They May Need O’Neal Back in Driver’s Seat

Shin-deep in ice water late Wednesday night, Karl Malone considered the Lakers and what lay ahead of them, his team having not quite pulled itself together but the San Antonio Spurs only a few days off.

At that moment, Shaquille O’Neal was in the Staples Center garage, having stalked off after Kobe Bryant had led them all past the Houston Rockets in a memorable Game 5.

O’Neal had made less than a third of his free throws in the series and, despite a resolute defensive effort, appeared unsatisfied with his contributions against the Rockets. He averaged 16.2 points and 11.2 rebounds, once a pretty fair playoff half.

Malone’s locker room was dotted with injuries, including one of undetermined severity to O’Neal’s right knee, and unsettled roles, notably Gary Payton’s. The offense had found Malone, but not O’Neal. Bryant had just finished three days in Colorado and had three more days coming in two weeks, and every day closer to July brought more questions about how long this team would survive together.

Malone himself had played only half a season after experiencing the worst injury of his career, then took up his Hall of Fame posture in the final four games against the Rockets, punishing them with fade-away jump shots and forearms.

So, tired, he draped a leather necklace over his clavicle. A sickle-shaped fang, four inches long, dangled from the end. If one believes the stories, told with a grin, Malone wrestled it out of a wild boar, a genteel task compared to the next one.

For Malone and the Lakers, the Spurs await, Tim Duncan again at MVP velocity after a knee injury, the Spurs winners of 15 consecutive games.

“It shouldn’t be any other way,” Malone said. “It should be tough.”

And so it is. After eight preseason, 82 regular-season and five postseason games, the Lakers remain a mystery, their Big Four still searching for harmony. They open the Western Conference semifinals Sunday afternoon in San Antonio, where it seems they’ll need O’Neal and Payton, they’ll need something like a pick-and-roll defense, they’ll need end-to-end effort and intelligence, and in the meantime will ride the seemingly unsinkable Bryant.

Of course, O’Neal can make them all redundant, if he wants to, and they throw him the ball.

“Shaq has kind of been laying in the weeds,” Bryant said. “In this series, he’s been comfortable being a facilitator, being a passer. [Wednesday], he gave me an assist and didn’t even pass me the ball. We ran a [play] and he set a monster pick. He’s just been comfortable doing the little things for us to make us successful and help us win.”

Although it’s true that O’Neal has been knee-high in something, it also is terrifically optimistic to guess that he is content in it.

Coach Phil Jackson has had these problems before, solving them as often as not. He acknowledged that having someone to play defense against Spur point guard Tony Parker was the reason the Lakers chased Payton last summer, and that O’Neal would have to find his value in the series.

“It’s just getting your mind right, getting your mind wrapped around the idea of what this is,” Jackson said Thursday. “This isn’t about us as individuals as much as it is about the team. That’s what happens to teams that want to win in the playoffs. They make that adjustment.”

About O’Neal, in particular, Jackson said, “I think what’s important is that he understands and the team understands that we’re making an effort to bring the focus to Shaquille. By bringing the focus to Shaquille, if teams overplay that particular focus and ... if someone else is available and capable, that we accept a lesser role. And he has to accept a lesser role in that.”

If O’Neal has been especially concerned, Jackson said, “He hasn’t expressed that to me.”

They’ll open as underdogs, an unfathomable possibility as recently as Dec. 3, by which time the new-look Lakers had defeated the defending champion Spurs three times, twice in San Antonio. Of more consequence, the Spurs eliminated the Lakers in the conference semifinals last year, and beat the Lakers the last time they met, April 4 at Staples Center.

“I’m really looking forward to the series,” Bryant said. “I like our chances.”