[0] WHO NEEDS SHAQ? : WITH O'NEAL OUT, KOBE LEADS LAKERS LAKERS 100, SACREMENTO 93.Byline: Marc Stein Marc Stein is a sports reporter. He began writing for ESPN.com in 2000 and signed on full-time in 2002 to serve as the site's senior National Basketball Association writer. Daily News Staff Writer Shaq Diesel was parked on the bench. So the Lakers rode their Showboat showboat. In the early 19th cent. entertainment was brought by boat to the pioneers that settled along the western rivers (especially the Mississippi and Ohio) of the United States. At first companies only traveled by boat, performing on land. . Behind a career-high 21 points from Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. , including two breathtaking baskets in the final period, the hosts overcame the first injury absence of O'Neal's L.A. career to hold off the Sacramento Kings for a 100-93 victory Friday night before a Forum sellout of 17,505. With O'Neal, wearing a knee-length black coat, on the sideline because of a sprained right ankle, the Lakers relied on Elden Campbell Elden Jerome Campbell (born July 23, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former professional basketball player who played center in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Campbell played college basketball at Clemson University. in the trenches and the open-court flair of the kid Shaq dubbed ``Showboat'' for their ninth straight home triumph. Bryant backed Campbell's season-high 22 points and 15 rebounds with a backhanded tip-in of a Nick Van Exel Nickey (Nick) Maxwell Van Exel (born November 27 1971 in Kenosha, Wisconsin) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. Van Exel, a 6'1" left-handed point guard, was most well known for his flashy style of play and his ability to hit critical shots during air ball with 1:33 remaining to give the Lakers a 95-89 lead. The no-look hoop, preceded by a 360-degree dunk early in the fourth quarter, enabled the teen-ager to beat his previous high of 16 points in just 22 minutes. ``It wasn't to the point that I've got to get out there and play,'' said Bryant, who came in averaging just 4.6 points and 10.2 minutes in his rookie season.``You get a little upset when you don't get out there and play the big minutes, but you've just got to be patient.'' In spite of Bryant and Campbell, the Lakers (24-9) had to survive numerous scares, starting in the third quarter when the Kings opened with a 19-3 run after trailing 60-41 at the break. A blocked shot by Travis Knight Travis Knight (born September 13 1974 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American former professional basketball player who was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1st round (29th overall) of the 1996 NBA Draft. that led to a Bryant layup at the other end capped a recovery spurt that made it 77-64, but Sacramento (13-20) refused to fold. Down 85-74 after Bryant stripped Billy Owens Billy Eugene Owens (born May 1 1969, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania) is an American former professional basketball player. The 6' 9" small forward/shooting guard from Syracuse University was selected by the Sacramento Kings in the 1991 NBA Draft but after Owens remained a holdout at midcourt and waltzed in for the 360 slam with 9:09 to play, the Kings answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from Mitch Richmond Mitchell James ("Mitch") Richmond (born June 30, 1965 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association. Known as "The Rock," "The Hammer", "The Captain," and "The Scorelord," Richmond was one of the NBA's best pure shooters (33 points) and got as close as four to make the Lakers miss their go-to guy. ``His numbers,'' Lakers coach Del Harris said. ``That's basically it. (O'Neal's injury) takes away 27 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, that sort of thing. ``The presence that you can't put a statistic on.'' O'Neal got hurt in the final minute of Thursday's win in Sacramento when he landed awkwardly after trying to save a loose ball and call a timeout simultaneously. The maneuver couldn't have been more unsuccessful. O'Neal didn't get the TO - costing the Lakers a crunch-time possession and, worse, crunching their star's ankle in the process. Now you know why Harris has lobbied the league for the past two years to outlaw the midair timeout call. ``They did not pay heed Verb 1. pay heed - give heed (to); "The children in the audience attended the recital quietly"; "She hung on his every word"; "They attended to everything he said" advert, give ear, attend, hang to ol' Del's suggestion,'' Harris said ruefully rue·ful adj. 1. Inspiring pity or compassion. 2. Causing, feeling, or expressing sorrow or regret. rue . Since O'Neal also ignored it, the coach had to shuffle his lineup for the second straight game, with the main concern to find someone to shut down Laker-killer Olden Polynice Olden Polynice (born November 21 1964 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a retired professional basketball player at the center position. Polynice played with the Seattle SuperSonics, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, Sacramento Kings, and Utah Jazz of the National . Thanks to Eddie Jones' hawk-like defense, Richmond hasn't caused L.A. nearly the problems Polynice has, before and after the arrival of O'Neal. The journeyman center totaled 33 points and 27 rebounds in his two meetings with Shaq this year, after averaging 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds against the Lakers in the previous two seasons. ``He's played well against us whoever we've put on him, but he's a pretty good player,'' Harris said of Polynice. ``He didn't do so well with the Clippers, so people in L.A. sell him a little short. They haven't had a better center in Sacramento since they've been there.'' For some reason, though, Polynice has only been producing in Sacramento these days. So, with O'Neal unavailable and Vlade Divac Vlade Divac (Serbian Cyrillic: Владе Дивац, pronounced [ˈvlaːdɛ ˈdiːvaʦ] in Charlotte, Harris moved Campbell back to center and hoped for seeing some more of the new trend, the one regarding Polynice's road struggles. And he did. While Campbell was racking up 16 points and eight rebounds in the first half alone, Polynice managed just five points and seven boards. For the season, the Kings' post man is averaging 15 points and 9.5 rebounds in home games and 9.4 points and 7.8 rebounds away. That's just one of the Kings' problems. Of perhaps greater concern, their flu epidemic is spreading, keeping point guards Tyus Edney Tyus Dwayne Edney (born February 14 1973 in Gardena, California) is an American professional basketball player, known for one of the greatest plays in college basketball history. and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf out for the second straight night and Friday claiming starting power forward Michael Smith. That left Sacramento coach Garry St. Jean Garry St. Jean is a former professional basketball coach and executive. St. Jean has been the head coach of two NBA teams. From 1992 through 1997, he coached the Sacramento Kings. with just nine healthy bodies, allowing Bryant to abuse unknown free agent Devin Gray for 10 points in seven minutes of the second quarter. NINE AND COUNTING The Lakers are in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of their longest home-winning streak since the 1990-91 season, when they won 15 straight. DATE OPPONENT SCORE 1-3 Sacramento 100-93 12-29 Philadelphia 115-102 12-27 Boston 109-102 12-13 Portland 79-76 12-11 Indiana 92-90 12-8 Minnesota 110-86 12-6 Orlando 92-81 12-3 Seattle 110-106 12-1 Denver 104-96 CAREER NIGHT Kobe Bryant had a career night Friday against Sacremento. His performance was the best by a Lakers' reserve this season. Min. FG FT Reb Ast Pts 22 6-10 9-10 5 1 21 CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box, 2 Charts Photo: (1) Lakers forward Corie Blount goes baseline for a dunk over Sacramento's Corliss Williamson. Joe Binoya / Special to the Daily News (2) KOBE BRYANT Chart: (1) NINE AND COUNTING (see text) (2) CAREER NIGHT (see text) Box: LAKERS BOX |
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