Fox Finds His Edge at Home

Of course Rick Fox felt at home. He was born here, spent his first two years here, always came back here, now has sisters who live here.

And that Tuesday’s game--a 114-105 Laker victory--was moved to Maple Leaf Gardens to allow the Blue Jays time to prepare for the baseball opener tonight, well, that just made it all the more familiar, what with so many seasons in Boston Garden, a near duplication in atmosphere, as his NBA roots.

Ah, the memories. Then he made new ones, establishing season highs with 31 points and 10 rebounds and adding four steals to lead the Lakers over the Raptors before 16,086 in the venerable old building.

Toronto’s Fox played the major role in beating Toronto’s team in the opener of a four-game Eastern trip. More than that, he may have played his best game as a Laker, a performance that became needed more than expected, considering the Raptors stayed close most of the way.

Oh, and a performance he expected.

“There’s been games when I’ve been emotionally charged and scored more points,” Fox said. “This was one of them. Boston was one of them.”

That night, Nov. 26, he made eight of 10 shots and scored 18 points at FleetCenter, his first appearance there as a visitor. On this one, although having played in Toronto several times before, he was equally psyched, taking nine shots in the first quarter alone, about the same as he’ll usually take in an entire game.

Fox made five of those, including four in a row, and kept going. He had 21 attempts in all, two short of a career high, with 10 makes, hurting what could have been an even more impressive showing by going one of six on three-pointers.

So there was imperfection to his game. He would have to settle for an outstanding showing.

“I knew he was playing well, and it’s getting to the point where I expect him to have a good game,” Coach Del Harris said. “But this one, this one you put on a refrigerator.”

Maybe next to the others.

“Rick has played tremendous basketball the second half of the season,” Harris said, “and he was good the first half.”

What may have been his most tremendous of either half--though there was the night he scored 17 points in a quarter against the Timberwolves, or the time he went four for four on three-point shots at Dallas--was especially critical because of the circumstances. Not just that the Lakers led a 15-56 team by only six points with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, forcing Harris to play key personnel big minutes in the fourth quarter of what should have been a restful game, but that small forward had become a fractured position by the end of the night.

Not really fractured. Jammed, though. And infected.

The Lakers weren’t even sure Robert Horry was going to play until about 15 minutes before tip-off. The starting power forward who has been getting considerable time at his former position missed the morning shoot-around because of an upper-respiratory infection, but did play.

Play? He went 38 minutes, made six of 10 shots, scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

“I thought I was going to be really, really tired,” Horry said. “I was tired, but not as tired as I thought.”

The other part-time small forward, Kobe Bryant, arrived in fine condition, but left otherwise. In the midst of what might have been his best showing since the all-star break, he left with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter after jamming the left side of his pelvis.

Bryant, who had 17 points and five assists in 25 minutes, is unsure how the injury happened. Similarly, the Lakers are unsure how long he will be out, listing him as day to day.