Stojakovic, Turkoglu Strive to Contribute

On one of the two practice courts inside the Kings’ training facility Tuesday, Peja Stojakovic jogged gingerly on his sprained right ankle. On the other, Hedo Turkoglu worked out the kinks in his wonky jump shot.

While most of the Kings took a well-deserved rest after defeating the Lakers in Game 2 on Monday, those two key players were hard at work, hoping to find a way to help their team by the time Game 3 begins Friday at Staples Center. Turkoglu has been filling in for the injured Stojakovic at small forward.

Judging by the way he was moving, it could be a while longer before Stojakovic is fit to play. Judging by the way the ball was clanging off the rim, it could be a while before Turkoglu’s shot is sound.

“He can’t run at all,” Coach Rick Adelman said of Stojakovic, injured in Game 3 of the Kings’ conference semifinal series against the Dallas Mavericks. “When you see him moving freely, then he’ll be ready to play. He has gotten better the last two or three days. It was good to see him out there doing the little he was doing.”

Adelman could have said the same of Turkoglu, who has shot four for 16 in the series (25%) and 29 for 83 in the playoffs (34.9%).

What he did say was, “What would really help Hedo is if we have better ball movement. If we could attack better, it would get him more scoring opportunities. We told him, ‘Don’t worry about your shots. Just play the game.’”

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Bobby Jackson, an energetic reserve guard, has given the Kings a boost in each game against the Lakers. He had 21 points in 25 minutes in Game 1 and 17 points in 23 minutes in Game 2.

“Give Bobby tremendous credit,” Adelman said. “If he hadn’t done what he’s done, we wouldn’t have gotten through the Dallas series and we wouldn’t be tied, 1-1, against the Lakers.”

At 6 feet 1, Jackson’s size presents matchup problems for the Kings because he cannot guard Kobe Bryant or Rick Fox. It’s also difficult for Adelman to play Jackson and 6-1 Mike Bibby at the same time for the same reasons.

“I’m sure they’re looking at a way to attack those two guys when they’re on the floor together,” Adelman said of the Lakers. “Sometimes it is difficult [to have Jackson and Bibby in the game at the same time].”

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Adelman frowned and furrowed his brow when told Laker center Shaquille O’Neal said after Game 2, “In order to beat us, you have to beat us fair and square. There’s only one way to beat us and it starts with a ‘C’ and ends with a ‘T’”

Like everyone else who heard or read O’Neal’s comments, Adelman believed O’Neal was saying the Kings had cheated by holding him and flopping to the court at the first hint of contact.

“I’ve been around Shaq a little bit and I get the idea he says things like that so people will write about it,” Adelman said. “He says, ‘This will be good copy for three days.’ If he’s going to talk about sending tapes to the league, saying the refs favored us in some way, then there are tapes I can send in too.”