Lakers Have Stars Aligned

Ever since the Lakers beat Sacramento last weekend they’ve looked vulnerable, even in victories.

If it’s not shaky defense, it’s rebounding or free-throw shooting. If it’s not any of those, it’s $1,500 courtside seats threatening to take out their $208-million center.

Yet they’re still in the hunt for the best record in the league, still confident that they’re the team to beat come playoff time, even if the only thing about the franchise that really looks great right now is the up-and-about Chick Hearn.

Maybe this team is as resilient as its legendary broadcaster. The Lakers keep buying time, keep bouncing back often enough to prevent Staples Center from booking extra concert dates in June.

Like Shaquille O’Neal after a nasty tumble into the seats, they’re still standing.

And as much as the crowd booed Scottie Pippen throughout the Lakers’ 91-79 victory over Portland Friday night, they’d like what the Portland forward had to say about the Lakers.

“They’ll be fine,” Pippen said. “Phil [Jackson] will get them together.”

If the Lakers decide they want to play some defense, there’s a championship out there for the taking.

Lately it’s been their opponents who have been taking whatever they want. Layups, open jump shots, free trips through the lane.

Phoenix scored 62 points in the first half against the Lakers Wednesday night. That was just after Cleveland scored 72 points in the second half Tuesday night, giving Laker opponents 134 points in four consecutive quarters.

“Defense is just competitive nature and high energy, working hard,” Jackson said. “The rest of it comes with confidence in what you’re doing, knowing what the moves are. I think we got hit at all three spots the other night.”

As hot as the Trail Blazers have been since the All-Star break, they weren’t the true test Friday night at Staples Center. They don’t set up their offense to run screen-and-rolls as often as Phoenix did the other night. They lack a center who can either draw O’Neal outside or challenge him inside. And they didn’t have their top scorer, Rasheed Wallace, who was out with a back injury.

So this was simply a chance to see if the Lakers wanted to put in the necessary work, the type of effort it will take to get another downtown parade.

They had it.

There was Kobe Bryant slapping at balls in the passing lanes and harassing Pippen at midcourt, causing him to lose the ball out of bounds. Samaki Walker and Robert Horry blocking Shawn Kemp and Dale Davis shots inside. Even Derek Fisher got into the act, trying his best to block a shot by Davis, who’s 10 inches taller. Fisher fouled him, but he showed the right intent. No easy layups. Seven blocked shots. It was a whole different attitude, as if something got into the Lakers.

“Two games in a row, teams scored, like, 120 points on us,” Bryant said. “That’s what got into us.”

Back in business? Not quite. Just when the Lakers have one problem solved, another pops up. Somebody call tech support.

They let countless good defensive efforts go to waste because they couldn’t finish the task and grab the rebound. Portland hung in a game it had no business hanging in with 24 second-chance points, before 32.6% shooting and the unstoppable combination of O’Neal and Bryant (34 points apiece) finally caught up to the Blazers.

In the fourth quarter, O’Neal chased a loose ball toward the sideline and appeared to have everything under control. But as he leaped over the first row of seats his left foot got caught on a seat, his right foot hit a spectator, and he fell hard. His left arm landed on the the metal riser behind the walkway around the court.

This time, Bryant was quick to the scene, hopping over the courtside seats to check on his teammate.

O’Neal brushed some peanut shells off his arm, and after a timeout he returned to dominate inside and push the Lakers to a cozy lead.

So O’Neal played the Superman role. And Hearn was super, too.

Even after heart surgery and a hip replacement, he actually looks less frail than the Lakers have at times recently. He’s still more than a week away from his return to the microphone. Friday night he watched his first Laker game in person since Dec. 16. He received a standing ovation when he was shown on the video screen during a timeout five minutes into the first quarter.

The Lakers are 6-13 this season when opponents score 100 or more points, and are 46-8 when holding opponents to less than 100.

As potent as the Lakers’ offense can be--they’re third in the league in scoring--they aren’t going to win many shootouts. And though they might have the two biggest guns in the game, they don’t have the overall firepower of Dallas and Sacramento.

They showed Friday that they know what they must do. They’ve got to play defense. And watch out for those chairs.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: [email protected]