Lakers Missing Something Big

By TIM BROWN

Jan. 29, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NEW YORK —

Mitch Kupchak, of the Long Island Kupchaks, watched from the fifth row, opposite the Laker bench, surrounded by family on a Sunday afternoon.

The New York Knicks beat his Lakers, 91-81, at Madison Square Garden. And for a few minutes after it was done, the Laker general manager sat quietly, his chin in his hands, staring vacantly at the empty court.

All-star center Shaquille O’Neal, hobbled by what O’Neal called plantar fasciitis in his right foot, did not play, and it is unknown when he will again. He could play Tuesday in Cleveland, though no one seemed to believe that. It could be much longer.

O’Neal watched from the locker room.

Adrift in an offense that revolves around O’Neal, the Lakers lost for the fifth time in nine games. The made 32.6% of their field-goal attempts and scored 33 first-half points. They gave up 33 first-quarter points to one of the tamest offensive teams in the league. Their 15th loss matched last season’s total.

Kupchak sighed.

“We lost by 10 without Shaquille,” he said. “And in New York. We didn’t have one of the best players in the league, if not the best player, and lost by 10. Right now, our concern is to get him healthy.”

It is not his only concern, however.

Less than four weeks from the trading deadline, Kupchak is nearing a decision to add an element to the Lakers or to stay with what he has, a group he described only last week as “underachieving.” The team could use a full-effort, defense-minded player, and Kupchak admitted to sparring with the answer.

“It’s tough to get a feel for that right now,” Kupchak said. “I think we’d like to see the guys put together a string of consistent performances, so we can get an answer to that.”

Kupchak paused and added, “The fact we can’t, maybe there’s an answer in there somewhere.”

When it was announced O’Neal would not play, the folks at Madison Square Garden cheered. Forget the show. They wanted to win. And, free from a cluttered lane, the Knick greyhounds ran free. Allan Houston scored 33 points. Latrell Sprewell scored 28.

The Knicks finished the first quarter with a 15-2 run and the second quarter with a 10-2 run.

Knick center Luc Longley, forced into his second start of the season because of the suspension of Marcus Camby and injuries to Kurt Thomas, remembered standing on the sideline and hearing that O’Neal could not play.

“I’m thinking that [Laker Coach] Phil Jackson has chosen a good day for Shaq to sit down,” Longley said. “And to demonstrate to Kobe [Bryant] that he needs [Shaq], and to demonstrate to Kobe what it’s like to be the focus of the heat, and try to carry the team. And I was also thinking it was the first step toward a reconciliation.”

Actually, O’Neal had a foot injury.

“Oh,” said Longley, who might have a future in sportswriting.

Bryant scored 33 points and missed 15 of 27 field-goal attempts. As a result of that and a lot of shooting like it, the Lakers fell behind by as many as 16 points in the first half.

The rustling you might have heard at halftime was NBC trying to throw together a Super Bowl pregame show.

No Shaq. No Camby. No interest. Two minutes into the second quarter, Jackson threw this lineup at the viewing nation: Devean George, Tyronn Lue, Robert Horry, Mark Madsen and J.R. Rider.

After his Laker-high 24 on Friday, Rider missed the charter flight to New York on Saturday morning and Sunday was three for 11 from the field. Horace Grant was one for eight. Greg Foster, who started for O’Neal, was one for five. Ron Harper was one for six.

Also, the Lakers made only 66.7% of their foul shots, proving once and for all they don’t necessarily need Shaq to be a bad free throw-shooting team. On the bright side, the Lakers held somebody under 100 points and twice came within eight points in the fourth quarter.

“We hung in there,” Bryant said. “We fought. We were down 15 points, 17 points, we kept fighting. That shows character on our part.

“It’s been very frustrating. My patience has been pretty low. This is a tough time for us. It’s going to do nothing but build character and make us stronger so when we get into the playoffs and get into those tough situations, we know we’ll be able to pull out any situation. In situations like this, I pretty much lose patience with everything and everybody. Everybody.”

It’s a lot to consider for the rookie general manager.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Lakers vs. Eastern Conference:

NOV. 19

at Lakers 104, Chicago 96

NOV. 28

at Lakers 124, Indiana 107

DEC. 5

at Lakers 96, Philadelphia 85

DEC. 10

at Lakers 112, Detroit 88

DEC. 12