Lakers Can Keep Spurs On

By TIM KAWAKAMI

May 16, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

HOUSTON —

The Lakers moved on to the second round of the playoffs, mostly because Shaquille O’Neal moved them there.

They beat the Houston Rockets, 98-88, in a Western Conference series-clinching Game 4 on Saturday at the Compaq Center, because O’Neal beat on and bounced over and generally thundered on top of Hakeem Olajuwon and anybody else who tried to get between him and the basket.

O’Neal was the Lakers’ weapon of choice, their answer for every Rocket rally, and the center of it all--the celebration and the intimidation.

Along the way, his emotional 37-point performance issued a crackling challenge to the San Antonio Spurs (the Lakers’ next playoff opponent) and all of the remaining postseason participants:

Stop Shaq, or step back. Because here he comes.

Without Glen Rice because of a sore elbow and surrounded by famous enemies in this Game 4 survival test, O’Neal asked for and received help from Kobe Bryant, Rick Fox, Robert Horry and many others.

But it was O’Neal who did most of the heavy lifting.

“Glen came to me, he kind of had a tear in his eye because he wanted to play,” O’Neal said after the game of Rice’s surprising inability to play. “I told him, ‘Don’t worry about it, I need you in the long run, not the short run.’

“I kind of had a meeting with Kobe, with Rick and Rob, saying, ‘We need to step our game up.’ . . .

“We did.”

The Lakers flew to San Antonio after the game, will practice at the Alamodome today, and play Game 1 of their second-round series against the Spurs, who closed out Minnesota on Saturday, on Monday night.

After the game, O’Neal spoke about his mediocre nine-for-22 shooting performance in Game 3, and linked himself to Bryant, who went five for 17 in that game.

On Saturday, the Lakers made sure O’Neal was moving across the key as often as possible to avoid Houston locking into him and spending the whole shot clock shoving him around the basket.

O’Neal said his father called after Game 3 with a critique, and the son responded with a 14-for-22 shooting effort, including an eight-for-12 performance in the second half for 22 points, as Olajuwon, his idol, gamely guarded him despite a sore left knee.

Bryant, meanwhile, played all but the final 40 seconds in Rice’s absence, scored 24 points on nine-for-25 shooting and scored 15 consecutive Laker points at the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second.

“Kobe’s sort of like me,” O’Neal said. “He had a bad game the other day. I had a bad game the other day. I’ve never seen him play two bad games in a row.

“He’s the kind of kid who really takes it personally. Kobe really never goes out. So I wasn’t worried about him not getting his rest. He was probably up in his room, watching ‘SportsCenter,’ watching those guys on TV and reading articles.

“I knew he was coming back.”

He knew the Rockets were bound to come back too, even after the Lakers jumped to a 47-30 lead late in the second quarter.

The Rockets tried, but their legs were either weakened (Olajuwon, who was only eight for 19 shooting and could not muscle with O’Neal), weary (Barkley battled all game by J.R. Reid, had O’Neal coming on double-teams and shot only 13 times) or wobbly (Pippen was only six for 23, committed five turnovers and seemed less willing to go inside after Reid slammed him to the floor in the third quarter).

Though the Rockets closed to within three several times in the third quarter, Derek Harper made some big shots (scoring 13 points on the day), Robert Horry scored 12 off the bench, and Fox provided stingy defense.

Houston never grabbed the lead, then started fading away in the fourth, as the Lakers smiled through the taunts from the crowd and pointed toward San Antonio.

“Especially with Glen being out, I just had to play well,” said O’Neal, who had three blocked shots, all against Olajuwon. “I just got deep [positioning]. Usually when I get deep, I do what I do best.

“You know, if we play smart, we can play with anybody. You know, San Antonio, they’re playing well, they’re playing with a lot of confidence, but we just have to go over there and do what we’ve got to do.”

Said Fox of the Lakers’ intensity: “This was a closing game. And closing games are not handed to you by anybody in this league.

“We had to come in and take it from three top-50 players.”

The significance of winning this clinching game without Rice, and with their centerpiece player dominating inside, was not lost on the Lakers.

“I just think it’s rewarding for the team,” Coach Kurt Rambis said. “This is an accomplishment that the players achieved.

“It was a very difficult season for us. With all the stuff that we’ve gone through, it’s just a nice accomplishment for a team that’s come together at the right time.”

Said Fox: “It’s obviously a step in the right direction. But walking off the floor and walking in here, [there was] a lot of quiet. . . .

“We haven’t done anything really. Got a couple extra dollars in the playoff share, but that’s not what we’re after.”

BY THE NUMBERS

22-5: Lakers’ record in first-round series

15: Consecutive losses for Rockets on NBC

29.5: Shaquille O’Neal’s scoring average in series to lead Lakers

10.2: O’Neal’s rebounding average in series to lead Lakers

6.7: Kobe Bryant’s assists average in series average to lead Lakers

13.3: Hakeem Olajuwon’s scoring average in series, down 5.7 points from regular season

30.2%: Scottie Pippen’s shooting percentage in series (23-70), down 10% from regular season

NBA PLAYOFFS

LAKERS vs. HOUSTON