Lakers’ Hustle Gets More Than Team Going

Even when the Lakers win big, as they did Sunday, they draw criticism.

Stephen A. Smith wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer that their victory over San Antonio highlighted “the flagrant lack of focus, effort and determination the Lakers have shown far too often this season.”

Smith also wrote that, in Games 1 and 2, “seemingly every loose ball told the story, along with the inexplicable absence of hustle.”

His conclusion: “The Lakers have been stealing money.”

Early in Sunday’s game, Laker radio commentator Mychal Thompson said, “I haven’t seen the Lakers hustle this much since they went to pick up their last paychecks.”

Detect a theme?

Trivia time: Who holds the NBA single-game playoff record for most three-point shots without a miss?

Billboard furor: To promote its NBA playoff coverage, TNT put up billboards featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Jason Kidd in 13 NBA cities.

There are five in San Antonio, where Shaq’s picture has caused such a furor that a picture of the Spurs’ Tim Duncan will be pasted over it today. San Antonio sportscaster Don Harris, who spearheaded the Shaq cover-up campaign, said he received thousands of e-mails in support.

The question is, would anyone in Los Angeles even care about a billboard picture?

More on furor: Dan Creel, the general manager of the San Antonio billboard company hired by TNT, told Harris that any billboard is permitted “as long as it doesn’t offend the community.”

Well, that doesn’t appear to be the case there.

Frankly speaking: The New Jersey Nets came back to win big at home in Game 3 after losing the first two games at Detroit. So what did Net Coach Lawrence Frank say to fire up his team?

Frank has previously relied on film clips of “Braveheart” and “Patton” and speeches about the Battle of Midway and the approach of lion tamers.

But in the playoffs he seems to be taking a different tack.

“Pep talks are vastly overrated,” he told the New York Post. “It is part of my personality, but I am the first to say that a pep talk will never get you a win.”

Spending money: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, after Brooklyn prep sensation Sebastian Telfair had declared for the NBA draft and landed a $15-million shoe contract: “So he has pretty much got the prom expenses covered.”

Trivia answer: Robert Horry, who was seven for seven in a 103-101 Laker loss to the Utah Jazz on May 6, 1997.

And finally: The Super Bowl champion New England Patriots were honored Monday at the White House. President Bush, addressing Coach Bill Belichick, mentioned the Patriots’ visit two years ago.

“I don’t know what it’s like in the locker room,” the president said, “but I remember when you were here last year -- or two years ago -- and you said you were going to say a few words and you said, like, four words.”

Said the reserved Belichick: “I got carried away.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.