Lakers Have to Sweat Out This Victory

The Lakers had to settle for the grunt work Wednesday, while Andre Miller, Brevin Knight and the Cleveland Cavaliers did all the fancy footwork and catapults to the rim.

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Glen Rice and the rest of the brigade had to dig out the rebounds, earn their free throws, sweat out the details and grind it out from trench to trench.

The Lakers’ scraping 95-86 victory over the Cavaliers before 18,997 at Staples Center was not pretty, or particularly pleasing to the Lakers.

It was anxious, tedious work, not involving artistic flights of fancy in any way. For a while, it looked as if it might end in failure--or at least in a heated discussion between Bryant and Coach Phil Jackson.

But, in the end, the Lakers (33-7) slowed Cleveland down, made enough free throws, and were able to work their way through to victory.

Not too long ago, of course, this was a team riding a 16-game winning streak, a 14-game home winning streak, and waves and waves of confidence.

But, after Monday’s sleepy defeat to Seattle at Staples, and a defeat at Indiana two games before that, the Lakers went cold again Wednesday.

Overall, the Lakers made only 28 of their 81 field-goal tries (34.6%), paced by Bryant’s six-for-15 effort and Rice’s three-for-13 performance.

O’Neal finished with 27 points and 23 rebounds, but also missed his final four free throws.

For most of the game, Cleveland was faster, sprier, and just plain better than the Lakers.

Miller led the Cavaliers with 20 points in only 19 minutes of action, and Knight had 15 points and six assists.

The Lakers trailed by as much as 15 points in the third quarter--63-48 at one dizzying point, eliciting boos and a long Jackson bellowing at Bryant after some frazzled offensive play.

“Kobe wanted to try it again later on the game, just try and get there on his own,” Jackson said. “That wasn’t going to happen for us.

“We have to be a little more subtle. And use our system a little more, use our offense and team play.”

Jackson said that he blasted Bryant, who committed six turnovers, at the timeout with 4:39 left in the game, to make sure Bryant knew his feelings.

“I just wanted to let it register with him,” Jackson said. “That we don’t want to have it happen. We’ve gone through this a couple times, these situations. . . . They’re critical in ballgames, and that’s something we don’t need to have happen.

“But he played a fine game tonight, stat-wise [25 points, 13 rebounds], there were a lot of things out there to be said about his game.”

And what comes next?

“I’m a little patient,” Jackson said. “That’s enough--I hope. I’ve got the hook, so I can always pull it out if I need it.”

Bryant’s reply?

“I told him, I said, look, I try to make plays sometimes, and I know it doesn’t come out, doesn’t happen the right way sometimes, but I’m out there trying my heart out, whatever,” Bryant said.

By the end of the third, the Lakers had scrambled back to within six points, 73-67, still looking slightly off-kilter and a bit ragged.

It wasn’t until the middle of the fourth quarter that the Lakers finally put together a semblance of cohesive play.

With Bryant and Rice continuing to struggle from the field, the two barreled into the lane frequently, enabling them to combine for a successful slew of free throws.

After allowing Cleveland to inch out to a 79-73 lead with 8:08 left in the fourth, the Laker defense stopped the Cavaliers cold in the next four possessions--one missed jumper and three consecutive turnovers.

At the other side, Bryant made two free throws and a jumper, O’Neal followed a Brian Shaw shot with a rebound basket and Robert Horry made two free throws after an offensive rebound, and suddenly, the Lakers were ahead, 81-79, with 5:45 left.

“I think they thought that Cleveland might just roll over and play dead on them,” Jackson said. “And they certainly didn’t. They were out there to win a ballgame.”