Productivity Rises as O’Neal Makes Most of Bigger Workload

Shaquille O’Neal is playing more minutes and playing more effectively, and Coach Phil Jackson says that the combination is not a coincidence.

O’Neal, who had a five-game stretch of playing at least 43 minutes before Friday’s 103-80 victory over the New Jersey Nets, averaged 37.4 points and 16 rebounds over that period and has been able to sustain his rhythm by staying in the game.

“To me, he comes off the floor sometimes and sits down and then he comes back and he doesn’t have the same energy as his first run,” Jackson said before Friday night’s game.

“So we just said, ‘Let’s see if we can’t refocus and somehow get your energy back.’ That’s been the difference. Because he’s always been a good starter, I thought, and somehow ran out of energy in the course of games. Right now, he’s sustaining the energy and the focus in games.”

To keep the focus and also, Jackson suggested, to get O’Neal’s weight closer to 310 pounds, Jackson now rarely removes O’Neal for more than a minute or two at a time, which also helps hide the Lakers’ lack of a backup power threat.

“[O’Neal comes out] only for fouls--if it is, then it’s a two-minute break, then boom, right back in,” Jackson said.

“I’m not letting him sit too long. Because I think he does cool off and loses his feel for the game.”

O’Neal has never averaged more than 39 minutes in his career--and averaged 34.8 last season--but said he doesn’t feel worn down by the long minutes.

“I’m feeling pretty good, getting a lot of massages,” he said. “I’m just doing what I’m supposed to do.”

O’Neal, who laughingly suggested he was trying to earn himself a contract extension, agreed that he might not have had a run like this in a long while.

“I did better in elementary school,” he said. “I was averaging 50, and they were saying, ‘He’s not 10! I want to see his birth certificate now!’ ”