Bryant Carries Lakers on Shoulder

By TIM BROWN

Feb. 3, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

It can’t be a battle of wills when one guy is on the bench, in a tasteful brown on brown outfit, wearing a smile and standing eight feet away from every huddle.

It might be Phil Jackson’s team. And Kobe Bryant surely would tell you that it is.

But, the fact is, as long as Shaquille O’Neal is unable to play, the offense belongs to Kobe.

He scored 44 points on Friday night, more than enough for the Lakers to beat the Charlotte Hornets, 93-87, at Staples Center. He took 30 shots and 15 fell. He made all 14 of his free-throw attempts.

While it all goes better with O’Neal around, he isn’t, and won’t be for at least another two games. In the last four games without O’Neal, Bryant has averaged 25 shots and 37 points, and the Lakers have won twice.

Playing with an exceedingly sore right shoulder, Bryant played 48 minutes against the Hornets. He blocked five shots. He took nine rebounds. He hounded Hornet guard Baron Davis, who played despite the death of his father, of a heart attack, on Thursday night.

Then, at the end of it, when he had those 44 and not one other teammate had more than nine, Bryant said he felt no more responsibility to the game than he ever had.

“No, not really,” he said from behind weary eyes. “I just go out there and do the usual.”

Bryant took care of the scoring, and no one seemed to mind, really. Brian Shaw pulled him aside near the end, told him that Horace Grant had been open on a previous play, and the two stared at each other a little too long.

“I was trying to be constructive,” Shaw said.

But that was it. After all, Bryant scored 14 of the Lakers’ 16 points in the third quarter. He scored 20 of their 36 second-half points. And while he shot, the Lakers played defense. Charlotte shot 34.4% from the field and the Lakers suddenly have held four consecutive opponents below 100 points. That’s what a trip through the Eastern Conference will do for you.

“We’ve got to toughen up,” Bryant said. “It’s a nice little gut check for us. We have to pick up the intensity some.”

In the absence of O’Neal, they have little choice. They have Bryant, a lot of guys trying to catch up, and a string of challenges ahead of them, starting with Sacramento on Sunday afternoon.

“Kobe played a really fine game,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “There were some points in the game he was trying his darnedest to score.”

He added, “I thought there was a lot of chances created by his drawing the double team and passing the ball off.”

As for the 30 attempts, Jackson smiled and withheld judgment.

“Well,” he said, “I have to look at the tape.”

Before the game, Jackson said he never considered resting Bryant, whose fits of offense generally are divided by him rubbing or loosening his shoulder.

“I don’t think his legs are hurt at all,” he said. “I think he can still run, play defense, handle the basketball. The only thing that bothers him is either dunking the ball or shooting it. He can perform 90% of the tasks with the basketball outside of that.”

It was observed in their own locker room that the Lakers often play basketball as if they were wearing tuxedos.

So, what were Mark Madsen and Devean George doing wrestling P.J. Brown to the floor over a loose ball?

And why did Elden Campbell put Madsen in a half-nelson and hurl him to the court? Elden Campbell? Mad? Since when does Elden Campbell get mad?

Their apparent refusal to scrap can be a reflection of their offense, which in the best of times is methodical and effective. Under no circumstances, however, would these be the best of times.

O’Neal won’t play, it appears, for at least another two games. And so the team that dumps the basketball into the low post 50 or more times a game and then cuts around O’Neal suddenly has to run, play fast and loose, play isolation defense, get a little reckless.

In the fourth quarter, O’Neal was shown on the overhead screen. He was on the bench. He smiled and the crowd stood and cheered for him. It was as close as O’Neal would come.

Forward Grant, who could not play Wednesday in Minnesota because of a swollen knee, returned against the Hornets, and so the Lakers weren’t entirely without an inside presence. But, O’Neal’s absence changes everything.

“We just want to play basketball,” Jackson said. “If you play basketball, the offense creates opportunities for players.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Shaq Factor

The Lakers’ record with and without center Shaquille O’Neal:

2000-01

No Shaq

3-3 .500

With Shaq

26-13 .667

OVERALL

No Shaq

37-26 .587