Bowen May Be a Cut Above

There was never a sequel to “Edward Scissorhands,” but Laker Coach Phil Jackson followed up his own thoughts on Spur forward Bruce Bowen.

A day after referring to Bowen as Edward Scissorhands, Jackson expanded his opinion, probably searching for an edge if the teams meet in the playoffs, assuming the Lakers qualify.

“The more you move against Bowen, the quicker he reacts and the more chops he gets in,” Jackson said Thursday. “He’ll whack away at you while you’re doing that. But more than anything else, Bruce plays with his feet a lot. He gets his feet underneath people and he’s tough to get through.

“He’s had a license for about four years now. Prior to that, he was a spot player and it was difficult for him to get those kind of calls.”

Bowen, for his part, helped hold Kobe Bryant to 23 points on nine-for-26 shooting Thursday.

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Now that Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal have made amends, the league apparently has turned toward the feuding New York Knicks, specifically Coach Larry Brown and guard Stephon Marbury.

“You had Shaq and Kobe in L.A., and now that they’ve made up, you needed something else,” Celtic All-Star Paul Pierce told the Boston Herald. “It’s all a soap opera. It just shifted to New York now.”

TONIGHT

at Seattle, 7:30, Ch. 9, ESPN

Site -- Key Arena.

Radio -- 570; 1330.

Records -- Lakers 38-35; SuperSonics 29-42.

Record vs. SuperSonics -- 1-1.

Update -- After winning the Northwest Division last season, the SuperSonics have the second-worst record in the Western Conference. All-Star guard Ray Allen had only 10 points on one-for-13 shooting in a 115-87 loss Wednesday to Houston. Forward Rashard Lewis sat out the game because of a sprained ankle.