Harper Might Take Time Off

By TIM KAWAKAMI

March 23, 2000 12 AM PT

Ron Harper, who Coach Phil Jackson has suggested might benefit from a short stint on the injured list before the playoffs start, said he was open to the possibility, especially now that the Lakers have a big lead in the Pacific Division race.

“I knew I could play 82 games if I was called upon for 82 games,” said Harper, who has had knee problems throughout his career and underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee last summer.

“But since we have a nice comfortable [lead of] five games out there, I think I can take some time off. . . . It won’t hurt anybody.

“Brian Shaw’s playing well. [Kobe Bryant] has a handle on it now.”

The Lakers have 13 games to play, and any player who goes on the IR must sit out at least five games.

In a similar situation with the Chicago Bulls two seasons ago, Harper spent several games on the IR before Chicago’s final championship run.

“I’m just going with the flow,” Harper said. “Two years ago, I had 10 days off, two weeks off, it doesn’t hurt anything. . . . Five games? No. If I’m going on the injured list, it’s going to be at least eight, nine, 10 games.”

Said Jackson: “We want him to be the determinator. He’s the guy who’s gone through this process before with us and he knows the values of it and what he can get out of it and if it’s worth it for him.”

If Harper is sidelined for any length of time, Shaw, who has seen his playing time rise throughout this season, could find himself with a big part of Harper’s role.

“I like the way he’s playing and he’s doing a good job,” Jackson said. “We’re just trying to use our guard corps in a way that gives us a mixture of things, speed, defense . . . and the ability to set up the offense, the ability to make it run a little bit quicker.”

Jackson said he’d like to use his bench players a little more over the next few weeks, but said he also wants to keep his major players in rhythm for the playoffs.

“If we get out of sync in any possible way, then we’ve got to get back to what gets us the wins,” Jackson said. “It’d be nice if you could say, ‘Well, we’ve put together a good game in the first three quarters and we can rest players in the fourth quarter.’ But that doesn’t always happen.”

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Triple Plays / The Big 3

Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice have been the driving force behind the Lakers’ success. How they fared:

O’NEAL

*--*

Wed. Season 22 Points 28.9 4 Rebounds 14.0 1 Assists 3.7

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BRYANT

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Wed. Season 18 Points 22.3 6 Rebound 6.0 4 Assists 4.7

*--*

RICE