Lakers Are in Good Hands

Self-image being what it is in the NBA, and the regular season being what it is to the Lakers, it often takes a special circumstance for the unordinary, and that is where Kobe Bryant dropped off his game on Sunday afternoon.

At the junction of playing it out and playing for something, at the moment Phil Jackson surrendered the Laker psyches to whatever it was those 12 men desired, Bryant was devastating, and the Lakers were just good enough to beat the Sacramento Kings, 97-96, at Arco Arena. Bryant scored eight of their final 10 points, the last four after Shaquille O’Neal had fouled out, and Chris Webber missed a shot just before the buzzer.

Afterward, Bryant, who scored 29 points, said he favored what the victory here, where the Kings had been 32-3, confirmed for a league that might have started to wonder.

“When the playoffs start, the title has to come through L.A.,” Bryant said. “I don’t care what your record is.”

Found in some parts to be vulnerable, particularly at the end of a week that saw the twice-defending NBA champions lose in Dallas and San Antonio and win without soul against Detroit, the Lakers moved within a half-game of the Kings in the Pacific Division. They have 13 games to play, the last against the Kings in Los Angeles.

“It was a big game,” Bryant said. “Phil had talked to us about getting home-court advantage, and this being a crucial game if we wanted to make that happen.”

So, on go those races, seemingly of only occasional interest to the Lakers, with the Kings not yet together enough or healthy enough or high-tech enough to leave behind the Lakers, the Mavericks or Spurs. They played Sunday without forward Peja Stojakovic, their second-leading scorer.

At the very end, a good seven-tenths of a second after it should have been the very end but who’s counting, Webber crashed to his knees, shortly after his short jumper crashed into the rim as time expired.

From 93-93 with 1:19 left, Bryant had scored on a darting, twisting layup and a 16-foot fade-away jumper, and the Kings had scored on a free throw by Christie and a short jump hook by Webber.

When Rick Fox’s long jump-shot attempt was blocked by Vlade Divac, there were 5.2 seconds remaining and a 97-96 Laker lead.

The Lakers had called a timeout with 13.5 seconds on the game clock and nine seconds on the shot clock. Upon the Divac block, the shot-clock buzzer sounded and the game clock stalled with 5.2 seconds left, not 4.5.

Somewhere, the Kings gained seven-tenths of a second.

“That math,” Jackson said, “just baffles me.”

The Kings directed the ball to Webber, their All-Star and famously courted former free agent who seconds before had drawn them to within a point, and he dug in against Robert Horry.

Though he had 14 points and five rebounds in the first quarter, Webber had missed 13 of his previous 17 field-goal attempts as he leaned against Horry, turned to the baseline, and flipped a potential game-winner toward the basket.

“When guys spin,” Horry said, “I try to get up under them so they have to think about it.

“I think that kind of messed him up. He wasn’t expecting to be that low.”

Still, Horry said, “Webber had a good look and we were very fortunate he missed it.”

Indeed, Webber found himself with a difficult angle, and his shot struck the rim nearest to him, then bounded to the other side. The final buzzer sounded as the rebound fell.

“That was never in doubt, that game,” Jackson said, smiling.

Despite his foul trouble, O’Neal had 21 points and seven rebounds and left without speaking to the media, which is becoming a habit.

Derek Fisher played 38 minutes--healthy starter Lindsey Hunter played just three--and scored 16 points, including a 20-foot jumper from the corner that gave the Lakers a 93-92 lead.

Late in the first quarter, after Divac and Scot Pollard had fallen near the basket, O’Neal asked referee Tim Donaghy to make them stand up to him.

“Make them play,” he said. “Don’t let them flop the whole game.”

Donaghy nodded but did O’Neal no favors. O’Neal was assessed his third foul five minutes into the second quarter and played only 16 first-half minutes. He had effective stretches in the second half, but at the end watched from the bench, leaving Bryant, mostly.

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