Lakers Finally Play to Potential

By TIM BROWN

Dec. 11, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

After consecutive losses and a lot of pointed questions about their willingness to do the things that feng Phil Jackson’s shui, the Lakers steeled themselves and did a little something about it.

They defeated the Detroit Pistons, 112-88, before 18,997 Sunday night at Staples Center, and they did it so well that in the fourth quarter Kobe Bryant played one minute and Shaquille O’Neal played not at all.

And, for those who believed the Lakers had become too predictable on offense, the Pistons arrived with the counterpoint, Jerry Stackhouse, joined by a lot of other guys standing around and/or setting picks.

O’Neal and Bryant each scored 26 points in 33 minutes. Bryant had nine assists and only one turnover, and O’Neal had 12 rebounds and made a couple of free throws.

They’ll work through the aesthetics of it all at some other time. After losses to Seattle and Golden State, the Lakers walked happily away from a businesslike victory.

“I’d say it was efficient,” Bryant said. “We had good ball movement, we got back on defense and we took care of the ball.”

All of which was of special interest to Jackson, concerned lately about his team’s leisurely approach to its title defense, man-to-man defense, transition defense and post defense.

Ninety minutes before the Lakers would begin to draw themselves out of their two-game losing streak, Jackson set their mood in the strongest tone.

“They’re pretty embarrassed, I think, by the way they’re playing,” he said. “Well, I don’t know if they’re embarrassed or just depressed about it. There’s a sense of resignation, so to speak. Disappointment, I would say. I’m trying to stay at the same level. When we get better, when we do get on a roll, it comes in bunches, so don’t worry about this part of the season.

“[But] we’re not playing right. We just don’t have the right effort. It’s not [just] about transition defense. It’s about playing hard.”

Laker forward Rick Fox agreed. “We seem to beat teams that present challenges and lose to teams that we’re supposed to beat,” he said. “I think it’s time to right that and tie up loose ends so that we don’t have any more slippage in our defense, which has been lacking.”

So with their pride aching with their defense, the Lakers set about playing through the showdown of Bryant and Stackhouse, ranked one-two in the league in scoring, and simply playing the game.

Thirty-one-point losers the night before in Portland, the Pistons gave the ball to Stackhouse, who scored 30, and Joe Smith, who scored 23, but otherwise had little to combat a taut effort by the Lakers.

The Lakers had a season-high 36 assists, nine of them by Fox, who also had 10 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes. They had 55 rebounds, 16 more than the Pistons.

“We have to play really, really, really well to play with the Lakers,” Piston Coach George Irvine said. “The Lakers are really, really good.”

Detroit, conversely, had five more “really’s” than the Lakers did, the kind of thing that won’t show up in the box score. But, that was the Pistons’ only advantage.

“I saw a semblance of what I am looking for out there,” Jackson said.

After a so-so first quarter, when what looked like a better defensive effort ended with the Pistons scoring 25 points (another 100-point pace) and shooting 50%, the Lakers pressed for their scrappier game. Reserve Robert Horry had eight points and five rebounds and hounded Smith into one for six shooting, all in the second quarter. O’Neal and Bryant combined for 24 points in the third quarter, when the Lakers had 10 assists to 13 field goals.

Therefore, it all looked better. Bryant spent the game inside the offense, tempted as he might have been to score with Stackhouse. O’Neal was surly on the defensive side. And the bench, which played almost the entire fourth quarter, scored 45 points, 12 by Mike Penberthy and eight by Isaiah Rider.

“We play our best when we share the basketball and we help each other with opportunities and easy looks at the bucket,” Fox said. “I personally try to help this team out by scoring easy buckets because I reap a lot of benefits from Shaq, Kobe and a couple other guys who draw attention. Why not return the favor?”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

TRACKING KOBE

Bryant’s scoring surge and how the Lakers have fared:

FIRST 11 GAMES

Avg.: 26.2

Record: 7-4

LAST 11 GAMES

Avg.: 32.4

Record: 8-3

LAST 11 GAMES, GAME BY GAME

vs. Golden St.: 31

vs. Minnesota: 29