L.A. Swat Team Locks Up 76ers

It wasn’t much of a shootout between the top two scorers in the NBA Friday night.

And that’s precisely the reason the Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers are having better-than-expected seasons.

Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson aren’t consumed with the individual glory of the scoring title.

They entered Friday night’s game at Staples Center separated only by the right side of the decimal. Iverson was averaging 29.2 points, O’Neal 29.0.

Iverson is the defending scoring champion. O’Neal got that title and the trophy that comes with it in 1994-95, when he averaged 29.3 points.

The prize didn’t really do much for him. Too small, he says. No need to clutter the shelf with another knickknack.

“If I didn’t have one, I would try to get it,” O’Neal says.

“I’m looking for that bling bling.”

Bling bling, as in ice. Diamonds. A championship ring.

Friday night was merely another example of why he stands his best chance of getting one, along with the most-valuable-player award.

It wasn’t only the 37 points, on a night when he almost doubled the combined output of Kobe Bryant. There were the 14 rebounds, five assists and eight blocked shots too.

Shaq’s big nights usually bode well for the Lakers. In Iverson’s first couple of seasons, whenever he scored big the 76ers invariably lost.

That’s changed now. In their recent seven-game winning streak he had nights of 44, 43 and 33 points. They hold the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Iverson finally has someone worthy of sharing the load. Before, his partner Larry Hughes had talent but didn’t know what to do with it. In the three-way trade that sent out Hughes and brought in Toni Kukoc, the 76ers gained a player with proven scoring ability and three championship rings.

The fans might have come to see Iverson fill it up, but his best stretch came when he passed. First he threw an alley-oop to Matt Geiger for a dunk. Then he made a behind-the-back dribble and fed Toni Kukoc for a fastbreak dunk.

The 76ers stayed in the game because Iverson had five assists and one turnover in the first half.

Geiger actually finished with more field-goal attempts than Iverson, 22-20.

“Al’s just not trying to force it,” Geiger said. “He realizes there’s enough guys on this team that can handle their shots. He’s not throwing up crazy shots.”

O’Neal was around to block even the good shots Friday night, which is one reason Iverson made only six of 20 attempts and finished with 15 points.

“The guy’s playing at another level,” Brown said of O’Neal. “And I hope people appreciate that, because on both ends of the court he’s a factor. He doesn’t care about scoring and he gets everybody involved.”

At this point, any combination of three Laker victories and Portland losses will guarantee the best record in the league for the Lakers and some down time for O’Neal.

“As soon as we clinch, I’m going to let it all out,” he said.

He made a motion as if he were opening a valve and added the sound effect: “Pffffffffttt.” Time to chill.

He already is picking his spots.

Wednesday’s game against Vancouver was as close as you’ll ever come to seeing Shaq take a night off. He let Kobe handle the scoring, spent the game as a passer and still had 19 points to go with eight assists. He earned it after the way he has carried the Lakers through much of the season.

Friday, against the surging 76ers, he knew the team needed a little more.

When Phil Jackson talks about the Lakers’ refusal to accept defeat, much of that attitude belongs to O’Neal.

It has caught on with the rest of the players and translated into 61 victories.

“The only thing they can do is they can find a way to win,” Jackson said.

They keep winning even now that it appears their minds are elsewhere.

Rice, back after missing the Vancouver game because of a stomach virus, was halfway out of the locker room for pregame shooting practice when he realized he wasn’t wearing any shorts. The Lakers threw passes directly to the 76ers, and various other silly turnovers. Thirteen turnovers in the first half? They average 13.9 a game.

You don’t think that came up in Jackson’s halftime talk? The Lakers didn’t commit a turnover in the third quarter. O’Neal scored 10 points in the third, six in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the fourth and the Lakers had a 15-point lead.

Time to coast. You can almost hear it. Pffffffft. It’s not the sound of the Lakers’ season wafting away. It’s the pause before it really gets started.