In a Perfect World, It’s Next Game

Fifteen-and-oh is out there, beyond the long weekend with the San Antonio Spurs, and then into the NBA finals, assuming the Eastern Conference sends a representative.

The prospect of postseason perfection does not appear to have possessed the Lakers, though they are well on their way there and could have no more than two road games remaining.

“It’s a wonderful thing,” Laker forward Robert Horry said. “That’s one of the things we’ve added to give us motivation.”

It is a great leap, of course, even with the San Antonio Spurs down two games to none in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals. They are convinced they haven’t yet played well and expect the return of injured guard Derek Anderson tonight for Game 3 at Staples Center. The Lakers gladly would settle for any two wins over the series’ next five games--if the Spurs have that much fight left.

“We just have to focus on winning that game on Friday,” Laker forward Rick Fox said, “and putting the Spurs in a deeper hole.”

If trends don’t lie, the series is about to change offensive venues, from Kobe Bryant’s eclecticism to Shaquille O’Neal’s resolve.

O’Neal has been a monster in four playoff games at Staples Center. He averaged 35.8 points and 18.3 rebounds in two games each against Portland and Sacramento, including consecutive games of at least 40 points and 20 rebounds against the Kings.

In five playoff road games, O’Neal averaged 23.6 points and 13.6 rebounds, while Bryant averaged 35.8 points.

Because he is mourning his cousin, a Newark, N.J., fireman who died while fighting a fire Tuesday night, O’Neal has been sad and quiet for the last two days. But after practice, he led the media through Staples Center, teasingly looking for a seat from which to answer questions, peering behind him as reporters and cameramen climbed over chairs and through aisles in pursuit. He chuckled and sat in the middle of a row, not far from where General Manager Mitch Kupchak watches games, halfway up the bowl.

“I think he’s going to be fine,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson had said. “He knows how to bring it up to a level by [Friday] night to play. I think he’s angry. I think he wants to play better and I think he feels like he can.”

In road games, and most recently wading into matchups against Tim Duncan and David Robinson, O’Neal is taking eight fewer shots a game and being called for one more personal foul a game.

“I’m not really mad about anything,” O’Neal said. “I’m just trying to stay focused and stay on a mission. I just want to keep playing and keep winning and keep making history.

“I don’t want to say things to motivate other people. After this series is over I’ll have a lot to say.”

In the meantime, many expect O’Neal to retake the low blocks, to receive the ball in better position to score, and to find his shooting touch. He made 19 of 43 shots in San Antonio after making 55% of his shots in the first seven games of the playoffs.

“He has a little more latitude [at home],” Jackson said. “When everything you do is exaggerated--three seconds and offensive fouls--there’s been so much focus on him. He had two illegal defenses in [Game 2] that were incredible. San Antonio is illegal maybe 10 or 12 times in the course of the game, and Shaq gets called for two of them. It just shows the focus that he has on him when he plays a basketball game. So, when he’s home, it’s much easier for him, much more comfortable.

“I think you’ll see a Shaq that’s very comfortable in the lane and very aggressive on his home court.”

The Lakers covered for O’Neal’s offensive dip by making 46.9% of their three-point shots at San Antonio, seven of eight by Derek Fisher and four of 10 by Horry, and Bryant averaged 36.5 points and made more than half of his shots.

“I’ve been told not to worry about my scoring in this series,” O’Neal said.

After Thursday’s practice, a light day for the Lakers, there was a sense O’Neal would reclaim his offensive game.

“These surroundings seem to light him up,” Fox said.

On their way through 17 consecutive victories, the last nine in the playoffs, the Lakers have won with O’Neal’s offense and without it. He has lifted his defense, and in the games he hasn’t scored well, Bryant has, or someone else has, for more than seven weeks.

“The feeling we have on the floor, it’s like, like a killer feeling, man,” Bryant said. “We just want to gut the other team. Really. We were put in a situation like we were put in the other night against San Antonio, everything was going their way, I remember thinking, ‘Man, we pull this one out, we win this game, this is really going to hurt them,’ because they’re playing very well right now.

“As a unit, we’ve grown into really knowing how to kill teams. We look into each other’s eyes and just refuse to lose.”

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On a Roll

It takes 15 postseason victories to win an NBA championship and the Lakers are off to a 9-0 start. NBA champions with the best win percentage in the playoffs:

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Pct. Season Team Record .923 1982-83 Philadelphia 12-1 .882 1988-89 Detroit 15-2 .882 1990-91 Chicago 15-2 .882 1999 San Antonio 15-2 .857 1970-71 Milwaukee 12-2 .857 1981-82 Lakers 12-2 .833 1985-86 Boston 15-3 .833 1986-87 Lakers 15-3 .833 1995-96 Chicago 15-3

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GAME 3 TONIGHT

SAN ANTONIO at LAKERS

6 p.m., Channel 4