Another Laker Three-Feat

For the Lakers, covered with barnacles after being submerged below .500 for so long, a win is a win is a win, even against the bottom-feeding Cleveland Cavaliers. And three wins in a row is the lifeline they clutched after a 115-99 rout of the Cavaliers on Friday at Staples Center, their longest winning streak of a trying season.

Kobe Bryant recorded the eighth triple-double of his career and fifth this season by collecting 21 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in leading the Lakers to their fifth victory in six games. That, too, is their most successful stretch.

“You can only tack ‘em on one at a time,” Rick Fox said of the modest streak. “Considering where we were the first two months of the season, there seems to be a more positive swing now. I think we’re working out a lot of the on-court and off-court issues we had.

“It felt right.”

In avenging an ugly 89-70 loss to the Cavaliers on Nov. 5 at Cleveland, all five Laker starters hit double figures, led by Shaquille O’Neal’s 26 points. Ricky Davis scored 27 to lead the Cavaliers, who have lost six of seven and 10 of 12.

“It was on our minds. We owed them one,” Bryant said of the loss at Cleveland. “We came out and put it on and were aggressive on the defensive side of the ball.

“It was embarrassing at the time. It’s always embarrassing when you lose like that.”

Said Fox: “Defense is what’s given us those rings, and we’re getting back to it. It’s nice to look at the box score and see points by your name, but the bottom line is you win because of defense.”

Bryant didn’t have the magic touch he had Tuesday against Seattle, when he set an NBA record with 12 three-pointers. He missed both three-pointers he attempted in the first half Friday, but he and the Lakers chipped away and gradually pulled out to a 65-49 lead at halftime.

“I hope I started a little spark the rest of us can feed off,” he said.

If his outside shooting wasn’t spectacular, he found other ways to earn ovations from the crowd of 18,997. Bryant turned playmaker in the second quarter, igniting the surge that enabled the Lakers to pull away. The Lakers had led, 27-26, after the first quarter, but Fisher and Bryant found their stride in the second quarter and brought the crowd to its feet several times.

The Cavaliers, capitalizing on some of the Lakers’ 10 first-half turnovers, had kept their deficit to single digits until the late stages of the second quarter. That’s when Fisher and Bryant teamed up to take control of the game, starting with a steal by Bryant that created the chance for Fisher to hit a three-pointer with 2:48 to play in the quarter and give the Lakers a 53-41 led.

On the Lakers’ next possession, Bryant found Fisher open deep on the left side for another three, and a 56-41 lead. After Cleveland’s Zydrunas Ilgauskas hit a pair of free throws, Fisher hit a 21-foot jumper to return the Lakers’ lead to 15. Smush Parker rebounded his own miss and hit a seven-foot jumper to keep the Cavaliers going, but Bryant rebounded a short shot by Slava Medvedenko and hit a slick layup that brought the crowd to its feet and gave the Lakers a 60-45 lead.

They extended the lead to 18, at 65-47, on another three-pointer by Fisher, this time a 24-footer from the right corner. The Cavaliers got two back before the half ended on a dunk by Ricky Davis, but it was clear the momentum had swung to the Lakers.

O’Neal led the Lakers in the half with 20 points, including six of six from the free-throw line, and Fisher had 13 points on three-for-three shooting from beyond the three-point line. Bryant had 12 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and one blocked shot.

“Shaq,” Darius Miles said when asked the difference between the teams’ first meeting and Friday’s game. “The best player in the NBA. We weren’t concerned the first time, because Shaq wasn’t there.”

In the third quarter, the Lakers picked up where they had left off, easily outrunning the Cavaliers and scoring the first eight points. They built their biggest lead, 92-64, late in the third quarter.

O’Neal had sustained a bruise below his left knee when he was kicked in the leg late in the first half, but he showed no ill effects from the injury.

“He complained a little bit of calf tightness,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “He seemed to be all right in the second half.”

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Long Road Back

*--* The team with the worst record to make the Western Conference playoffs last season finished 44-38. How Lakers need to finish season to reach that record: WINS LOSSES TO REACH 44 38 CURRENT 16 20 MUST GO 28 18 GAMES OUT OF PLAYOFF SPOT...3 1/2

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