It’s Mr. O’Neal’s Neighborhood

His left big toe has an ingrown nail, so Shaquille O’Neal must walk gingerly and play through the pain. Except for Friday night.

“Not at all,” he said, “because I hate David Robinson.”

Finding added motivation, O’Neal played 41 minutes in the Lakers’ 91-84 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, scoring a team-high 23 points. But he grabbed only six rebounds, as many as Robert Horry had in 23 minutes and only one more than point guard Derek Fisher, a sign that the problem was the toe or that the problem was continuing.

It’s hardly a serious one, of course, considering O’Neal had 12 rebounds the game before and 15 the game before that. But the three previous games resulted in limited production: seven, seven and nine boards, meaning he has now failed to reach double digits in four of the last six games.

“I can get it going again,” he said, dismissing the last six games as a brief slump. “Nothing’s a concern to me. Rebounds are like girls. Lose one, another one comes along.”

They might even bring their friends. Even with the subpar average of 9.3 rebounds in the six games, O’Neal is still at 11.5 a contest, which would be fifth in the league if the long absence because of the abdominal injury had not temporarily cost him the qualifying minimums.

*

And on the seventh day, they lost.

The Lakers today get a Sunday matinee game to accommodate national TV for the fourth week in a row, after having lost the previous three. They’ve also lost a made-for-television Saturday afternoon contest and have recorded only one win under such circumstances, the Feb. 1 trouncing of the Bulls.

“You can’t dispute the record,” Coach Del Harris said. “We’ve lost 18 games, seven on Sundays.

“I don’t want to be Sunday’s chumps any more. I told the guys, ‘Let’s come ready to play. Whatever you’ve been doing on Saturdays, change. Change your routine.’

“It’s time we showed USA what America’s team really’s about.”

TODAY vs. Detroit

* Noon

* Channel 4

Site--Great Western Forum.

Radio--KLAC (570), KWKW (1330).

Records--Lakers 41-18, Pistons 27-33.

Record vs. Pistons (1996-97)--1-1.

Update--The Lakers had a very light practice Saturday, providing more rest for Elden Campbell and Shaquille O’Neal. Campbell’s availability was uncertain heading into Friday night because of a cervical strain, and then he played 32 minutes, getting 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sean Rooks, bothered by an upper respiratory infection, was available but did not play. The Pistons are the only team the Lakers haven’t played this season.