Win-Win Situation

The Sacramento Kings believed they were men enough to stand with Shaquille O’Neal, and so they awake this morning with his Dunk emblem on their foreheads, with his game on their breaths, and with his roaring confidence on their consciences.

They played O’Neal straight up, and took their defeat the same way. He scored 44 points in 44 minutes, many of the points on ferocious dunks, and the Lakers beat the Kings, 108-105, Sunday afternoon at Staples Center in the first game of a best-of-seven series in the Western Conference semifinals. Game 2 is Tuesday night.

Playing for the first time in a week, and therefore finding themselves with none of the thrust generated by a winning streak--12 games now--that dates to April 3, the Lakers did the logical thing. They located O’Neal, entrenched deep in the lane, often with only Vlade Divac or Scot Pollard on his hip, and they spent three quarters honing their entry passes.

“That’s just big Shaq,” said King forward Chris Webber, who occasionally tried to help from the weak side. “That’s the reason they’re so good.”

O’Neal finished two points short of his career playoff high and added 21 rebounds and seven blocked shots. He took 11 of his rebounds on offense, seven of those in the second half. He had 13 points and nine rebounds in the fourth quarter.

Divac fouled out and Pollard was on his way there when the Lakers put away the Kings, finally when O’Neal blocked a Jason Williams layup with fewer than 20 seconds remaining and the Lakers ahead by three points.

“They really were not doubling me, so I just tried to take the high-percentage shots,” O’Neal said. “If I get that close to the basket, I’m going to take those shots all night.”

He made 17 of 32 attempts and might have scored 50 points had his free throws not gone sideways on him in the fourth quarter. The rest of the Lakers did what they had to do--get out of O’Neal’s way, guard their guys, hold onto the ball, and then smack him on the back on his way off the floor.

“The guy is unbelievable,” Sacramento Coach Rick Adelman said. “When he’s coming into you, you have to give ground. You have to find a way to counteract it. I thought Vlade and Scot tried, but he’s a handful.”

Kobe Bryant, whose sore ribs afforded him little opportunity to practice in the week since the Lakers eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers, scored 29 points, but missed 13 of 23 shots. As it was, Bryant and O’Neal combined for 29 of the Lakers’ 31 third-quarter points, and 46 of their 55 second-half points.

That left the rest to other duties. Rick Fox hounded Peja Stojakovic into six-for-18 shooting and he took 10 rebounds. Brian Shaw had four steals. Despite having his first two turnovers of the postseason, Derek Fisher had eight rebounds. Webber had his best game against the Lakers, scoring 34 points on 12-for-22 shooting against a rotation of Horace Grant and Robert Horry.

The difference, finally, was O’Neal, whose mother, Lucille Harrison, sat courtside. Because when the Lakers’ jump shots would not fall, and when their touch passes were too long, and when their cross-over dribbles found their toes, O’Neal accepted their passes and went to the rim. Or, he chased their misses and went--shoulder first, usually--through Divac, who complained about O’Neal’s dallying in the lane.

“You can do nothing, especially with the rules,” said Divac, who joined Mike Dunleavy in that chorus. “They’re going to change next year but obviously not this year. Just give us a chance. Call three seconds or something. You can’t stop him. He’s going to score every time down there.”

On the seventh day, when their games were a little unfamiliar because of their time away, the Lakers went to O’Neal. The Kings chose not to sag off Laker shooters Fox and Fisher. Fox had four points. Fisher had 11.

But O’Neal was open.

“If a team is going to do that,” Bryant said, “we’re going to punish them.”

In the manner that they dispatched the Trail Blazers, the Lakers created space late in the third and fourth quarters.

From a 73-71 deficit, the Lakers outscored the Kings, 19-7. From that 90-80 lead, the Lakers allowed the Kings only one possession with a chance to tie or take a lead with one shot. With 23.8 seconds remaining, Fisher made one of two free throws for a 104-101 lead.

King point guard Williams streaked down the court, through four-fifths of a Laker defense guarding against a three-point attempt, and threw up a floater from about six feet. The remaining fifth of the Laker defense--O’Neal--rose up and, with his right hand, batted Williams’ shot away. Once on the other end, Williams put his hands on his knees and stared at the floor. Divac, on his way off the floor after his sixth foul, patted him on the rear end.

“I thought I had a shot,” Williams said. “He just made a good play.”