Slowing Down O’Neal Remains Top Priority

If the Lakers’ Shaquille O’Neal has his way, as he did in Games 1 and 2, Sacramento will lose tonight’s deciding Game 5. It is that simple.

The Kings know the key reason for winning Games 3 and 4 in Sacramento was their ability to slow O’Neal. And Vlade Divac was the main man behind their success.

“We have to give him so much credit and massage therapy because he has been doing such a good job on him,” Sacramento power forward Chris Webber said of Divac. “Just staying in Shaq’s way. You really can’t make him miss but you can try and make him a little uncomfortable.”

How the Kings get O’Neal out of his comfort zone is debatable. Laker Coach Phil Jackson said after Game 4 that the Kings were getting away with their own type of zone, with Webber or another defender sagging close enough to make passes into O’Neal difficult.

Sacramento, however, denies committing any violation. The Kings credit their hard work and strong mental approach.

“Our big guys are doing a good job on Shaq,” Sacramento reserve guard Jon Barry said. “He is not catching it, going up and dunking it. He’s not getting it right under the basket and that is the key with him. If you have time to go double him, you can eliminate his effectiveness. He is still going to get his, we know that . . . but you have to make [the Lakers] into a three-point shooting team because Shaq will make most of his dunks.”

Inactive Sacramento center Bill Wennington remembers Jackson politicking a different way in 1996, when he coached Chicago against an O’Neal-ed Orlando Magic team in the Eastern Conference finals.

“He would say things like Shaq was backing in, that Shaq was living in the lane, that he was playing a zone defense,” Wennington, who played center for the Bulls then, told the Sacramento Bee. “You know, all the things that Shaq does now.

“Except that now Phil wants him to do those things, just like we would if he was on our team. That’s a normal thing.”

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The last time the Kings’ “Bench Mob” played at Staples Center, they were quiet as a mouse. But after outscoring the Laker reserves, 76-19, over the last two games, Sacramento’s second unit is looking to make a lot of noise tonight.

“I see the difference in how the team played at home and in L.A.,” said backup swingman Predrag Stojakovic. “The main thing is we didn’t move the ball there and we moved the ball here. We know what we have to do.”

When Tony Delk is in the game in place of starting point guard Jason Williams, the Kings have given the Lakers trouble, mainly because Delk is turning the ball over only 1.3 times a game.

“He’s been playing at such a high level that we expect him to play like this,” Divac said of Delk. “We’ve always known T.D. could play, because we’ve watched him in practice every day.”

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Sacramento assistant coach Pete Carril, who suffered a mild heart attack Saturday, is back at work. He was seen with several tapes of playoff games at Arco Arena earlier this week.