Shaq, Lakers Not Ready to Be Swept Aside By Seattle

Whatever life remained in the Lakers’ critical-list hopes of winning the Pacific Division, faint but still audible, came out Friday night.

A pulse. They got 24 points and 16 rebounds from Shaquille O’Neal, used a defensive effort by O’Neal and Robert Horry to hold Vin Baker to eight points and two rebounds in a foul-plagued 31 minutes and beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 93-80, before 17,505 at the Great Western Forum.

A show of heart. The Lakers avoided being swept by the SuperSonics for the first time since 1993-94 and only the second time in the 31-year history of the series.

“More of a relief,” Eddie Jones said. “Sometimes, you start second-guessing yourself. I’m not saying us. Fans. Every time I drove down the street--’Hey, are you guys going to beat Seattle?’ I was getting sick of it.

“If we catch them, fine. If we don’t catch them, fine. We’re still going to meet up with them at some point, I think.”

As in during the playoffs. Before the wars, the battle for the division remains, with the Lakers within three games with 16 to play.

This comes with qualifiers, though. The SuperSonics have the tiebreaker, so they actually lead by four games. And Seattle’s next nine opponents, even with the Phoenix Suns ahead tonight, had a combined winning percentage of .403 at the start of play Friday play.

That the SuperSonics came in with a 3-0 lead in the season series was not just significant because that was the major factor in the Lakers’ inability to regain the lead in the Pacific. It was also noteworthy because the best Seattle had been able to do in the previous three years was a 2-2 tie in 1995-96. Otherwise, L.A. had gone 3-1 last season and 4-1 in 1994-95, Coach Del Harris’ first campaign, before the postseason that included a 3-1 victory in the first round of the playoffs.

And then came 1997-98.

A 101-95 win for the SuperSonics at home as the Seattle forwards dominated, offsetting 30 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks by O’Neal.

A 113-108 win for the SuperSonics at the Forum, despite 44 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three steals by O’Neal, and despite a good response by the Laker forwards.

A 101-89 win for the SuperSonics at KeyArena on Monday night as they dominated the final six minutes to clinch the season series for the first time since 1993-94. There went, realistically, Laker chances to regain the division lead, given that Seattle shows no signs of the collapse it would take to lose the top spot.

There went, officially, Laker supremacy in what had developed into one of the league’s best rivalries, a one-on-one control they had maintained even in years the SuperSonics finished higher in the standings.

“They were all close games,” Harris said of the first three meetings, searching for an explanation of the dramatic turnaround in the matchup. “They were all close games. But bottom line, the difference in our two seasons is that they have done a better job in the close games than we have. It’s one advantage to having a lot of veteran players, and one of the challenges for us. Becoming as veteran-ized as possible.”

As in, maybe the Lakers feel the losses of Jerome Kersey and Byron Scott?

“Hard to say,” Harris said. “We’re happy we have the guys we have. Most of the teams that have won the championship have a mix of veterans, middle-of-the-career players and young players. . . . Still, there are a lot of ways to win. We’re trying it the young way.”

With varying results. The Lakers began the night 3-3 in games decided by three points or fewer, a dangerous sign heading into the final month before the playoffs. But that’s the same team capable of the speed and power that Monday cut a 21-point lead by Seattle late in the second quarter to zero early in the fourth quarter, and that four nights later built a 17-point cushion of its own not long before intermission.

The Lakers earned that lead thanks to a 16-1 run in which the SuperSonics went 10 possessions and nearly 6 1/2 minutes without anything more than a free throw, en route to shooting 33.3% and committing six turnovers in the second quarter. Seattle managed only 38 points the first half, cut that deficit to seven late in the third quarter and then got stung hard, giving up five points in the final 1.5 seconds as Nick Van Exel made two free throws and Elden Campbell intercepted the ensuing in-bounds pass near midcourt and quickly fired in a 36-footer at the buzzer.

That made it 66-54. When the Lakers opened the fourth by scoring on four of their first five possessions, the lead was back to 17 at 75-58.