[0] RISING ABOVE THE LATEST RIFF RIDER'S 24 HELPS TIE UP NETS LAKERS 113, NEW JERSEY 101.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

Say this for Isaiah Rider: Whatever his problems may be, whatever self- created mess might await him in the commissioner's office in New York in coming weeks, whatever dissonance he can create off the court, he couldn't be more in tune on it.

On the same day reports of Rider's noncompliance with a league drug after-care program surfaced, Rider played his best game in a Laker uniform Friday. He was steady from the perimeter, nifty in the paint, aggressive everywhere, effective throughout.

Behind Rider's energetic, 24-point performance, the Lakers held off the New Jersey Nets for a 113-101 victory at Staples Center. The win averted a possible three-game losing streak and gave the Lakers a 27-14 record at the season's midway point.

Shaquille O'Neal hovered in triple-double range in the second half, but settled for 26 points, eight assists and nine rebounds. Kobe Bryant got off to a bumpy start but finished with 26 points on 10-for-20 shooting.

And Rider, as if oblivious to the day's events, his own precarious standing and all the talk surrounding it, provided enough highlights to temporarily draw attention away from his off-court troubles.

Rider was at his best in crunch time. He played the entire fourth quarter - a testament to how far he's come lately - scoring 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting.

It was Rider's free throws that gave the Lakers a 10-point cushion midway through the fourth, Rider who restored the 10-point margin with a 6-foot jumper and Rider who did it again with a left hand finger roll.

When Stephon Marbury hit a 3-pointer, Rider answered back, then pulled his jersey aside to show his beating heart.

Apparently, the whole team found its offense in the three days since its season-low shooting performance at Seattle. Rick Fox scored 14 points. Horace Grant, in his first game since recovering from back soreness, scored 10.

And so the Lakers hit the mathematical midway point of the season, a bit off-kilter and far off the 67-win pace of a year ago, but still intact and presumably sane.

And, of course, ever confident that the season's latter 41 games will bring a better degree of success.

``There's a lot of similarities to what's happening to this team that has happened to other teams that I've coached that had a lot of success,'' coach Phil Jackson said.

``Just the dynamics that have gone along with it. We've got two of the best players in the league and just the situation around the two of them, the polarity that has been created and how we've got to mend that. And everybody's got to contribute that's in between there and make it happen for our basketball club, to be successful.''

Controversy, the Lakers can handle. Team squabbles, they can deal with. It's those other 28 NBA teams that keep giving them problems.

The Nets, among the worst teams in the league in scoring, rebounding and other key stats (i.e., winning), kept the game close throughout the game. As usual, the Lakers' defense was to blame.

Keith Van Horn mixed long-range shooting with swift moves inside, frustrating the Lakers big men all night, to the tune of 25 points. Stephon Marbury was nearly unguardable stretches and finished with 33 points.

For all the questions swirling around Rider, his first appearance of the night was remarkable only for its steadiness and productivity. He skipped the pregame media session but came into the game amid a sea of supportive cheers to start the second quarter.

Rider returned their affection with a quick 3-pointer, a 22-foot jumper and a couple nice hustle plays for loose balls. By halftime, he had 11 points and four rebounds.

By late in the third quarter a small group of the Laker faithful were calling for him to return with loud chants of ``Ri-der!''

Against the decidedly smallish Nets, the Lakers went to O'Neal early and often, then forgot about him for a stretch of the second quarter. Still, he closed out the first half with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting and seven assists.

Bryant missed six of his first eight attempts but found a steady rhythm, and made his last five shots of the half for a team-high 16 points.

The Lakers shot 51.2 percent in the first half but the efforts were undermined by porous defense, as the Nets answered with 48.8 percent shooting. Van Horn scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting, and Marbury added 10 points.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- color) Kobe Bryant's dunk helped account for his 16 first-half points during a rocky start. He finished with 24.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2) Shaquille O'Neal gets off a pass between Nets' Keith Van Horn and Evan Eschmeyer. O'Neal had eight assists.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box: GAME RECAP