Laker Magic Numbers: 500, 11

By SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER

Nov. 24, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Party on, Lakers.

They served champagne and cake Sunday night after their 119-102 victory over the Clippers before 17,505 at the Forum, another victory in what is now a tie for the sixth-best start in league history. But there was something else to celebrate, this being win No. 500 in the NBA coaching career of Del Harris.

“It means I’m old,” Harris said, glass in hand, dessert waiting in the locker room.

It means the Lakers are 11-0. That ties their sixth-best run in the Los Angeles era, the victory coming with another fourth-quarter show of strength and a game-high 28 points from Eddie Jones. Jones’ night included career highs of 13 free throws and 16 attempts, in addition to three stitches above his left eye, the result of an inadvertent elbow from Clipper Lorenzen Wright in the third quarter.

Coming one game after he scored 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jones is averaging 24.5 points and shooting 56.8% in his last six games. While backcourt mate Nick Van Exel may have cooled off, scoring four points and making only one of eight attempts, Van Exel registered a season-high 11 assists, against only two turnovers.

“[Jones] was just taking it upon himself to get us going because we were a little sluggish,” Van Exel said.

Added Jones: “I thought we were playing mediocre. I thought we were playing down to their level.”

At least they were when they weren’t playing above the Clippers’ heads--the Lakers dominated the boards, 60-45.

“When we look at the film, we’ll see we’ve got guys running away from rebounds,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said after his team lost for the ninth time in a row and dropped to 1-12. “ . . . There’s not that many aspirin to go around to make that a good situation.”

The pursuit of 500 was secondary in Harris’ mind at the start of the night to the lesser number--11. Which is not to be confused with not appreciating the accomplishment. This being a man who loves to speak of the history of the game, there was no mistaking the pride that would come with joining such select company, only 18 people having done it before him.

Seven of those still are coaching, including his counterpart for the historic night, Fitch. Harris went against one of the others, Utah’s Jerry Sloan, five days earlier, and will go against two more on the upcoming three-game Eastern swing, Miami’s Pat Riley on Tuesday and Philadelphia’s Larry Brown on Friday. Beyond that, only Lenny Wilkens, No. 1 on the all-time list, Chuck Daly and Mike Fratello have this over him.

Individual milestone or not, this one was more than OK in what Harris will always be quick to remind is a team sport.

“They’re important,” he said. “I’d say it’s not politically correct to say there are [personal goals]. On the other hand, winning a lot of games is not going to hurt our team.”

Not like, say, losing to the Clippers. The team that had already thrown a scare into the Hawks in Atlanta and, two days earlier, let the Chicago Bulls off the hook at the Sports Arena in what became a double-overtime loss had another tiger on the run this night despite trailing by 14 midway through the third quarter.

Playing without Loy Vaught for the second consecutive outing did not help the Clipper cause. But it might have hurried along the adjustment period--the persistence of the lower-back problem may send Vaught to the injured list, after a jammed right toe had already caused him problems. He is scheduled to see a back specialist Tuesday.

The consolation for the Lakers after the Clippers briefly went ahead in the third quarter was that it turned out to be nothing more than a minor scare.

A double-digit lead was back intact heading into the fourth quarter, at which point the hosts, repeating what has already become a familiar occurrence this season, took control down the stretch.

The Clippers, who got 24 points from Rodney Rogers, would have to settle for a consolation prize. They became the first team to score 100 points against the Lakers in regulation.

Garbage time was to blame for that more than the absence of Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers improved to 21-13 without O’Neal going back to last season.

His replacement at center, Elden Campbell, had 13 points and six rebounds. Corie Blount contributed nine rebounds and Sean Rooks had eight, and Robert Horry also had eight rebounds in his return after missing two games because of a strained hamstring.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Laker Streak at a Glance

A look at how L.A. has outclassed the opposition en route to an 11-0 start. Stats are through Nov. 23:

Avg. points: 111.9

Avg. points allowed: 96

FG%: 49

Opp. FG%: 44

3-Pt. FG%: 35

Opp. 3-Pt. FG%: 31

Turnovers per game: 14.8

Opp. turnovers per game: 18.8

Overtime record: 2-0