Warriors a Piece of Cake for Shaq

By TIM BROWN

March 7, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

OAKLAND —

It was his 29th birthday, so he took the moment to reflect, to consider what was very important to him.

“You know what I really want for my birthday?” Shaquille O’Neal said earnestly. “Anna Kournikova.”

O’Neal smiled. He was in an easy mood--content and playful, and that was before the Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors, 97-85, at the Arena on Tuesday night, before he scored 26 points, took 17 rebounds and blocked four shots.

The Lakers have won three in a row, two of them against Golden State. They have won seven of eight, which has done wonders for the team’s morale. And as O’Neal considered the Lakers and their future, he said that people have Kobe Bryant and him all wrong.

“I think people really think we hate each other,” O’Neal said. “I don’t hate the guy. It’s like being married. We need each other. In order for me to shine, I need another great player with me. In order for him to shine, he needs another great player with him.”

O’Neal paused.

“I need him,” he said.

Probably, that’s as close to a handshake, a peace offering, as there has been in their relationship since Kobe flung himself into Shaq’s arms last June.

“It’s cool,” O’Neal said. “I don’t hate the guy. I need him. He needs me. Like Magic needed Kareem.”

Like the Lakers and those two guys.

Of course, in a 20-minute conversation, reporters on three sides, O’Neal lobbied for the offense to go through him. He asked that they run Phil Jackson’s triangle, rather than the other offense, the one with too many isolation plays and too much recklessness. And he noted several times that he was a team player first, the usual Shaq-speak for, you know, some people who might not always be.

Still on cranky ankles, Bryant scored 29 points, 12 in the fourth quarter. All five Laker starters scored in double figures, including Horace Grant, who had 15 points and nine rebounds.

Antawn Jamison, who went from 51 points to zero points in consecutive games against the Lakers, scored 23, but missed 15 of 23 field-goal attempts. Before a crowd of 20,181--the largest home crowd in team history--the Warriors weren’t quite the pushovers they were Sunday in Los Angeles, where they trailed, 43-16, after one quarter.

The Lakers had 43 points at halftime, led only by five, and never were entirely comfortable until the final minutes.

“I wasn’t totally happy,” Jackson said. “Although I’m glad to get the win. I thought our first half looked like we couldn’t get started, shooting-wise.”

The Lakers made only seven of their first 24 field-goal attempts, with Bryant missing his first six. Bryant scored 23 points in the second half.

Of his ankles, Bryant said, “This is the best I’ve felt in a long time.”

The Lakers, closing within a game of Portland in the Pacific Division, rode O’Neal during their early, imprecise moments. Fifteen of his points came in the first half.

“Shaq was good,” Jackson said. “Sometimes we left him out of the offense, but he played well.”

O’Neal shrugged.

“A win is a win,” he said.

Inspired by rookies Mark Madsen and Mike Penberthy, the Lakers sang “Happy Birthday” to O’Neal during Tuesday morning’s shoot-around. Everybody joined in. Everybody.

And, yeah, so he wrote a little about Bryant in his upcoming book, “Shaq Talks Back.” “But that’s only one chapter,” he offered.

The fact is, the Lakers do appear more intent on who’s winning than on who’s scoring and who’s shooting. It helps that they play the Warriors every night.

“Hopefully,” O’Neal said, “controversy will do nothing but bring us together.”

What lingers, perhaps, is the story that he asked for a trade after a December game in Phoenix. O’Neal said he didn’t, exactly, but that he did say something to General Manager Mitch Kupchak, “I wouldn’t ever say to Jerry West.”

He wouldn’t say. But it is clear he blamed Kupchak for the story. Kupchak merely confirmed information already obtained, however.

“There was only me and him in the meeting,” O’Neal said. “Why would he do that?”

O’Neal waved his hand. No big deal. He said he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Not in Orlando. Not anywhere.

“I ain’t going nowhere,” O’Neal said. “I’m too old for that.”

Too old as of Tuesday, maybe.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

LAKERS

The Lakers, since the All-Star break, are improved in some key statistical categories:

Before After

WIN PCT.

.660 .750

AVG. POINTS