Lakers Do Just Enough for Victory

Shaquille O’Neal played again and Kobe Bryant smiled again.

Beyond that, well, Phil Jackson insists the Lakers are building toward something other than unexpected defeat and uncomfortably narrow victory, neither particularly impressive for a defending champion.

For the time being, that meant a 104-96 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night at Staples Center, the last of four games in six nights. That toll--including a very late flight out of Denver on Saturday night--appeared to take away their legs on defense. It showed in the Bulls’ point total, which was a high for what is developing into a miserable Chicago season.

On a sprained ankle and sore Achilles’ tendon that he said limited his playing capacity to 42%, O’Neal was required for 38 minutes and did not leave for good until fewer than three minutes remained. He scored 14 points and took nine rebounds while negotiating gingerly on a left foot that kept him in the trainers’ room for Saturday’s loss to the Nuggets.

Offered the opinion that he perhaps should have rested, O’Neal shrugged and said: “I don’t know. I just wanted to test it out, see where I was at.”

The answer?

“Miserable,” he said.

He predicted he would play Wednesday, when the Lakers host Golden State but will know better after two days of treatment. He admitted the ankle felt much worse after the pounding of four quarters.

O’Neal, who lacked his usual spring, blocked only one shot.

“He wasn’t elevating,” Jackson said. “He had one block that was his normal routine. Other than that, he stayed on the floor and played his game from the floor.”

While mid-November seemed an odd time to push O’Neal back into the lineup, Jackson said: “Shaq’s the kind of player that, if he can play, he’ll tell me he can play. He’ll find a way to play out there.”

Still, the Lakers labored to put away the 1-9 Bulls, who lost by 45 points in Utah on Saturday. Bryant scored 22 points, 14 in the third quarter, and four other Lakers scored in double figures.

Though they drew to within 93-88 with four minutes left, the Bulls couldn’t match a pair of late three-point shots by Robert Horry, a short Bryant jumper and three points from Devean George.

Seeking life in his heavy-legged defense, Jackson ran out a lineup of George, Horace Grant, Isaiah Rider, Mark Madsen and Mike Penberthy during the fourth quarter.

“They had more energy,” O’Neal said. “They had nothing to lose, and we just coasted.

“We didn’t put this team away. We played down to their level.”

It is typical of O’Neal’s complaints when the Lakers do not trounce an opponent he believes is inferior. See: Clippers.

Across the locker room, Bryant welcomed reporters after a two days of quiet, during which he was displeased with criticism concerning his shot selection. Typically, he ignores the observations along with the bearers of them.

“I just think they don’t have anything better to do with their lives,” Bryant said.

He smiled.

“I’m fine. I get ticked off too, sometimes. Big shocker, huh?”

He scored fewer than 31 points for the first time in six games, but took 12 rebounds and managed to avoid Jackson’s wrath for a night. Well, mostly.

Jackson removed Bryant for a stretch in the fourth quarter after a couple of misguided runs into the lane.

“I think he was, at that point, stretched to his limits,” Jackson said. “Physically he was a little fatigued, going one on one a lot, and we needed to change the pace out there.”

There is progress, however. Tough on Bryant for most of the past three weeks, Jackson appeared more satisfied with the triangle than he has been, and perhaps more accepting of Bryant.

“I think our offense has stepped into a level of understanding,” Jackson said. “Kobe is occasionally going off on his tears, you know, and doing too much. But, you know, Kobe will do that. He’s going to test the waters, see how it is out there, test his hand and see how hot it is. But, he’s going to find his way back into it.”