Some Big Shoes Finally Get Filled

Shaquille O’Neal sat near the end of the Laker bench on Tuesday night, blue blazer over gray turtleneck, directly across the floor from his mother, Lucille.

He occasionally smiled, and she returned it, which all would have been a warm and lovely Christmas moment had the Lakers not been playing the Philadelphia 76ers at the time.

Having finally had enough of his two sore feet and the damage they were doing to his game, O’Neal sat out the first of at least five games. The Lakers reluctantly went on without him, wrapped Kobe Bryant’s aching ribs and then beat the 76ers with a stirring and forceful fourth quarter.

From a 13-point deficit with fewer than 10 minutes to play, the Lakers won the rematch of NBA finalists, 88-82, at Staples Center, made as festive by their frantic defense on Allen Iverson as by the floating white fur from the Laker Girls’ Christmas outfits.

Iverson scored 31 points, but shot 11 for 28 to get there. Often, and particularly in the second half, when the 76ers made only 14 of 42 field-goal attempts, Iverson found Derek Fisher or Lindsey Hunter close, and he made only five field goals in 24 second-half minutes.

“We had this one in the bag,” Iverson said. “We gave this one away. We gave them a gift, a Christmas gift.”

Behind by 10 points at halftime and by 73-60 after a Corie Blount layup with 9:34 remaining, the Lakers went on a 19-2 tear, starting with a Bryant 14-foot jumper. Until then, Bryant, clearly favoring his strained right ribs, had missed 12 of 14 shots. He hadn’t made a field goal since 5:50 was left in the second quarter, and so concentrated on rebounding and finding open teammates. He finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.

Wired for therapeutic electrical stimulus after the game, Bryant moved stiffly. He was wrapped with bandage and padding before the game, and was unwound and redone at halftime, when he found it all too tight, and then again for his trip home.

“I had to just wait,” he said. “A couple moves I tried to do hurt. A lot.”

He scored eight points in the fourth quarter, when he made four of five shots.

“He made a statement that he’s playing all 82,” Laker forward Rick Fox said. “You’ve got to appreciate the warrior in him.”

On a night when they needed everyone’s help to get to 20-4, Samaki Walker, who started at center and was very game against Dikembe Mutombo, scored 18 points and took 10 rebounds.

So, someone other than Bryant or O’Neal led the Lakers in scoring for the first time this season, and for the first time since Horace Grant scored 19 points against the Vancouver Grizzlies more than a year ago.

There were others. Slava Medvedenko started at power forward, made six of eight attempts and scored 12 points. Brian Shaw, often left out of the early-season rotation, scored 13 points.

And, in the fourth quarter, with the arena alive and the fur floating and the 76ers melting, Hunter ground against Iverson and made two three-pointers, including the one that put the Lakers ahead for good at 77-75. Also, Robert Horry took seven rebounds and Devean George made his last three free throws.

With O’Neal on the injured list and Bryant needing unusual effort on every jump shot, the Lakers will need more efforts like it. The 76ers pushed their height advantage early, but Mutombo took only six shots in the second half. Other teams are sure to try the new, open middle.

Before the game, Laker Coach Phil Jackson considered his new frontcourt, led by a center who came up to Mutombo’s chin.

“I wouldn’t want to go into a championship game with this group,” Jackson said. “I am confident, but yet I wouldn’t want to be in the playoffs in this situation.

“We can win four out of five games with this group. I think we are good enough to do that. Three are on our home court. That helps. But the adjustment period, I don’t know how long that’s going to take.”

A half, as it turned out. As long as Bryant decided it would take, as it turned out. When he did, he bombed Eric Snow with fade-away jumpers, and then massaged his side all the way to the defensive end.

“All of a sudden he got healthy in the fourth quarter?” Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown mused. “I thought we defended him pretty darn good. He’s just like a great player. He made big shots.

“I give them a lot of credit. I admire the way they came back from 12, 13 down and just kept battling.”

The Lakers, too, seemed proud of what they had done. O’Neal frequently applauded, and Bryant grinned, assuming that wasn’t a grimace.

“It’s a big challenge for the rest of the team,” Bryant said. “Guys have to step up and play their games and be aggressive, and find out a lot about themselves.

“They should look at it as an opportunity to really find a rhythm to their game in this offense and to find out some things.”

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Shaq-less

The Lakers have gone stretches without Shaquille O’Neal, but still have been over .500:

1996-97 28 games

O’Neal hyperextended his left knee during a Feb. 12 game at Minnesota. The Lakers were 16-12 during his absence.

*

1997-98 20 games

O’Neal was forced to sit out 51/2 weeks to allow a strained abdominal muscle to heal. The Lakers, coming off a 10-0 start, went 13-7 during that period.

*

2000-01 5 games

A strained arch in O’Neal’s right foot forced him to sit out a stretch of games during late January and early March, during which the Lakers were 3-2, losing on the road to New York and Minnesota.