Jackson Pleased but Far From Satisfied

You thought Coach Phil Jackson would be an easy grader?

Though he proclaimed himself pleased with the way his team gobbled up 67 regular-season victories and the best record in the NBA, Jackson said that the Lakers have far from proven they can handle the pressure of the playoffs, which begin Sunday against the eighth-seeded Sacramento Kings at Staples Center.

“They’re a C-plus now,” Jackson said Thursday, the day after the regular season ended.

After consecutive games in Dallas and San Antonio, Jackson gave the players the day off. They will practice today and Saturday before Game 1.

“I thought they were going to be Ds there for a while,” Jackson said. “They’re C-plus; as a group they’re learning, which is important.

“We’ve been able to do it on energy and some defense and some other things but we’re still a ways behind the curve and we have to learn to get through these playoffs.”

How does a 67-victory team earn a better grade?

“I think that has to do with . . . learning how to execute so the vision that I have matches the vision they can make happen on the floor,” Jackson said. “The rest of it, we get by on sometimes physical skills and sometimes our strength of character and player domination and Shaquille [O’Neal] in the middle.”

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The Lakers took precautionary X-rays of Kobe Bryant’s right wrist, which he sprained in the Dallas game on Tuesday then aggravated after a fall against San Antonio on Wednesday, but no serious damage was found and his status is not in doubt for Game 1.

Meanwhile, Derek Fisher (bone spur) was reactivated for the playoffs in place of rookie John Celestand, who was left off the postseason roster.

O’Neal, whose right shoulder was thumped during the San Antonio game and who was in obvious pain at least once after a hard foul in the third quarter, was not listed on the Lakers’ injury report.

“As a team, I think we’re relatively healthy,” Jackson said.

O’Neal’s elbow to David Robinson’s stomach in the overtime on Wednesday was a natural response to a game-long series of fouls, Jackson said.

“Shaq wanted to let a message be known, ‘You can’t just get away with smacking me around without retaliation,’ ” Jackson said.

“And it’s obvious this league does not call flagrant fouls against Shaquille. They can’t let people just hammer away at this guy, because it doesn’t matter if he’s big or not, it’s still a flagrant foul. . . .

“I think Shaq feels justified in his action in that direction. I don’t particularly endorse it myself, but I do think there’s a limit to what a person can take.”

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The NBA’s decision, at the request of television, to spread all the first-round games over a potential 13 days could be a slight factor in the Laker-King series, Jackson said.

There will be three days between Game 1 on Sunday and Game 2 Thursday at Staples Center.

“I believe that it favors Sacramento and I’ll tell you why,” Jackson said. “Because normally, [the Kings would] have to be in L.A. for two or three days and this way they’ll be able to go home [between Games 1 and 2] and keep . . . out of trouble.”

Best-of-five series

GAME 1: Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Staples Center, Channel 4

GAME 2: Thursday, 7:30 p.m., Staples Center, Fox Sports Net

GAME 3: April 30, 2:30 p.m., at Sacramento, Channel 4

GAME 4: x-May 2 (Time to be announced), at Sacramento, Channel 9

GAME 5: x-May 5 (Time to be announced), Staples Center, Fox Sports Net

x-If necessary; All times Pacific