O’Neal’s Feet a Concern

Shaquille O’Neal’s feet continue to bother him, both from what he called an arthritic condition in his right big toe and the claw-toe deformity in his small left toe, the latter corrected by surgery in August.

Asked if he believed his feet would have been improved by now, O’Neal said: “Not when you average 900 minutes.”

He averaged 38.3 minutes in the first four games, about a minute less than he averaged last season.

Laker Coach Phil Jackson seemed concerned at the lack of progress in O’Neal’s feet, but not yet to the point of cutting his playing time.

“Eventually, we’re going to have to sit down and measure that out if it continues over a period of another two or three weeks,” Jackson said. “Right now conditioning is the most important thing, to play the game we need to play with him on the floor for 35 minutes, playing an active 35 minutes. So he can rebound the ball and run back on defense. Those are the real critical things that he does when we’re a really good team.”

After four days off, the Lakers play Friday against Memphis and then Sunday against Orlando, teams Jackson expects will try to push the offensive pace, perhaps taxing O’Neal further.

“They’re both running kind of teams that want high transition and we’re going to have to be very quick,” he said. “He’s going to have to run the court.”

The Lakers would like to reinvent their fastbreak, in part because that strategy is difficult on zone defenses. But O’Neal has been among those hurrying up the floor. Occasionally, it has been hard to tell if he’s leading the offense or simply trailing the defense, but he’s still the most dominating player on the floor, creaky feet or not.

“He’s running more, he really is,” Jackson said. “He likes the ‘run’ aspect of basketball. He gets out there and pushes the ball after he rebounds. He’s doing a real good job that way.”

Over the very small sample of four games, the sore feet have not restricted O’Neal’s scoring--he averaged 31.5 points. He also has blocked 16 shots. But his shooting percentage is down, from last year’s 57.2 to 50.6. Also, after an 18-rebound opening night against Portland, he has averaged nine in the last three games.

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The Lakers are 4-0 for the first time since 1997-98, when they started a franchise-best 11-0.

The 1993 Houston Rockets and 1948 Washington Capitols each started 15-0, the NBA record.

Of their first 15 games, the Lakers play 10 at Staples Center, including one that technically is a home game for the Clippers.