O'Neal Rises, Rest Easy

By TIM KAWAKAMI

May 8, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Five minutes into the Western Conference semifinals, Shaquille O’Neal was huffing and gasping and not exactly vibrating with postseason thermodynamic activity.

Even though the ingredients seemed primed for a sudden explosion Sunday--nobody big enough to contain him or brave enough to clutch at him--O’Neal’s legs felt slow and his shot missed the basket six out of his first seven attempts.

And so began the Lakers’ strange, uneven, but ultimately commanding, 105-77 Game 1 victory before 18,997 at Staples Center over the Phoenix Suns, who were in this game as long as O’Neal’s mind and body were not.

“I think I got too much rest last night,” O’Neal said after the game. “I went to bed at 11 and I haven’t gone to bed at 11 in about eight years.

“I felt kind of sluggish today. But I picked it up.”

He picked up the pace, and then the Lakers, making 14 of his last 21 shots, scoring 37 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking four shots.

Around him, the Laker defense, which had been tested by Sacramento a round earlier, suffocated the perimeter-oriented Suns, forcing 23 turnovers and harrying Phoenix into three-of-18 shooting from three-point distance.

But at first, there was only the Laker blahs, probably a natural hangover from the tension and celebration of Friday’s Game 5 victory.

O’Neal, comfortably matched against Luc Longley, Cliff Robinson or Corie Blount, with very little Sun double-teaming, scored his first basket on the Lakers’ first possession and then did not make another until a few minutes into the second quarter.

In between, he missed six consecutive shots--the Lakers overall made only five of their first 23--and got a quick rest before the second quarter began.

“Shaq was struggling to get up and down the court,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “The pace was elevating a little bit too quick. We had to bring the pace down to our pace and ask him how he’s doing out there. . . .

“We got some rest for him and he got his second wind. I think that’s the best thing we did.”

Said O’Neal: “When I get the ball in the blue area [the key], there’s not much anybody can do.”

O’Neal made four consecutive shots in the second quarter, was backed up by some high-quality Kobe Bryant swoops to the hoop, the Suns kept firing blanks, and the Lakers grabbed a 46-41 halftime lead.

“Right now, Shaq looks real dominant in there,” Jackson said.

“We were able to use some of the things we took out of that Sacramento series to our benefit tonight.”

Said Phoenix Coach Scott Skiles, who played with O’Neal when both were in Orlando: “Shaq is Shaq. I know him as well as I know any player in the league. I played with him for two years.

“He’s your MVP of the league. It’s up to us to do something now to slow him down.”

In the early going, the Suns also strained to get things going, and their cause was not helped when their key player, point guard Jason Kidd, seemed to come down on his left ankle awkwardly in the first quarter.

Kidd, who came back from a broken ankle last week, appeared to limp noticeably for most of the rest of the game and scored only three points while committing five turnovers against Bryant’s aggressive defense.

“Kobe did a fine job defensively, helped out, got some steals, got some breakaways off that, and that really sparked us, I thought,” Jackson said. “Gave us that buzz.”

Said Phoenix guard Kevin Johnson of Bryant: “That guy just works his butt off out there. It is just so impressive how hard he works out there, especially on the defensive end of the court.”

Without Kidd’s ability to create easy shots, the Suns settled for jump shots; Cliff Robinson made only four of his 11 tries and Rodney Rogers was only three for 13.

Then in the third quarter, the Lakers blasted off, pushing the lead into double-digits and the Suns into serious reevaluation for Game 2 on Wednesday.

“I don’t think we came out early as sharp as we were trying to do,” Laker guard Ron Harper said.

“We missed some easy shots. I know I missed five of them.”

“But we came out in the third, played a good game. Shaq brought his ‘A’ game again and we just flowed.”

Said Jackson: “As I kind of had a hunch, neither team was able to bring its best game to this opening game of the series. It’s more of a feel-out game, I think, rather than an indicator of what this series is going to be like.

“I thought our players looked tired in the first half. But they got a real good energy-boost the third quarter, played a wonderful third quarter.”

The Lakers outscored Phoenix, 29-19, in the third, getting 12 points from O’Neal and nine from Bryant.

The Suns as a team made only 28 of 77 field-goal tries, with only Penny Hardaway (nine for 18, for 25 points, and four assists) looking confident against Laker defenders.

The Lakers, meanwhile, made only 43.5% of their shots (40 for 92), and seemed a little sheepish about winning any playoff game by 28 points with such a shooting effort.

“We’re kind of surprised,” Glen Rice said. “They missed a lot of wide-open shots, and we took advantage of it.”

THE SERIES

LAKERS vs. PHOENIX

Lakers lead series, 1-0

GAME 1

Lakers 105, Suns 77

GAME 2

Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at Staples, Fox Sp. Net

GAME 3

Friday, 7:30 p.m. at Phoenix, Ch. 9, TNT

GAME 4

Sunday, 2:30 p.m. at Phoenix, Ch. 4