Lakers Are Up to a Challenge

This was supposed to be a true test for the Lakers.

These weren’t the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are going nowhere, or the Charlotte Hornets, who are trying to go to New Orleans, or the New York Knicks, who are going to be scattered to the far corners of the NBA at season’s end if management has its way.

These were the Milwaukee Bucks, leaders of the Central Division, a team that came within one game of the NBA Finals last season, a team that has realistic hopes of getting there this season.

So while the Lakers had already beaten the Cavaliers, Hornets and Knicks on this trip and had begun to show the rhythm and cohesiveness they know they will need in the postseason, Tuesday night’s visit to the Bradley Center was expected to provide a better measuring stick of how far they have come.

The result?

In the words of playground players everywhere: Next.

With all cylinders operating smoothly and efficiently, the Laker juggernaut rolled on, much to the dismay of a crowd of 18,717, beating the Bucks convincingly, 99-89.

“Who’s in first place?” Shaquille O’Neal said afterward when he was asked about beating a division leader. “Oh, the Bucks are in first place?”

He said it with a smile and a wink.

Milwaukee Coach George Karl has been known to bait opposing players. He has done his share of trash talking with O’Neal in the past. But Karl played it straight Tuesday night, not even trying to deny the obvious.

“They are a very good basketball team,” Karl said. “I think everyone can see.”

Colorful? No. Honest? Quite.

What was so overwhelming was the total effort. O’Neal was O’Neal and Kobe Bryant was Kobe Bryant.

O’Neal had game-high totals in points (28 on nine of 18 from the floor and 10 of 17 from the free-throw line) and rebounds (13). Bryant was right behind him in points with 27.

As do most teams, the Bucks came at the 7-foot-1, 330-pound O’Neal in waves. Starting center Joel Przybilla racked up four fouls, and Ervin Johnson had five fouls in 15 minutes. But with O’Neal connecting on 59% of his free throws, that strategy was foiled.

Afterward, O’Neal became incensed when asked about the 7-1, 255-pound Przybilla.

“Przybilla is a hack,” O’Neal said. “He has no chance of success. He is not strong enough. He has no chance of stopping me as long as he plays this game.”

That sounds like bulletin-board material, but in this case, it would probably shatter whatever little shreds of confidence Przybilla still has.

For all that O’Neal and Bryant provide, however, the Lakers know they can’t win as a two-man team. They need role players to play key roles and they got that Tuesday night from Derek Fisher and Devean George, who both came off the bench to make big shots.

Fisher scored 15 points, including three of five from three-point range. George, known more for his defense, had 10 points, including three of three from beyond the arc.

With all that, the Lakers found themselves in a game with just over eight minutes to play. Down, 76-68, the Bucks put together a 9-0 run culminating in a three-point basket by Sam Cassell that moved Milwaukee into a one-point lead.

“We had to get our feet back on the ground,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said.

And sure enough, it turned out to be the last time Milwaukee would be heard from.

The Lakers immediately put together an 8-0 run of their own that extended to 13-2 and, just like that, they were back to a 10-point lead.

As impressive as the Lakers were on offense, they were equally so on defense, especially in the fourth quarter after Milwaukee had made its last-ditch run.

“We took every individual out of their sweet spot,” Bryant said.

Cassell was Milwaukee’s leading scorer with 21 points, but he made only eight of 18 from the floor. Glenn Robinson had 19 points, but he was only five of 12. Ray Allen, who was matched against Bryant, had only 15 points, taking nine shots. He had only two points in the second half.

“We can beat a lot of teams in this league when we are not playing our best basketball,” Allen said, “but when you play a team of this caliber, it won’t cut it.”

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Best Western

The NBA’s top records through Tuesday’s games, with Western Conference teams holding five of the top six marks:

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