Lakers Take It From Top

A month in, the Lakers have progressed from awkward nice-to-meet-yous to blowout hugs and chest bumps, the experimental phase of sprinkling Hall of Famers atop Hall of Famers apparently nearing conclusion.

They have won six games in a row, by an average of 20 points, Sunday night by 99-77 over the Indiana Pacers at Staples Center.

Over three nights they clobbered the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs and The Next Eastern Conference Hope, playing to the end of a five-game homestand with a sit-down defense and charismatic offense, Gary Payton routinely choosing between jump shooters and Shaquille O’Neal.

“I’m sort of impressed,” O’Neal said.

He had 18 points in the second half after foul trouble limited him to five first-half minutes. Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher each scored 12 points. Al Harrington had 18 points and 10 points for the Pacers, and Jermaine O’Neal had 14 points.

An otherwise sleepy crowd rose with 1:23 remaining in the third quarter, between Fisher free throws, and cheered Karl Malone.

Two days after becoming the first 40-year-old with a triple-double, he came off the floor with a smile, the Lakers done here, his night 11 points and 15 rebounds in 31 minutes.

The sturdy win bought the Lakers a day off from practice and Malone a morning walk on the beach with his wife. On the occasion of their record’s growing to 14-3, along with Indiana’s the best in the league, and of their ninth win in 10 games, Malone sloshed his feet in ice water and spoke of the virtues of simply playing the game.

Granted, they have played eight of their last 10 games at home and have avoided excessive back-to-backs. And, they’ll have their hands full Wednesday night in San Antonio, then Thursday night in Dallas.

But the Lakers are playing defense as well as at any time in the Phil Jackson era, and are sharing the ball better than they have in Jackson’s four-plus seasons. It is a small stretch of games, but the first with Malone and Payton aboard.

“It’s not about being flashy,” Malone said. “It’s about doing all the things the coaches ask us to do. It’s about having a game plan and executing the game plan. We talk about things in practice and shoot-arounds, and then guys are going out and executing it.”

A Pacer victory, and then four more months of convincing basketball, might have given rise to an assumption that the Eastern Conference qualifier would offer resistance in the NBA Finals.

It might not be much. But, as the New Jersey Nets were being throttled in Sacramento, among other places, as the best in the Atlantic Division (the Philadelphia 76ers) fell to .500, people were making all of the usual assumptions.

The Pacers arrived 14-2, having won eight in a row, and with quality wins at Detroit and at New Orleans, two places the Lakers could not win.

They hadn’t played in two days, were reasonably healthy, and hoped to start strong on a trip that will take them through Phoenix, Portland, Seattle and Sacramento after Los Angeles, the whole thing in eight days.

With all of that regular-season drama, all of that at stake, the Pacers found themselves 20 points behind in the third quarter, playing not to win but to maintain some dignity.

Shaquille O’Neal played five minutes in the first half because of three fouls and the Laker lead at halftime was 46-37, the final three points at the buzzer, Bryon Russell from the left corner, from Payton.

Alas, the Pacers were beaten with Shaquille O’Neal on the bench, routed with him off it. They shot 39.1%. They were pressured into 23 turnovers. They never led and, after 4-4, never tied. The Lakers led by seven in the first quarter, 11 in the second and 24 in the last.

As a result, Pacer Coach Rick Carlisle spent half the game two steps onto the floor, pleading for defense or calls.

“They are the best team we’ve seen at this point by far,” Carlisle said. “They played 19 minutes without Shaq in the first half and still had a nine-point lead. We didn’t play our best but they had a lot to do with it. They are an exceptional team right now and we are going to have to get better.”

So, the Lakers won their 25th consecutive regular-season home game, and won with some ease again, just getting to know each other.

“We’re still a ways away,” Malone said. “But we’ve made some progress. We still have some work to do, so we’ll just continue to play and get better. If we do that, we’ll be just fine.”

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Points Well Taken

The Laker defense has been strong during a six-game winning streak. The scores and opposing teams’ field-goal percentages:

*--* Opponent Score FG% at New York 104-83 42.9 Chicago 101-94 43.0 Memphis 121-89 47.2 Washington 120-99 41.9 San Antonio 103-87 39.0 Indiana 99-77 39.7 Average 108-88.2 42.2

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