Fox Doesn’t Want to Get Off on Wrong Foot in Playoffs

There is nothing to indicate Rick Fox is in jeopardy of sitting out Friday’s playoff opener against the Portland Trail Blazers, but concern exists as to what kind of condition he will be in after battling a groin injury and, more recently, a sore right foot.

Fox practiced Monday as the Lakers opened a three-day mini-camp in Palm Desert, but hardly at full strength. The foot injury had limited him to 15 minutes the day before in the regular-season finale against the Utah Jazz and caused him to be pulled for good with 7:49 left in the third quarter. That it created the opportunity for Kobe Bryant to score all 12 of his fourth-quarter points at small forward, the spark in the 102-98 victory, was of little consolation in this regard.

“I’ve got to get him ready,” Coach Del Harris said of Fox. “Maybe it’s an advantage to not play Thursday, after all. He’s a little bit more beat up than we realized.”

His toughness had never been in question, even before he became the only Laker to start all 82 games and joined Derek Fisher as the only to play in each, but Fox has still impressed in the way he has played through pain at times this season. Monday, he sounded worried for one of the few times about what has become a near-constant flow of various dings.

“I’m concerned,” Fox said. “I think anybody would want to be 100% when it comes to playoff basketball.”

*

Not that Laker players will be bringing this up to Eddie Jones or anything, but Portland’s Isaiah Rider has stoked the fires anew, making up with boldness what he lacks in originality.

Continuing the personal attack that started a year ago at this time, as the teams also prepared for a first-round series, and then emerged again during 1997-98, Rider waited all of a few minutes before digging in again.

“Obviously, Eddie’s a good player, he’s an all-star, but to me, I don’t think he can touch me,” Rider said after Sunday’s loss to Seattle that cost the Lakers the outright Pacific Division title.”Some people get all the hype. I don’t care about the hype.”

Responded Shaquille O’Neal: “If I was Eddie, I’d be looking to get 30 on him every night.”

Monday, after the Trail Blazers practiced in Tualitin, Ore., the gauntlets continued to come down faster than the suspensions, which is to say, very fast.

“Eddie Jones is a good player, but I can post Eddie Jones up all day,” Rider said, noting that he does not dislike his counterpart. “The Lakers are going to have to make a decision. They’re going to have to double-team me.

“We play the same position, we’re both young. He gets a lot of notoriety, a lot of credit around the league, and deservedly so. But I feel as if I’m a better player and I try to prove it every time I play against him.”

Results from the playoffs of ‘97:

Jones--59.3%, 12.5 points, 4.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds.

Rider--37.2%, 13.3 points, 4.3 assists, 2.0 rebounds.

The Trail Blazer had the statistical advantage during this season, shooting better (44.3%-40.5%), scoring more (20.5-16.3) and grabbing more rebounds (4.5-3.0). But his second-best game came when Jones was out with flu, leaving Rider at 42.9% and 14.5 points in the head-to-head matchups.

*

Some Lakers said privately they sensed some members of the Jazz playing like a team that had already determined its playoff positioning--in this case, best record in the Western Conference and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs--but Utah held pretty close to form in distributing minutes Sunday.

The issue had come up, mostly the day before, as more of a curiosity, to see whether the Jazz would fight the Lakers to the end as L.A. played for a division title and Utah played to not get anyone hurt. As it turned out, Karl Malone played 33 minutes, about five fewer than normal, but everyone else was basically in line with the situations.

John Stockton played eight minutes less than his season average, and that could easily be attributed to the great game being played by his backup, Howard Eisley. Meanwhile, Jeff Hornacek played two fewer minutes, hardly a crime, while Bryon Russell, No. 4 on the Jazz in minutes this season, played nine more.

“It meant a lot to me,” said Utah Coach Jerry Sloan, an ultimate competitor. “It doesn’t mean anything in the standings, that is true, but a whole lot of people paid to watch this game. I have never played one in my life that I didn’t think was important. Anything less than that, I think, is very unfair.”

Said Laker Robert Horry: “I was very surprised. In Houston one time [in a similar situation], we played the first quarter and the third quarter and that was it. But you know Sloan. He doesn’t like us. He wants to beat us.”

You can tell he doesn’t like you?

“Yeah,” Horry said. “And the feeling is mutual.”

*

Elden Campbell’s run of seven consecutive seasons with an improved scoring average ended, along with his chance to tie Derek Harper for the NBA record. Campbell needed to better the 14.9 from 1996-97 and was in good shape around the start of January, when O’Neal returned from his abdominal injury. Campbell finished at 10.1. . . . The 15.4 points a game by Bryant made him the highest-scoring reserve in Los Angeles Laker history, determined to be someone with less than 10 starts. Bryant, in the opening lineup only once, also finished No. 1 in scoring among all reserves, ahead of the 13.5 by Phoenix’s Danny Manning.