O’Neal, Bryant Take It for Spin

One of the most whimsical things ever seen on an NBA basketball court happened at Staples Center on Wednesday night, the Lakers already playing the baggy shorts off the Golden State Warriors and Kobe Bryant having 360’d the crowd into its warm and fuzzy place.

It was Shaquille O’Neal, and what he called, simply, “marketing.”

The Lakers won, 111-91, because Bryant scored 31 points and O’Neal had 14 rebounds and six blocks and everybody did a little something to help out.

That was the basketball stuff. There was better.

Five minutes 49 seconds into the second quarter, O’Neal posted to the left of the basket. He received the basketball from the wing. Then, as O’Neal attempted a little flick of a shot, undersized and overmatched Antawn Jamison plowed right into him. O’Neal sprawled to the floor.

For a moment, he stayed there, on his back, on the left wing, two body lengths from his agent, Leonard Armato, who sat courtside. The crowd was silent. Of course. It’s Staples Center.

A few seconds passed. Then five. His chest swelled with a breath. And another.

Then O’Neal slowly raised a leg straight toward the roof. He brought the other massive leg up, then scissored them.

And there, before the world and the Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal began his break dance. It was only one move, a couple trips around.

He was just there, spinning. The moment moved him.

“Next game, watch,” he said. “I’ll get around 10 times.”

The crowd cheered. Players grinned and clapped. Ladies spat their Chardonnay.

Phil Jackson raised one eyebrow.

“I missed it,” he said. “That’s all right. I’ve seen him do it before.”

The Lakers led, 50-29. Soon, everyone in a Laker uniform would score, and get decent minutes at that. Mike Penberthy scored 15 points in 23 minutes. O’Neal scored 15 on 11 shots. The lead was 33 at one point, and hovered around 25 for most of the game. So, why not dance?

“I see him break dance all the time,” Brian Shaw said. “Doing it during the game, that’s just him. That’s why you gotta watch him all the time.”

Having scrounged for their total game for the better part of a month, the Lakers discovered it against the Warriors, so far the worst team in the Pacific Division.

The offense in better working order--it rose in the league rankings to second in scoring, third in field-goal percentage and 14th in three-point percentage--Jackson returned to his original lineup.

Rick Fox, who played six minutes against Chicago on Sunday and 27 minutes in his past three games, started against the Warriors.

He had started the Lakers’ first six games, and then Jackson decided the offense required Brian Shaw’s stable hand. With the Laker record 3-3, out went Fox, in came Shaw, and 4-1 went the Lakers.

Jackson hinted after Tuesday’s practice that circumstances dictated a change. He said it was time to shore up a defense that had given up too many open shots. Fox, he said, was “a rock-solid” defender.

Fox, then, rejoined the regular rotation. He played the entire first quarter, made both of his shots, made a couple of nice assists and defended Chris Mills, who didn’t score in the quarter. He scored eight points, rediscovered his shot, and took five rebounds.

The Lakers led, 70-43, at halftime. It was the most they’d scored in a half, and the most the Warriors had given up in a half. That only began to describe the difference--both in terms of talent and enthusiasm--between the Lakers and the Warriors.

The Lakers made 60.9% of their field-goal attempts in the first quarter, 77.8% (14 for 18) in the second, and 68.3% for the half. They blocked six Warrior shots, they ran and dunked and made seven of 10 three-pointers. They dived for loose balls, found open teammates and, in the third quarter, Bryant and O’Neal stood at center court and shared a laugh.

“I was jumping a little better,” said O’Neal, who has a sore ankle. “Since I wasn’t tired from taking a lot of shots, I was able to rebound and block some shots. We moved the ball. The other guys hit some shots. We were doing what we were supposed to do.”