, against a rested team at that.

The Lakers were not only clearing the hurdles that came with having to nurse O’Neal along, but had also played only three times in the first nine days of the season.

It quickly became obvious they wouldn’t have to play much on this day, either. The Lakers needed only five minutes to build a 10-point lead, lost most of that by the end of the first quarter, then ditched the Warriors for good midway through the second period.

It was 52-39 at halftime, the Lakers not merely playing the bully but playing with some precision, committing only four turnovers. The Warriors made the same number of mistakes, apparently choosing to waste their possessions by taking shots.

Still, there was some significance to this for the Lakers, beyond committing only 11 turnovers. This is the team, after all, that last season lost to the Celtics, Raptors and Pacers and twice to the then-lowly Spurs, among others. The same team that allowed blowouts to deteriorate into hard-fought victories.

Playing to the level of their competition had become a source of praise--beating the Bulls and Knicks without O’Neal--and a concern. So to do something early about that reputation, one even they acknowledged with more than a little frustration, was encouraging in a game that offered little else of a challenge.

“I think so,” O’Neal said. “The guys are more focused this year.”

Added Robert Horry: “We always talk about that. We talk, don’t play the score, play the team.”

Tuesday’s victory at Sacramento was a struggle, but at least it came without a blown lead against a lottery-bound club, and the other two wins came against the Utah Jazz and New York Knicks. Which made what happened Sunday something worth coveting, besides the yuks, and to take on the three-game Texas trip that starts Tuesday. With Van Exel still on the team.