Lakers Reach Another Level

It was Christmas Day, not Memorial Day.

It was the regular season, not the postseason.

But December or June, early or late, the Lakers have to consider a victory over the San Antonio Spurs an important benchmark of how far they have come.

It was sweet to run up a seven-game winning streak over the likes of the Boston Celtics, Minnesota Timberwolves and Atlanta Hawks.

But Saturday night’s 99-93 victory over the NBA champion Spurs at Staples Center in front of a sellout crowd of 18,997, running that winning streak to eight games, was the most satisfying of all.

“It wasn’t a beautiful game, but it was a wonderful win--from the standpoint of confidence that we can beat this team.” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said.

So while it’s too soon to get overly optimistic about this season, it’s not soon enough to forget last season’s debacle, when the Spurs swept the Lakers out of the playoffs en route to the title.

What was particularly impressive Saturday was that the Lakers won despite Shaquille O’Neal’s foul trouble. He was forced to play cautiously at times against San Antonio’s twin towers, Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

And in a game when Kobe Bryant struggled at times, missing 12 of 19 shots.

No problem.

The Lakers (23-5) have the NBA’s best record because they have become multidimensional.

Though limited because of foul trouble, O’Neal managed to score a game-high 32 points, pull down 11 rebounds and block five shots.

Bryant managed to score 18 points and come up with the highlight clip of the game, going over Jaren Jackson for a dunk, drawing a foul and adding a free throw to boost the Lakers to an 85-77 lead and ignite the crowd with a little more than five minutes to play.

San Antonio never got closer than six points after that.

Glen Rice provided his usual offensive boost, contributing 25 points.

Robert Horry continued to show that he can make a difference for the Lakers when the superstars are struggling.

In 24 minutes, Horry had 12 points, pulled down five rebounds and contributed to the defensive effort.

And the Lakers continued to show a defensive game that was not in evidence when these teams faced each other last spring.

To San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich, that is the biggest reason for the Laker turnaround.

“The difference is defense,” he said. “That wins games for you and they play it like they are believing it now.”

The Lakers’ effort held the Spurs, whose 19-10 record is good enough to lead the Midwest Division, to 37.6% shooting and reduced the Twin Towers to a couple of shaky structures for much of the game. Tim Duncan scored 28 points, but he made only eight of 23 shots.

That was brilliant shooting compared to David Robinson, who made two of eight shots and scored nine points.

“We didn’t let their big men get off to a good start,” Rice said.

By the finish, the officials were also a problem for Duncan and Robinson. Duncan fouled out and Robinson finished with four fouls.

“Those are our two stars,” Popovich said. “If your two stars are in foul trouble, it makes things more difficult. In all the adversity, I thought we hung tough.”

So did Bryant, who continues to grow and develop under the firm but patient guidance of Jackson.

“He is such a talented player that he finds a way to contribute,” Jackson said. “He is a little anxious and he doesn’t always let the game come to him. That’s not so unusual in a kid like him to play like that.”

Jackson plans on talking to Bryant about his latest lessons learned on the court, but he wasn’t about to do so Saturday night.

“I will wait until tomorrow or the next day,” he said. “I’ll tell him that he had some tough luck and that it was frustrating.

“But I’m not disappointed in him. I’m almost gratified that he is as impetuous as he is.”

Jackson can afford to be patient. He has a Laker team that continues to grow even as it sits atop the league.

Imagine if Jackson was on the bench last season when the Lakers folded in the playoffs against San Antonio. Now that would have been a true test of his patience.

“One guy I used to play against always said you don’t win any title in December,” Robinson said, “and that’s the truth.”

No argument there. But you can win the psychological edge. And at this point, the Lakers are satisfied with that.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LAKERS vs. SPURS

HIGH SCORERS

Lakers: Shaquille O’Neal, 32

Spurs: Tim Duncan, 28

LEADING REBOUNDERS

Lakers: Shaquille O’Neal, 11

Spurs: David Robinson, 19

TALE OF THE TAPE

*--*

LAKERS SPURS 82 Starters’ scoring 77 17 Bench scoring 16 .458 FG% .376 .688 FT% .758 43 Rebounds 53 13 Turnovers 18

*--*

ON A ROLL

The red-hot Lakers. . . .

* Have won eight games in a row.

* Have won 15 out of 16.

* Have won nine consecutive home games.

* Have won five consecutive road games.

* Are 13-2 at home.

* Are 10-3 on the road.

* Are 12-1 in December.

* Have a projected record of 67-15.

NBA’S BEST

1. Lakers 23-5, .821

2. Portland 20-7, .741

3. Miami 17-8, .680

4. Seattle 18-9, .667

5. San Antonio 19-10, .655