Team’s Play Only Makes Pain Worse for Grant

Remember, it was Horace Grant who, upon getting wind of his possible trade to the Lakers this summer, advised that the Los Angeles ring-fitters should start getting busy.

Five months later, Grant leaned against his car in an El Segundo parking lot and shook his head at those words.

He had to lean, because his back was sore. He sat out Sunday’s game because of back spasms, returned to practice Monday, took part in some early shooting drills, and did not rule out playing in tonight’s game in Seattle. Still, he said, if he didn’t heal quickly and stay healed, he would undergo tests, including an MRI, to determine the cause of the recurring pain.

The Lakers are calling his participation tonight “questionable” and a game-time decision.

Grant is averaging 7.4 points and 7.1 rebounds in his first season as a Laker. He admitted he believed it would be simpler than this, this being the lack of commitment on defense, the infighting, the losing.

“My philosophy on this, I came here to contribute and help this team win a championship,” said Grant, whose contract expires at the end of the season. “That’s what I’m going to try to do. I want to have fun too.”

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If the Lakers were hoping to make tonight their fresh start, they might have been better served to wait until Friday, when the 14-win New Jersey Nets visit Staples Center.

“We’ll see,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “We don’t play well against Seattle. We have not matched up well against them all season. Our most humbling defeats have come at their hands. It’ll be interesting to see what we can do as a team effort against this very electric, fast, full-court running basketball team. This is our nemesis and this is the thing that ultimately hurts us, is this style of play.”

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The Lakers submitted to the league office their view of the final seconds of their Jan. 15 overtime victory over Vancouver on Monday. They expect the NBA to rule on Vancouver’s protest within a week.

The Staples Center game clock malfunctioned, hesitating at six-tenths of a second for about three-tenths of a second. The Grizzlies contended the delay gave Shaquille O’Neal time to make the shot that beat them.

TONIGHT

at Seattle, 5, Channel 9

* Site: KeyArena.

* Radio: KLAC-AM (570).

* Records: Lakers 26-13, SuperSonics 22-21.

* Record vs. SuperSonics: 0-2.

* Update: The Lakers lost by 33 points at Seattle on Nov. 30. Stoked by revenge eight days later at Staples Center, they lost by eight. The SuperSonics have averaged 112 points in their victories. Kobe Bryant was 14 for 41 from the field in the two games, averaging 18 points. Shaquille O’Neal averaged 24.5 points. In the Dec. 8 game, however, he was 0 for 11 from the free-throw line, an NBA record.