Lakers Right at Home

Five days. He needed all of five days to change an image three years in the making, a reputation that developed undeservedly, but developed nonetheless. Three games.

By late Sunday afternoon, the mother of all Eddie Jones scoring streaks had dramatically altered the Western Conference semifinals and the perception he has acknowledged in a wincing tone. Both were taken care of as one, right along with the Seattle SuperSonics, as Jones scored 32 points to again set a career playoff high and the Lakers rode the existence of a dependable second weapon to a 112-100 victory before 17,505 at the Great Western Forum and a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

The big gun, Shaquille O’Neal, had 39 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five blocked shots, but, then again, hasn’t been carrying the same baggage. He misses free throws. Jones, he supposedly misses postseasons.

And then there are the new images.

Jones making seven of 13 shots and scoring 23 points as the Lakers win Game 2.

Jones making 12 of 17 shots and scoring 29 points as the Lakers win Game 3.

Jones making 12 of 21 shots and scoring 32 points as the Lakers win Game 4.

“I love him and he’s played wonderful,” Coach Del Harris said. “But he’s never played three games in a row as good as those were.

“Forget Eddie Jones. I don’t think a lot of guys had three games in a row better than this. You’d have to look at some Hall-of-Fame guys to put together three better games than that.”

Jones has not done any better. Given the surroundings and all.

“Not three games in a row,” he said. “Not in the playoffs.”

The chance to clinch Tuesday night in Seattle arrives because of it, the SuperSonics having gone from a 3-1 advantage in the season series as Jones averaged 14.8 points and shot 42.3% to a 3-1 deficit and their first three-game losing streak of 1997-98. Not just that, but all three have come by double-figure margins.

Sunday, the SuperSonics got no closer than eight points in the fourth quarter, after trailing by as many as many as 14. They couldn’t stop O’Neal, again. They couldn’t stop Jones, again. They were hurt by Robert Horry, again, to where their coach, George Karl, was calling Horry the most valuable player of the series after the Laker forward got 13 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

But there is hope. Or is that desperation?

“I am anxious to get back to KeyArena,” Karl said. “I am anxious to let our fans pick us up and get our confidence back, win a tough game there and bring it back down here.”

Let our fans pick us up?

“They’re frustrated,” Laker Rick Fox said. “They’re frustrated. That’s where you hope to put a team early in the series. They’re second-guessing each other, themselves, and their plans for the next week.

“What would [a Seattle comeback] take? I think we’ve done it before. So it would take remission on our part. But at the rate we’re playing and the way we’re playing, we go up there and are pretty confident we can win this.”

Added Derek Fisher: “We know it’s going to take an amazing effort to go in and win Tuesday. Young or old, nobody wants to go home and get beat the way we’ve beaten them the last three games.”

Badly, for the most part.

“All we’ve done is put ourselves in a position that’s healthy and enviable,” Harris said. “But we’ve got to win another game.”

The Lakers, who have not lost two in a row in about 10 weeks, have three chances to do so and earn the right to face the winner from the San Antonio-Utah series. They haven’t lost three in a row since early December.

“We have a 3-1 lead,” Jones said. “We’ve got to feel good about it. But that’s a veteran ballclub. We’ve got to go in focused to close the door Tuesday night.”

Said Karl: “It is not over, gentleman. That’s all I’ve got to tell you. It’s not over.”

Then it’s probably at least close, so difficult is it to imagine the Lakers losing three in a row in their best run of the season. So difficult was it for some of them to miss the look on the SuperSonics’ faces as the final minutes ticked off Sunday.

“Just a blank expression,” Fox said. “Wondering what is the key. They’ve got to be thinking, ‘We were dominating this team [during the regular season] and now we’re getting blown out.’ ”

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BY THE NUMBERS

3: Consecutive games that Eddie Jones has set his career playoff high, finishing with 32 points.

6.8: Increase in Jones’ playoff scoring average this season vs. his career (18.0 to 11.2)

9 of 12: Shaquille O’Neal from the free throw line, en route to 39 points. He’s shooting 60% from the line against Seattle (30 of 50) compared to 52.7% in the regular season.

30.5: O’Neal’s four-game scoring average against Seattle.

46: Laker victories in a row at the Forum when they’ve shot 50% or better from the floor (53.8% Sunday).

2: Points for Vin Baker after the first quarter.

0: Playoff series Lakers have lost after taking 3-1 lead.

8-2: Seattle’s record when facing a minimum of two elimination games.