Sunny Outlook for O’Neal, Grant

Shaquille O’Neal and Horace Grant, both suffering from back spasms, sat out practice Wednesday morning, then predicted they would be healthier tonight, when the Lakers play at Phoenix.

O’Neal wrenched his back during Monday’s loss to Portland. Two days later, he sat on a folding metal chair on the sideline, two wires running from an electronic stimulus machine to his upper back.

And then he wasn’t in much of a mood to talk.

Asked how it felt, he shook his head. Asked if he would play tonight, he said, “Yeah,” and walked off.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson called the injury “a stiff neck,” and did not appear concerned about either player. “It’s one of those things this time of year you get,” Jackson said. “They’ll be all right.”

Grant, who said he gets the spasms once or twice a year, was climbing off the trainer’s table Wednesday when his upper back seized.

“Aw, just old age,” Grant said, and added that he was “pretty sure” he’d play tonight.

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If Kobe Bryant were to win the NBA scoring title, he would be the third youngest to do so.

Max Zalofsky was 22 years, five months when he scored 21 points a game for the 1947-48 Chicago Stags. Bob McAdoo was 22 years, seven months when he averaged 30.6 points for the Buffalo Braves.

Bryant turned 22 in August.

O’Neal had just turned 23 when he won his first scoring title, averaging 29.3 points for Orlando.

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O’Neal shoots hundreds of extra free throws on most days, many of them under the watch of personal coach Ed Palubinskas.

“He’s working real hard on his free throws,” Jackson said. “He’s spending a lot of off time trying to get it back, the rhythm back and the form back that he can stay with. I feel very positive about the effort he’s putting in.”

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The Lakers let O’Neal down late in their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, according to Jackson. O’Neal had one fourth-quarter rebound and no blocked shots, numbers that suggested he simply wore out, particularly in light of his neck injury.

“We just didn’t use him in the second half,” Jackson said. “That was Portland’s ability to keep the ball off his side and double team with Rasheed Wallace or [Scottie] Pippen real close, or with [Damon] Stoudamire. I was very disappointed in our inability to read the defenses and provide Shaquille with some opportunities.”

“It was a second half I’m sure he wasn’t happy with.”

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A couple of days did nothing to ease the Lakers’ sense that the officials erred on the charging call in the final moments of Monday’s loss. Jackson said replays were clear that Wallace was too far beneath the basket to have drawn the call.

“His foot was on the line,” Jackson said. “I was told that one of the officials told Kobe he didn’t have his foot on the line. Everything we saw, he had his foot on the line. It was not very well called.”

TONIGHT

at Phoenix, 6 PST

Channel 9

* Site--America West Arena.

* Radio--KLAC-AM (570).

* Records--Lakers 20-10, Suns 17-9.

* Record vs. Suns (1999-2000)--4-0.

* Update--The Suns are without guard Penny Hardaway, who had off-season arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Still, five Suns score in double figures. Cliff Robinson leads with 18.4 points. The Suns’ best player is point guard Jason Kidd, who averages 17.6 points and leads the league in assists.