With Rice Out, Fox Gets Rhythm

Forward Glen Rice remained in Southern California, suffering from a stomach virus, which meant that Rick Fox moved into the starting lineup and was the team’s primary small forward.

On Dec. 12, Rice sat out a game because of flu (the last time a Laker starter missed a game) and, though rookie Devean George started, Fox played a season-high 37 minutes and scored a season-high 20 points in the Laker victory.

Fox, who is readying to be a key member of the Canadian Olympic team for the Sydney Games, more immediately Wednesday was hoping to break out of a short shooting slump.

“If [getting more minutes in Rice’s absence means] a return to some more opportunities to get a rhythm, that’ll really help us down the road,” Fox said before making four of seven shots in 30 minutes against the Vancouver Grizzlies. “We obviously miss Glen. We were hoping he’d fly in today.

“The most important thing is to get a win some way, somehow without him. And if out of that comes an opportunity for me to get into a rhythm that carries over, that’d be nice.”

Coach Phil Jackson said he definitely would like to see better outside shooting from his team, and said he hoped Fox would lead the way.

“I’d like to see Rick play himself out of the slump he got into the last couple games,” Jackson said. “It’s good for the team and for us to have some different personnel. Even though I don’t want it to happen, it’s OK when it does.”

Said Fox: “If I can go in and be an asset defensively and not turn the ball over and still take the shots that are there, I honestly have the confidence that they’ll start to fall. . . .

“We do need some of those shots to start to fall in terms of playoff time--if they start backing in on Shaquille [O’Neal], then we’ll get more looks and it’d be nice for all of us to be confident and in rhythm and feel confident about our shots.”

*

With home-court advantage all but locked up, does Jackson care if O’Neal wins either the scoring or the rebounding titles or both?

“I just think that he’ll indicate to me how important it is to him, by the level that he goes out and plays these games,” Jackson said. “I like a player to fulfill a goal that he has. I think those are important things if it stays within the context of what the team’s trying to do.

“So if it’s really important to Shaq, he’ll play at that level and the guys will know that and even if we cut his minutes back, they will be more potent minutes.”

*

Laker playoff tickets will go on sale April 8 at 10 a.m. at Staples Center and Ticketmaster.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

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 19 Points 29.0 4 Rebounds 13.7 8 Assists 3.8

*--*

BRYANT

*--*

Wed. Season 28 Points 22.6 6 Rebounds 6.1 3 Assists 4.7

*--*

RICE

*--*

Wed. Season DNP Points 15.9 DNP Rebounds 4.1 DNP Assists 2.1

*--*

The Top 3

Best records in the NBA:

LAKERS

Record 60-12

Wed. d. Van., 108-99

Fri. Philadelphia

*

PORTLAND

Record 51-19

Tue. l., San Ant., 89-85

Tonight vs. Dallas

*

UTAH

Record 48-22

Wed. d. Phil., 98-84

Fri. vs. Golden State