Lakers, O’Neal Hit the Mark

They kept the best record without much help from the best player, but Shaquille O’Neal racked up the big and bold stats again Thursday, anyway.

Squeezed by the dynamic double-team of Dikembe Mutombo and referee Monte McCutchen, O’Neal had six fouls, six turnovers, only nine points, and a few postgame comments that probably will cost him a bunch of money.

He could, however, shrug it all off, because the Lakers (19-5, best in the NBA) got a key performance out of veteran backup John Salley, got 30 points from Kobe Bryant and got out of town with a 95-88 victory over the Atlanta Hawks before the first sellout crowd (19,463) at Philips Arena.

O’Neal, whose peformances have ranged from good to dominant this season, made only four of his 15 shots against Mutombo (and turned in his lowest scoring game, not including when he was ejected against Houston in the second quarter last month), but hit his target flush after the game when asked about the officiating.

“I’d rather save my money--it’s Christmastime,” O’Neal said, before deciding to blast away anyway. “But three refs out there: I had six fouls, one guy [McCutchen] called five fouls.

“That should tell you something about these . . . idiots they’ve got calling the game. They stink.”

But what about saving his money by avoiding the NBA’s wrath? His answer, complete with an expletive, indicated he didn’t care.

O’Neal was assessed reach-in fouls and offensive fouls, the latter coming when he tried to maneuver Mutombo deep under the basket to cut off his blocking angle, and fouled out with 5:54 left in the game.

Mutombo blocked one O’Neal dunk effort early, and ended up with four blocked shots and several other unwhistled whacks and parries on the night before he fouled out late in the game.

“Same old Dikembe,” Bryant said. “Same old fouling Dikembe. . . . Everybody knows Dikembe, he’s known for his defense.

“And his fouling.”

Said Laker Coach Phil Jackson: “I think [O’Neal] started off with Mutombo getting a couple blocks that probably should’ve been fouls that weren’t called and then it just kind of grew from there, one thing led to another.

“I think ultimately he wasn’t given a chance to play in the last part of the game, everything was a foul, whatever he did. That’s part of it, some nights are going to be like that.”

Despite Mutombo’s defensive efforts, and whether or not O’Neal was treated fairly by the officials, the Lakers still got the victory to start this four-game Eastern trip and raised their record against Eastern Conference teams to 6-1.

The Lakers survived this one mostly by clamping down on defense--they held Atlanta to 38.5% field-goal shooting--by extending a slender lead to 13 points in a strong third quarter, and, in O’Neal’s absence, by letting Salley keep the offense flowing from the high post.

Isaiah Rider led Atlanta with 33 points, but the Hawks never got into rhythm on offense and turned the ball over 16 times.

Salley scored seven points, grabbed two rebounds, blocked one Mutombo shot (“That was for my teammates,” Salley said) and threw several sharp passes (but was not given any assists in the final stat sheet) in a season-high 20 minutes.

“Feel like I’m worth my money now,” said Salley, who has seen only cameo action this season as O’Neal played almost every minute of every game.

Salley, out of the league for three seasons before the Lakers signed him this summer, said he was glad the game was in Atlanta, where his mother lives and watched the game from her home.

“She’s 76 years old,” Salley said. “She’s sitting back watching [from home]. She was probably saying, ‘Johnny, you’re playing too many minutes!’ ”

Was this game redemption for him after so many people wondered what the Lakers were doing signing him--and what they would do if he ever had to play major minutes?

“Yeah, but those are called critics,” Salley said. “I don’t pay attention to the critics. Phil [Jackson] knows. Basketball people know what I can do.”

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