Van Exel Taking Care of the Ball

His push for all-star consideration has included committing only two turnovers in the last 119 minutes, an impressive three-game run for a point guard.

Or maybe Nick Van Exel’s late kick is for a spot at power forward. In the same three games, he has six, seven and six rebounds, a total of 19 that is second on the team to Shaquille O’Neal. And Van Exel has grabbed at least five rebounds in six of the last 10 games.

“Just trying to get in there and pick up the longer rebounds,” the 6-foot-1, 190-pounder said. “There’s a lot of rebounds to be picked up, so I can pad my stats there.”

That has not been lost on Coach Del Harris.

“We’re trying to get more rebounds from our guards,” Harris said. “But actually, Nick decided on his own that he wanted to get more rebounds this season than Eddie Jones. That’s a standard for him.”

And apparently a realistic one. Jones leads, 138-135, but has played one more game.

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Phoenix Coach Danny Ainge went to small lineup Wednesday to make up a deficit that had reached 16 points, trying to send O’Neal to the free-throw line in hopes of two misses.

But like this?

Even with Mark Bryant, John Williams and Danny Manning available, while Clifford Robinson defended the power forwards, Ainge sent out 6-7 Cedric Ceballos and 6-8 George McCloud to match up with O’Neal. The Lakers’ 7-2, 320-pound center responded by scoring once on each and making five of six free throws, all in a span of six possessions.

“It’s an insult to me to put a guy smaller than 6-8 on me,” O’Neal said. “It’s an insult.”

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O’Neal, who briefly left Wednesday’s game after aggravating his strained abdominal muscle, only took part in non-contact work at Thursday’s practice. But Harris said he will participate in the full workout today and be ready to play Saturday afternoon at Seattle.