Laker Mystique Is Now Mistake

The Lakers don’t own the Spurs any more, and they probably couldn’t even afford to rent.

So cross off another day and another beatable potential postseason foe, and add another discouraging defeat to this already-diminished season.

Before Saturday, while all else crumbled around them, while Utah and Portland soared away, and while the playoffs loomed ever closer, the limping Lakers could always hold fast to one calming thought:

If it came down to it, they could at the very least always beat the San Antonio Spurs.

Retreat!

On Saturday, San Antonio stomped on the Lakers, 108-81, before 31,972 at the Alamodome, ending an oppressive 0-6 skid against Shaquille O’Neal & Co., ending any chance the Lakers had of jumping way up in the playoff rankings, and pretty much ending the shaky Laker reign at the top of the Western Conference.

Yes, the Lakers are a team to beat. They are getting beat and beat and beat and beat.

“Whenever I lose it bothers me--especially against a team like this,” said O’Neal, who had a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds but was swamped in the middle much of the time.

“They’re playing great basketball. They’re playing together. I think we match up with them pretty well. I think we’ve showed that. But they just had more determination, more fire than we did.”

Did O’Neal--who has personally destroyed David Robinson in previous games but this time saw Robinson pour in 15 first-half points on a succession of open jumpers--ever think a team of his could lose by 27 to the Spurs?

“Never,” O’Neal said.

This defeat matched their season-worst 27-point walloping at Portland only 11 days ago, was only a week after their fourth-worst loss, a 16-point setback at Utah, and was the Lakers’ sixth consecutive loss to potential playoff teams.

And probably the most telling part of this one was that the Spurs (now locked into the No. 3 playoff spot, eyeing a bounce to the top) trounced the Lakers doing exactly what the Lakers once did, long ago:

Playing good defense, creating turnovers, and racing upcourt to beat lollygagging defenders.

“That’s the M.O. against us,” said Laker Coach Kurt Rambis, who seems increasingly bemused by his team’s fall. “You get out and run.

“If you can create turnovers with your defense, you can run the Lakers. We have to do a much better job of taking care of the basketball and obviously we have to get back.”

The Lakers (27-18) did not collapse from the outset--for the first time in a while, they played a sharp first quarter that found them trailing only 25-23 at the end.

Then, kicked off by an 11-0 eruption in the second quarter, the Spurs pounded them flat.

Once San Antonio, which has won 25 of its last 29 games, got a hold of the Lakers, Avery Johnson (12 assists, 12 points, two steals, no turnovers), Tim Duncan (21 points, 12 rebounds, three blocked shots) and a handful of others shot the Lakers right out of the contest.

The Spurs made 69.2% of their first-half shots, on their way to a breezy 42-for-76 outing (55.3%), including a six-for-11 showing from three-point distance.

It was only Feb. 8 (though it seems like a thousand years ago) that the Lakers came to the Alamodome, scored 80 points (one fewer than Saturday), held the Spurs to 39.7% shooting, and won, 80-75.

But the current Lakers are a remnant of that team, a hollow shell heading slowly toward a big May-day.

In the last seven games, the Lakers have given up an average of 105 points--and are 2-5 in those games.

“I hate to keep saying the same old thing over and over again,” said veteran point guard Derek Harper, who played for the first time in five games, “but it is the same old thing.

“The reality of it is, that to be a good basketball team, you’ve got to work hard defensively, you’ve got to come up with stops.”

But time and again, a Spur shooter--Jaren Jackson or Mario Elie or Elliott or Robinson--popped wide open on the perimeter or bolted to the basket without fear of reprisal or rejection.

Even Rambis, who has determinedly stayed on a positive track through the decline, was not generous about his team’s performance.

“We were doing a few good things the last couple ballgames,” Rambis said. “We took a step back today.”

*

CLIPPERS: 105

VANCOUVER: 96

Taylor and Rogers lead the way as the Clippers increase their edge over the Grizzlies in a battle of the NBA’s worst teams. Page 4

MARK HEISLER

Whatever chemistry problem exists between O’Neal and Bryant, they need to work it out, and do it quickly. Page 5