Harper Provides Some Perspective

A 16-game winning streak is great but . . .

“I don’t pay it no mind,” veteran guard Ron Harper said of the Lakers’ current run, which matches an earlier Laker winning streak as the longest in the NBA this season. “They don’t pass out no rings this time of year. It’s fun to have, but when April ends, the first team to win 15 games [is the NBA champion]. That’s the key. These streaks are fun to have, but the key is, you’ve got to win the first 15 [playoff] games.

“And if we keep playing the way we’ve been playing and we can learn how to play as one team, we’re going to be fine.”

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Is Shaquille O’Neal the NBA’s most valuable player, as the crowd chanted Monday night during O’Neal’s 61-point effort against the Clippers?

“Who knows?” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “That’s for somebody else to decide other than me. He’s our MVP, I’ll tell you that.”

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O’Neal’s heroics aside, Jackson’s favorite play Monday involved the 36-year-old Harper, who stole the ball from Lamar Odom in the first quarter and then beat the 20-year-old rookie down the floor for a dunk.

Said Harper: “That was an old man showing people I can still play the game a little bit. I love [Odom] to death, but I ain’t going to be on his highlight film. I’m going to put him on my highlight film.”