Bryant Still Has an Eye for O’Neal at Right Time

Ahead by two points with two minutes left, Kobe Bryant went to the right corner, turned, rose up over Antonio Daniels and spotted the one thing that would change his mind about that shot.

Shaquille O’Neal, alone, beneath the basket.

“I was surprised to see him standing down there,” Bryant said. “I had been saving that baseline jumper for the end of the ballgame and, as I went up to take it, I saw David Robinson was looking at the ball. I thought, ‘Man, don’t you know that’s Shaquille O’Neal down there?’ I was definitely surprised to see him so open so close to the basket.”

Instead of the jumper, Bryant snapped a pass, which O’Neal turned into a layup. The Lakers led, 82-78, then pressed the lead to 88-78 on consecutive three-point baskets by Bryant and Derek Fisher. O’Neal finished with a playoff-low 19 points.

“I was ordered to play great defense against two great big men,” O’Neal said. “I don’t care who scores.”

Coach Phil Jackson’s third-quarter ejection was his first in the playoffs in nine years. He took a technical foul for arguing with 8:44 left in the third quarter, then his second--and the automatic ejection--about five minutes later apparently for standing too close to the court and arguing.

Jackson stared at referee Bob Delaney for a long time, shook his head and grinned tightly. Then he handed his game plan to assistant Jim Cleamons and strolled from the floor, past two referees, past Laker owner Jerry Buss, and through the tunnel.

“Neither technical was a credible call,” Jackson said.

The Lakers claimed to be somewhat inspired, or at least not entirely devastated.

“At first I think it took the life out of us for a second,” Bryant said. “This was the first time out there without a head coach in I don’t know how long.”

Laker forward Mark Madsen was named to the U.S. Goodwill Games team that will play Aug. 29-Sept. 9 in Australia.

Madsen said he is particularly pleased to play with former UCLA guard Baron Davis, another former Pacific 10 Conference player with whom he played in summer pickup games at Pauley Pavilion.

It will make for a busy late summer-early fall for Madsen. The Lakers are scheduled to spend part of training camp in Hawaii, then play two October exhibition games in Japan before returning to start the regular season.

“It’s a huge honor,” he said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to play with those guys and to represent the United States.”

Jackson said he did not believe the travel would exhaust Madsen, who should have a larger role at power forward next season.

“He needs a lot of experience still to play. He’s a good team player, he can only get better,” Jackson said. “He’s learning some of the things he’s been schooled in during the course of the year as to what he has to do to graduate into this game. I anticipate the experience is going to be very good for him.”

The Lakers are 9-0 in the postseason. The record for wins to start the playoffs is 11, set by the 1988-89 Lakers, who were swept by the Detroit Pistons in the finals.