Lakers Ease Into Weekend

The hard edges of the season’s early weeks have given way to Karl Malone’s sly smile, to Gary Payton’s comical head twists and protestations, to a fortuitous schedule that has allowed the Lakers to win big without Shaquille O’Neal.

O’Neal sat out his second consecutive game because of a strained right calf, and the Lakers won again with a defensive attitude and offensive integrity, this by 120-99 Wednesday night against the Washington Wizards at Staples Center.

The Lakers shot 61.4% from the field to beat the Wizards for the 11th consecutive time in Los Angeles. They have won four games in a row and seven of eight, and are free for the moment from conflicts of personality and game, those disturbances having been transferred to franchises in New Jersey, Cleveland, Portland, wherever.

O’Neal has the calf injury, Malone isn’t clear of his hamstring strain and Kobe Bryant, by his own projections, is a month from full health. That doesn’t even address the triangle offense, and who is learning what from whom and how quickly or Phil Jackson’s concerns about frontcourt depth, particularly if O’Neal is going to limp through the next few weeks.

But, the Lakers go into a San Antonio-Indiana weekend with a 12-3 record, best in the Western Conference. They are saving their legs critical minutes with blowouts against the New York Knicks, Memphis Grizzlies and Wizards in a span of eight days while their bench players get playing time and shots.

“I think they’re more relaxed,” Jackson said. “They’re confident they can regain form and play within a style that’s conducive to their talent. They feel each other relatively well, so they’re enjoying it. They’re enjoying playing together.”

So now, and for the time being, they laugh with each other and look for Malone’s forehead-seeking passes and back off when Bryant needs to do his thing. Their lead Wednesday, as much as 29 points, frayed some in the hands of the bench. They ran past the Wizards, at one point holding a 25-0 lead in fastbreak points, on old and tested legs.

Bryant scored 22 points in 26 minutes. Also in limited time, Devean George scored 18 points, a season-high, Malone scored 13 and Payton scored 10. In his second game off the injured list, Slava Medvedenko had 11 points and drew standing ovations when he came and went, his sudden willingness on the boards and defense winning fans. In two games, he has made 12 of 13 field-goal attempts and averaged 12.5 points.

For the first time since Feb. 19, 1998, eight Lakers scored in double figures. Derek Fisher (14), Bryon Russell (10) and Kareem Rush (career-high 14) also pushed the Laker offense to at least 120 points for the second consecutive game.

“We did a lot of good things,” Payton said. “We’re getting a lot more accustomed to each other.... Everybody’s enjoying more what we’re doing.”

The Wizards won Tuesday night in Portland, and so arrived on the rear end of a back-to-back sequence, demanding even for their young legs. The Lakers hadn’t played since the rout of the Grizzlies on Sunday, when no one played more than Bryant’s 32 minutes, and they didn’t even practice Monday.

The Wizards went to the final buzzer against the Trail Blazers and lacked Jerry Stackhouse (preseason knee surgery) and Gilbert Arenas (strained abdominal muscle).

That was a lot of offense on the end of the Wizards’ bench, the end opposite new Coach Eddie Jordan.

“We were intimidated,” Jordan said. “They tasted the blood and they went after the kill.”

Off of their best shooting game of the season -- 59.2% (and 121 points) against the Grizzlies -- the Lakers made 61.1% of their first-quarter field-goal attempts, then made their first four shots of the second quarter for a 39-25 lead. The Wizards looked convinced.

From there, the Wizards had a hard time staying anywhere close to the Lakers, who ran the game with deft passes from the high post, guards attacking the rim, Medvedenko in front of the break, Bryant flinging himself into the lane.

With 7:33 left in the third quarter, the Lakers scored on a fastbreak out of a made basket by the Wizards, George finishing ahead of two Wizards with a dunk.

The Laker lead was 73-44 and the reserves were readied.