Walker Is Full of Great Expectations

Most players talk about getting a split when they open a playoff series with two games on the road. Not the Lakers. They’re thinking two.

“I think if we go up there early enough and handle our business and if we win two games up there, this team has been known to fold,” Samaki Walker said of the Sacramento Kings.

“I watched them on TV last year, and I basically watched them give up after getting down 0-2.

“But I think if we send a message, going up there and winning two games, I think that we’ll definitely have the series in our favor.”

Here’s some more Walker, who hasn’t taken long to catch onto the Laker attitude in his first year with the club.

“They deserve the attention they are getting right now,” he said of the Kings. “They are cherishing every moment, which is good. Because, come Saturday, they have to play against the two-time defending world champions, and I think that’s saying a lot in itself.

“When you haven’t beaten a team, regardless of how good a season you have, or whether you finish first or second, this is a team, Sacramento, that hasn’t found a way to [beat the Lakers] consistently. So there’s going to be some doubts in their heads about whether they can beat this team.”

*

Rick Fox will probably inspire the Kings and their fans with his statement that “We’re going to win the next round,” but what else was he supposed to say?

“I think we’ve, at this time of year, consistently found ways to win games,” Fox said. “I truly believe we’re the better team.

“We’re lacking the home-court advantage, but I think that’s going to be a challenge that excites us.”

*

The Lakers expect their scoring, currently 92.5 points a game in the playoffs, will increase against the Kings. It will probably have to, if they expect to win against a squad that averaged 102.2 points.

“Because we’ll be playing a team that plays with a different tempo, I think there will be more possessions, there will be more opportunities to get some baskets in transition,” Derek Fisher said. “Obviously, we can’t score 85 points in this series.”

J.A. Adande

*

Laker Coach Phil Jackson probably is the opposing coach who’s most despised by the boisterous Arco Arena crowd, and he’ll be back on Saturday.

Before the first of Sacramento’s three consecutive playoff meetings with the Lakers, Jackson famously called Sacramento a “cowtown” and “semi-civilized.”

King fans responded by ringing cowbells behind the Lakers’ bench, and the practice has become an Arco tradition for any visitor.

But Jackson’s record against the Kings since taking over the Lakers probably bothers King fans more than his verbal shots. Jackson is 16-5 against Sacramento since 1999, and the Lakers have won seven of their last eight games against Sacramento, starting with a four-game sweep in the second round of last year’s playoffs.

Associated Press