The Heat Is On

The Lakers aren’t in real trouble yet. That would come Friday if they don’t start doing the things they didn’t often do in the regular season either.

As Laker nation mulled exactly what a home playoff loss Tuesday to the San Antonio Spurs meant, along with on which car window the Laker flag should be properly mounted, the coach decided where the potential for improvement lies.

After the 88-85 loss that sent the Lakers to Texas with a two-game split in the Western Conference semifinals, Phil Jackson said he tapped the mammoth Shaquille O’Neal on the shoulder.

“I had a heated conversation with Shaq, actually, about getting actively involved in chasing the ball down,” he said. “Shaq is, you know, I wanted to stimulate him and I wanted to motivate him to the fact we need him to play at a really active level. If it’s 30 minutes, I want a more active 30 minutes. If in a 40-minute game he’s going to get seven rebounds, I’d rather have him play 30 minutes and get 12 or 13 rebounds.

“He said, basically, his toe [hurts]. He doesn’t feel he’s tired, he doesn’t feel it’s a matter of conditioning. He feels it’s a matter of activity ... allowed him by the movement of his foot.”

It wasn’t exactly Larry Brown versus Allen Iverson. It wasn’t even George Karl versus The Big Three. How heated, though, was difficult to gauge. Teammates said they knew nothing of the conversation, and Jackson hardly seemed angered by it, though O’Neal was in no mood for another discussion about his limitations.

“I think I’ll leave the motivation to Phil,” forward Rick Fox said. “I know that Shaquille has always been big when needed. I don’t expect anything less. We’d definitely like to see him lead this team like he has, which he will. Over the last few years he has. He’ll do it again this year. If Phil feels that way, that something needs to be said, Phil usually says what needs to be said. So, I just know that my money’s on Shaq.”

O’Neal dragged an arthritic toe through the regular season. He slashed his forefinger in Sunday’s Game 1, and reopened the wound during Game 2.

He left Staples Center on Tuesday night without expansive comment, and pushed silently through reporters Wednesday afternoon in El Segundo, but that does not necessarily reflect his demeanor. He periodically ignores the media in the best of times, as well.

He scored 23 points in a six-point victory Sunday, 19 in the three-point loss two nights later. He has made 16 of 38 shots in the series, that 42.1% shooting percentage well off his regular-season 57.9%, which led the league. Poor shooting numbers--particularly in the absence of Spur center David Robinson--suggest his finger is numb from medication, or sore from being stitched and restitched, or that the bandage won’t allow him to feel the ball.

Poor rebounding numbers--seven in 40 minutes--suggest his toe has fouled him again.

“It’s such a game-to-game detail,” Jackson said. “At the end of the game I thought he moved great. I was telling him I thought the activity level increased as the game wore on and the energy increased. That was the thing I liked to see. Maybe the urgency level has to come up a bit.”

Now it’s on to San Antonio, where O’Neal played his high school basketball and has rarely played well as a pro. He averaged 22 points and 11.3 rebounds in three regular-season games against the Spurs, and had 17 points and 10 rebounds in his only game this season at the Alamodome, where he made two of 10 shots.

Kobe Bryant did much of the scoring against the Spurs in last year’s conference finals, particularly in San Antonio, where he averaged 36.5 points in Games 1 and 2. O’Neal was healthy then.

“You can make up a lot of excuses, and Shaq’s never been one to do that,” Fox said. “I don’t suspect he’s going to tell you his toe hurts or his finger with the stitches bothers him, I’m sure it does.”

Bryant said he spoke briefly with his friend Wednesday, and got a look at the finger that has become such a problem.

“He seems upset that we split,” Bryant said. “I think we all are. But he’s going to be ready to play come Friday. His finger looks terrible. But, you know, he’s going to have to play through that and he’s going to do that.”

It is not all about O’Neal, clearly. He did brilliant things despite his injuries in Game 1, and his mobility appeared to lag when allowed a rest of only 48 hours.

“[Tim] Duncan took the ball right out of his hands a couple times during the course of the game,” Jackson said. “But he got the one back that counted [in the late-game steal]. Unfortunately it didn’t count for us at the end of the game. You could see that it was bothering him. He didn’t have the hand strength he normally has.

“I think we can play well enough with Shaq playing at the level he’s playing right now. It’s the rest of the team that has to step into the vacuum and provide some help.”

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*--* Center Stage Last year, Shaquille O’Neal had his way against David Robinson in the Lakers’ sweep of the Spurs. This year, Mark Bryant and Malik Rose have done an admirable job filling in for the injured Robinson and defending O’Neal. A comparison of key statistics: 2001 2002 O’Neal Robinson O’Neal Bry.-Rose *Points 27.3 14.3 21.0 14.5 *FG M-A 11.5-20.2 6-14.7 8-19 5.5-14 FG Pct 54.1% 40.7% 42.1% 39.2% *Reb 13 10.7 12 12.5 * per game

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