Road Could Be a Good Thing

The Lakers, having just completed a home-heavy schedule, go on the road, which will either prove to be grueling or exactly what they need.

“It can be a good thing,” Coach Del Harris said. “Fortunately, we’ve had good success on the road the last 3 1/2 years. A lot of teams are afraid to go out, but our guys should have a good measure of confidence.”

The Lakers have had only six road games since Christmas, and one of those was at the Sports Arena. The other five were all singles--one trip was officially to Phoenix and Seattle, but two days in between allowed them to go home--and none were farther east than Arizona.

Not that the Lakers necessarily took advantage of the run.

“It hasn’t worked out as well as we would have hoped, let’s put it that way,” Harris said.

Their hope now is that the more-regimented routine of the road and having to deal with hostile crowds will serve as something of a jump-start. Figure they’ll get it with the six-game trip, the longest of the season, that starts with Shaquille O’Neal’s return to Orlando on Sunday and includes stops at Indianapolis and New York.

“I think that’s what we need,” Eddie Jones said. “To get away from the comforts of home. We’ve got to get back on the road and start battling. We can get into arenas and have fans booing us. I think we excel in those situations.”