Lakers Leave the Spurs Fighting Mad

The still-filled plastic water bottle that came whizzing out of the stands and toward the pack of players near midcourt, no doubt intended for someone wearing purple, hit nothing but a reputation.

The Lakers had become the tough guys. So help us, Tim Hardaway. Brawlers, even. They had antagonized most among the crowd of 27,783 in the Alamodome on Monday night, at once taking down the home team and an image, claiming an impressive 99-75 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in the best defensive outing of the season and some vindication.

That was not the intention. They never wanted, of course, to have Derek Fisher and Nick Van Exel ejected because of scuffles 44 seconds apart in the fourth quarter, after the outcome had long since been decided, just as the Spurs, known as softies themselves, found no satisfaction in losing Will Perdue and Monty Williams at the same time.

But as long as it did happen . . .

“No, we’re not happy to see this sort of thing,” Coach Del Harris said. “There’s a danger in guys getting hurt and suspended. A lot of things can happen.”

But as long as it did happen . . .

“Now, when things do come up,” Harris added, “it’s good to see the team stand firm, stand together.”

The team that had built a reputation earlier in the season for not being able to handle physical play. The team that drew criticism from within, from Rick Fox, only 2 1/2 weeks earlier for watching the throat-cutting gesture by Utah’s Greg Foster and allowing Foster to walk off the court under his own power.

Said Fox, obviously pleased at the response this time: “I’m glad we stood up for ourselves.”

Twice.

What in many ways had been a game without much physical confrontation--the Spurs played without David Robinson, a late scratch because of a strained left knee, so Shaquille O’Neal bulldozed inside for 28 points and 16 rebounds--became one after a series of hard fouls by both teams. Come the fourth quarter, the Lakers holding an 88-71 lead and on their way to sweeping the Spurs for the first time in 10 years, things got out of hand.

With 4:46 remaining, Fisher and Perdue tangled under the basket after a dunk by Kobe Bryant. Both got their hands up, though the Laker point guard insisted he was just extending his arms high to push the taller Perdue and never made a move to throw a punch, which would earn a suspension. O’Neal was working his way to the front of the pack and hardly looking like a peacemaker when referee Joe Crawford grabbed his jersey and halted the progress.

Fisher was ejected for the first time in his two-year career. Perdue got a similar exit.

With 4:02 remaining, it was Williams-Van Exel and Williams-Bryant, prompted by Van Exel throwing his shoulder into Williams’ chest, leading to Van Exel getting scratched near the back of his right ear when Williams briefly grabbed him around the head and then moving on to Williams grabbing Bryant. When more players arrived, though none from the benches to earn an automatic suspension, everything spilled into the first rows of the seats at halfcourt. The league office will probably get the final say today.

“There wasn’t a need,” said Van Exel, countering the theory that the Lakers needed to send a message along these lines. “They [the Spurs] were the ones playing dirty and physical and wild.”

San Antonio players and Coach Gregg Popovich dismissed any such notion. Either way, that was the end of Williams and Van Exel--and of O’Neal. Harris, not needing to be told the direction this game was heading, decided to save his star for declared battles.

“I don’t think it was a statement,” O’Neal said later. “I think we were just sticking up for ourselves. I just think some of their guys got frustrated and took some cheap shots.

“They just got frustrated because their team couldn’t do the job. Monty Williams has never, ever been a tough player. All of the sudden he’s a tough player?

“If Monty’s such a tough guy, tell him I’ll meet him back here in the summer and we’ll have a boxing match. We’ll do it for charity. Three rounds.”

Three more, that is.