Lakers Reach a Higher Level

Staples Center sounded like a real NBA arena Saturday.

The fans roared at the appropriate times during the Lakers’ 99-93 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. The folks in the high-altitude upper deck--bless their oxygen-depleted hearts--started some chants.

If the Lakers like the way it all sounded and felt, then they can do something to bring about more nights like this one.

They can secure home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by finishing with the league’s best record.

No one even mentioned it back in October, but look: they’re a third of the way through the season with a 23-5 record that’s tops in the NBA.

Now that they’ve got it, they might as well keep it.

“We definitely have that in the back of our minds,” forward Rick Fox said. “When we came out, we didn’t initially think in those terms.”

When the Lakers talked about home court before, they discussed the need to make their new building feel like home, to get used to the bad shooting backgrounds and lack of ambience.

The times and terms have changed. New objectives

The Lakers must get home-court advantage.

“It’s too early to talk about it, but yes, it’s a priority,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said.

They don’t need to make extra trips to San Antonio and Portland (and, for that matter, Utah and Sacramento) during the playoffs.

Jackson didn’t need to make this a big issue in Chicago, especially during the first three-peat. Those Chicago Bulls might have been the best road team of all-time.

The Lakers of recent seasons have been weak on the road. They have a 5-11 road record in the playoffs since 1997. They’re a .500 road team even in the first round--and that’s a no-no for teams with championship aspirations.

Jackson brought up another incentive besides the home games. If the teams wind up in their current positions, the Lakers would be the top-seeded team in the Western Conference, San Antonio would be seeded second as the Midwest Division winner and Portland would be seeded third. Those two teams would have to battle it out in the second round. In other words, the Lakers would only have to face one of the two most dangerous teams in the conference to get to the NBA Finals.

“And that is probably more important than anything else,” Jackson said.

Even if the design of the building and the attitude of the suite holders won’t make Staples Center a noisy, intimidating place for visitors, the Lakers will have an advantage here.

You don’t think the Spurs felt cheated on a night when Tim Duncan and David Robinson had to battle through foul trouble, with Duncan fouling out at the two minute mark?

Shaquille O’Neal got the benefit of some questionable calls on offense and got away with some rough stuff on defense. He flattened Duncan on offense and the officials called a foul on Malik Rose. He even kicked a ball with one of his size 22 shoes and got away with it.

That’s the way it works in the NBA when you’re playing in your arena. And it’s one more reason for the Lakers to secure home court for the playoffs.

By the way, O’Neal deserves every bit of the superstar treatment he’s getting from the officials.

He is the most important reason the Lakers have the best record in the league. In other words the Most Valuable Player. So far, no one else is close.

Shaq says the difference is he isn’t bothered because of nagging injuries this time. Jackson says he’s mentally stronger as well. Then he gave us some his psychoanalytical take on the big center.

“The door is starting to look smaller and smaller as far as to slip through and be a champion,” Jackson said. “The fact that you could end up being a 30-year-old guy in this league not having a championship ring is something that I’m sure is a concern to him. He knows in his heart that he’s the most dominant big man in this game, and his effectiveness has got to be measured by how many championships he wins.”

There’s another factor that I’m sure came into play in O’Neal’s 32-point, 11-rebound, five blocked-shot performance Saturday.

Unlike the previous two playoff flameouts, O’Neal had to take an equal share of the blame for that Spurs sweep in the conference semifinals.

Before, he could always point to his huge stats and say it wasn’t his fault, but he shot 49% and averaged 23.8 points against the Spurs, both substandard numbers.

And he had to watch Duncan surpass him as the most desirable player in the league.

O’Neal hasn’t made a big deal about it. He has just made a point. He asked to leave Robinson and play Duncan on Saturday.

“I wanted to guard him,” O’Neal said.

And O’Neal’s presence turned Duncan into a jump shooter--a bad one at that. Duncan was eight for 23 from the field, with most of his shots coming from the 15-foot range.

O’Neal still didn’t think this was such a great way to spend Christmas.

“I’d rather be home, opening gifts, drinking egg nog, eating turkey,” he said.

He might feel that way now. But if the Lakers keep winning, he’ll discover the only thing better than being home for the holidays is being home for the playoffs.