Lakers’ Eyes on the Prize With Victory Over Hawks

Rick Fox scored 18 points, Kobe Bryant had 16 after shaking off the effects of an eye injury and Elden Campbell contributed 12 rebounds and the key defensive play as the Lakers made their exhibition home debut a success with a 93-89 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night before 11,814 at the Forum.

Campbell, again starting at center in place of Shaquille O’Neal, was only two of 12 from the field. But he sealed the Lakers’ fifth victory in seven games by trapping Mookie Blaylock underneath the basket after the Hawk guard penetrated along the baseline and then intercepted Blaylock’s pass attempt to Chucky Brown with about 13 seconds left.

That allowed the Lakers to keep a 91-89 cushion, provided when Eddie Jones made two free throws with 23 seconds remaining. Fouled intentionally, Fox made two from the line with 4.5 seconds to go for the final margin.

The Lakers will play the Seattle SuperSonics--who crushed the Washington Wizards, 114-73, in the earlier game Friday--tonight at 8 p.m. for the championship of the annual four-team tournament. The Hawks and Wizards meet at 5.

About half of Bryant’s right eye was a dark red, the result of a scratch and hemorrhaging after being poked by Washington’s Chris Webber on Wednesday at Las Vegas, but he said it felt much better than it looked. And better than it felt at the time.

“I’ve got poked in the eye before,” he said. “But I felt it go in. I was kind of scared.”

With that behind him Friday night, Bryant made four of his first six shots to lead the Lakers to a 50-44 halftime advantage. He finished six of 12.

The Hawks’ first-round pick, Ed Gray from California, scored a team-high 17 points.

In the first game, the SuperSonics shot 54.2% to crush the Wizards as Gary Payton scored 18 points and Aaron Williams added 16.

Tracy Murray had a game-high 22 points for the Wizards, who played without the injured Juwan Howard (sprained ankle), Rod Strickland (pulled hamstring) and Gheorghe Muresan (stretched tendon in right ankle).