Shaq Brings It, Lakers Take It

Shaquille O’Neal stood out in front of the Lakers on Wednesday night for the first time in weeks, and did not defer and did not smile and, almost, did not miss.

The Lakers, rushing through their season at a record rate, got a game from the Dallas Mavericks, news in itself. The Mavericks dared O’Neal to beat them, dared the Lakers to find him, and ultimately lost because of it.

O’Neal made 18 of his 23 field-goal attempts, scored 46 points and led the Lakers to a frantic, end-to-end, 98-94 victory at Staples Center.

From a seven-point fourth quarter deficit, the Lakers won their ninth consecutive game, and their 16th in 17 games to start the season, their best in franchise history.

Rick Fox made all four of his free-throw attempts in the last 20 seconds, the first two breaking a 92-92 tie, Robert Horry had 13 rebounds, and Kobe Bryant, who had 19 points, scored the final two on a breakaway, 360-degree dunk at the buzzer that slayed the sellout crowd.

There were other details--the fourth-quarter zone defense that mystified the Mavericks, the Laker perimeter shooting that kept the Mavericks close, and the 33 points by Maverick forward Dirk Nowitzki--but it was O’Neal who was dominant, O’Neal who kept coming, O’Neal who had 13 points and 10 rebounds in a frenetic fourth quarter.

“My teammates were looking for me,” O’Neal said. “I told them to bring it to me tonight and they did. I’m kind of upset with myself for missing free throws that I should not have missed [he was 10 for 22 from the line]. I missed some shots I usually don’t miss. I should have had 60. But I am upset with myself.”

The Lakers have not lost at home since June 6, Game 1 of the NBA Finals, and have beaten the Mavericks 22 times in a row in Los Angeles.

O’Neal made sure of it. His 46 points were a season high, and he did not score as many in any game last season.

“We once again played good enough to win,” he said. “It was a long night. You are going to have to beat us to win. We may make mistakes and you may capitalize off those mistakes, but in order to get a win, especially here, you have to beat us.”

Faced with their first pivotal fourth quarter in four games, the Lakers shot seven for 23, and clung to O’Neal, and eventually made the defensive plays that held the Mavericks to 15 points.

“I do not think that we ever felt like we were in control of that ballgame,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “They kept the pace going their direction and kept us on our heels a lot of the game.

“It was almost like they baited us into always using Shaq in many respects. I had to convince the players that we had to get everybody else involved.”

The challenge, as it turned out, was not the Maverick defense alone. It was Nowitzki, who made 11 of 15 shots and scored 27 points through three quarters, then missed five of his last six attempts.

Maverick Coach Don Nelson, who often gets creative credit for the Hack-a-Shaq, fronted O’Neal with his appointed center, and double-teamed with his power forwards. The Lakers lobbed their entry passes, and O’Neal usually finished near the rim. Fifteen of his 18 field goals were layups or dunks.

“Well, we had a strategy,” Nelson said. “Whether it was successful or not, the main thing is I was coaching [for] a score, and I thought our team was doing it real well, staying in that, and we had a chance to win.”

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So Far ...

Comparing key Laker statistics after 17 games this season with those from the last two seasons:

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2001- 2000- 1999- 2002 2001 2000 FG% .464 .465 .459 FT% .665 .683 .696 PPG 101.2 100.6 100.8 OPP. PPG 90.1 97.2 92.3 REB. 44.4 44.7 47.0 OPP. REB 43.8 41.3 43.1 ASSISTS 23.1 23.0 23.4 SHAQ PPG 25.9 28.7 29.7 KOBE PPG 26.5 28.5 22.5

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