Van Exel’s Shot Provides Momentum

After he clashed with Coach Del Harris last season, people wondered if guard Nick Van Exel would be back this season.

After he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in February, people wondered if Van Exel would be back for the rest of the season.

After he returned as a reserve following a 13-game absence, people wondered if he’d be back in starting lineup.

That’s Nick Van Slick, always moving, always changing, always keeping them guessing and wondering.

He has returned from his injury as a kinder, gentler, smarter Van Exel, a Van Exel who has learned to at least co-exist with his coach if not embrace him, a Van Exel who insists on coming off the bench, a Van Exel who has learned to love being a super sub who can pick his spots to provide just the right spark to fire up his club.

Van Exel picked the perfect spot Sunday in the Lakers’ 112-100 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals at the Great Western Forum.

There were 7.1 seconds to play in the first half and teammate Eddie Jones was about to put in a free throw that would bring his team to within one point of Seattle.

“I thought I would get the steal,” said Van Exel of the upcoming in-bounds pass. “I envisioned it.”

OK, so his vision was a little off. So who’s complaining? Certainly not the Lakers.

It was Jones who stepped in front of the in-bounds pass from Detlef Schrempf, not Van Exel. But Jones’ momentum carried him out of bounds, so he had to whip the ball behind his back onto the court to keep it in play and Van Exel ended up with it with about two seconds left.

“All I knew was that I could take one dribble and put the shot up,” Van Exel said, “from about half court.”

It may have seemed like half court, but it was actually 26 feet out.

The ball swished through the net as the red light came on and the buzzer sounded as the crowd went wild and the Lakers surfed into the locker room on a wave of momentum with a 57-55 lead.

“That was big,” Harris said. “We came in on an up when, by rights, we should have been down and regrouping. That was significant.”

In the other locker room, of course, Seattle Coach George Karl saw it a little differently.

“It’s a gift,” he said of the turnover, “when you are beating a good team on their court . . . wow.”

Wow would also be a good word to describe the reaction to the play of Derek Fisher, who has been starting in place of Van Exel.

“That was big,” Fisher said. “Seattle had been taking the momentum from us. All of a sudden, it was in our favor. They had thrown everything out there at us in the first half and we had withstood it.”

Van Exel wasn’t done just yet. He had two big three-pointers in the second half as the Lakers blew the game open. In all, Van Exel, the man whom his teammates call “Quick,” had, in 31 minutes of playing time, 13 points, including three three-pointers and seven assists.

But don’t be fooled. That quickness comes at huge price.

“I wish you had this knee,” he told a reporter who asked him about it after Sunday’s game, “so you would have to understand what I have to do to get ready for games.”

Trainer Gary Vitti understands. He works with Van Exel every day.

“He can’t regenerate the cartilage that was taken out,” Vitti said, “so he has to strengthen the area around there. He has inflammation and he will have it as long as he plays. It’s a degenerative condition and it’s not going to change as long as he plays, other than to get worse.”

Is there anything Van Exel can do for it?

“The best thing would be if he didn’t play,” Vitti said.

Nobody expects that to happen. So Van Exel spends time on his game days on the bench mentally preparing to come in and time on his off days rehabilitating the knee.

“I’m over there on the bench scouting,” he said. “I’m watching the plays they run and I’m watching the pick-and-rolls, so that when I go out there, I know what I’m going to do.”

Gone is the combative player who would shadow box his way down the court after putting the ball in the hoop. Instead, his favorite motion now is to push both hands toward the floor, palms down, on the road, telling the fans to sit down.

In the final second of the first half Sunday, he pushed down fans all over the state of Washington.