Swamped in New Jersey

Shaquille O’Neal left without even a glance, pushed through the door that led to the bus that led to the rest of the season, and did not look down and did not look to the side. Only straight ahead.

To what though?

The Lakers, his Lakers, NBA champions the last three years, lost again Thursday night to the New Jersey Nets, 98-71, at Continental Airlines Arena. Six months before, these same Nets had a center or three, and were overmatched four times in four games, and by the end were simply glad the beating was over.

And now it is the Lakers who measure progress in vague areas such as not giving up too soon, not being too tense and not being so far into this thing it can’t be stopped.

They are 10-17 and afterward Jason Kidd, who wrecked them with 27 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, was kind enough to admit the Lakers are “one of the best 10-17 teams out there,” so right there with the Chicago Bulls and Golden State Warriors.

Kidd added, “I sure wouldn’t want to play them in the first round of the playoffs.” The Lakers used to say that about, say, the Nets.

A quarter or two from being one-third of the way through the season that was supposed to be for a fourth consecutive title, the Lakers, 2-12 on the road, are in a virtual tie for last place in the Pacific Division. They set a Los Angeles franchise record for lowest field-goal percentage in a game (30.2%) for the second time in a month.

They were outscored, 30-12, in a fourth quarter that began with them down by nine ,and then nearly everyone, from Coach Phil Jackson down, claimed to be somewhat satisfied with the end-to-end effort. Getting better, they said.

Nearly everyone.

“For the most part we haven’t been competitive all year,” forward Robert Horry said. “We can play for one quarter, then we just lay it down. That’s not going to cut it.”

Asked if he ever thought about, ahem, missing the playoffs, Horry said crisply, “Every day.”

O’Neal, ever prideful, came home to New Jersey and left the basketball game with about three minutes to play, behind by 21 points.

He had 19 points and four rebounds in 37 minutes. On some nights, better nights, he gets four rebounds in two possessions.

Kobe Bryant, sagging with a sore throat and general fatigue, withdrew about a minute later, behind then by 23. Prodded by Jackson to be more aggressive with his offense early, Bryant missed 21 of 29 shots and scored 21 points, six in the second half.

So, on the night Mike Bibby returned to the Sacramento Kings’ starting lineup, the Lakers remain 10 1/2 games out of first place in the division, further behind in the conference.

They conclude the trip tonight against Philadelphia and Sunday at Toronto after barely showing up Tuesday in Minnesota.

“It’s been critical for a while in that this is not the way to start a season,” said Rick Fox, who did not score in 21 minutes. “We’re in a place we’re unaccustomed to. We haven’t handled it well off the floor or on the floor. It’s playing with our confidence. It’s playing with everything. We’re digging ourselves a situation that’s very tough to fix.”

Holiday bells rang. The Nets led by 17 points with a little more than five minutes left. The crowd stood and cheered and waved towels, six months after they slunk away, having been blown out of the Finals in a week.

During practice Wednesday afternoon, after the media was herded away and before the Lakers took the floor, Jackson had called together the players and the coaches.

And they talked. For half an hour.

Jackson talked. Coaches talked. A few players talked.

They decided the hole was large enough. They decided that the last seven weeks, half of it without O’Neal, was real, was a problem, and that they would not let it kill their season, as grim as it appeared, as grim as it felt.

They put their feet down. Drew the line. All those things.

Then they lost by 27, on the day they all said they wouldn’t yet press for personnel changes.

“Right now,” Bryant said, “it’s important for us to be patient.

“It was better tonight. Totally honest. It was better. We didn’t hang our heads.”

And Jackson agreed.

“We have to give these guys the opportunity to play hard together,” he said.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Long Road Back

The worst team to make the Western Conference playoffs last season finished with a 44-38 record. How Lakers need to finish this season to reach that record. Lakers are 4 1/2 games behind the eighth seed (final playoff spot):

*--* WINS LOSSES TO REACH 44 38 CURRENT 10 17 MUST GO 34 21

*--*