Shaq (49) Applies Clincher

By TIM KAWAKAMI

April 6, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND —

What’s the Lakers’ magic number?

By any reckoning, and especially after the events of Wednesday night’s 111-104 Laker victory over the Golden State Warriors before 18,621 at the Arena in Oakland, there is only one number that represents everything that has been achieved and everything possible within their reach.

The Lakers’ magic number is 34, for now and for a long time--it’s what separates them from the rest of the league and definitely elevated them over the Warriors.

Shaquille O’Neal wears jersey No. 34 and wore the Lakers on his shoulders once again, pouring in 49 points (on 19-for-27 field-goal shooting and 11-for-16 free-throw shooting), grabbing 13 rebounds and flattening every wincing Warrior who crossed his shadow.

“It was a great game for him, that’s for sure,” Coach Phil Jackson said of O’Neal, who registered his seventh performance of 40 points or more this season.

“They tried everything against him, and he kept finding a way to get to the basket.”

The reason the Lakers had to keep going to O’Neal was the lack of any of the other usual choices, Jackson said, including Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice, who scored only six points.

“It got to be that way because Kobe couldn’t shoot, we couldn’t get anybody else going out there offensively and we kept searching until we found a way to get other things happening for us,” Jackson said.

Though Portland’s loss earlier in the evening officially clinched the Lakers’ home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, it was O’Neal’s performance that gave weight and meaning to an otherwise distracted Laker outing.

O’Neal scored 31 points in the second half, when the Warriors threatened to end their nine-game losing streak by out-running and out-working the listless Lakers.

His point total was his second-highest of the season, behind his NBA-high 61-point explosion against the Clippers.

Jackson said the team took a little time after the game to cherish clinching the best record in the NBA.

“It’s nice to have that one over with,” Jackson said. “It’s what we went after this year and we finally got it done.”

Aside from O’Neal, it was one of the Lakers’ more mediocre games of recent vintage, but it still resulted in their 11th victory in a row, 30th in their last 31 games, and raised their season record to 64-12.

The Lakers have not posted this many regular-season victories since 1986-87, when that squad finished 65-17 and went on to win the championship. It also clinched their first Pacific Division title since 1989-90.

Golden State, injury-wracked but still able to fire up shots rapidly and with reasonable accuracy, mounted one last challenge to get within 102-98 on a Donyell Marshall (32 points) three-pointer with 2:12 to play.

But Mookie Blaylock missed a hurried three-pointer that could’ve closed it to one point, and Derek Fisher found O’Neal running alone down the lane for an easy slam, pushing the lead back up to 104-98.

Bryant, back from his one-game fighting suspension, had 11 assists, almost all of them to O’Neal, which offset a five-for-14 shooting night.

Devean George, meanwhile, provided all the perimeter fireworks O’Neal needed, getting a career-high 14 points, including four three-pointers in a quick burst as the Lakers put the game away.

After trailing for most of the game, the Lakers rode O’Neal’s shoulders to within reachable distance (he scored 18 in the third quarter) and Bryant’s 30-foot buzzer-beater to finish the third finally put them ahead, 77-75.

O’Neal made all five of his field-goal tries in the quarter.

Then Brian Shaw and George made back-to-back three-pointers to open the fourth, and suddenly the Lakers had an 83-75 lead.

The Lakers played the first half as if the clinching had already happened, turning in two of the more slipshod quarters of the season.

One sign of the Warriors’ hustle against the Lakers’ dreariness: Golden State outrebounded the Lakers, 36-23, in the first half, including eight apiece by Jason Caffey and Donyell Marshall.

For the Lakers, only O’Neal gave a representative effort, grabbing nine rebounds and leading all scorers with 16 at the break, when the Warriors had a 51-47 lead.

Marshall had 15 points and Blaylock 12 in the first two periods, while Bryant was three for 11 from the field.

It was a far cry from the cool, canny process the Lakers looked toward before the contest began.

“I think the way we should look at it is as a practice-like situation,” Bryant said. “Kind of work on things we might use in the playoffs. I think that should be our motivation.

“Our intensity comes from our execution. We kind of have to shift our mind-set to that--in the playoffs, that’s what counts.”

That, and No. 34.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE CURRENT STREAK

1. Detroit 110-82

2. New York 92-85

3. Miami 100-89

4. G.S. 119-96

5. Phoe. 109-101

6. Sac. 90-89

7. Van. 108-99

8. Phil. 100-88