EFFORT OF O'NEAL HEALING FOR LAKERS LAKERS 104, WASHINGTON 91.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

At one point in the first quarter, the Lakers featured a lineup of Greg Foster, Rick Fox, Mark Madsen, Mike Penberthy and Brian Shaw, a quintet that wouldn't strike fear into the hearts of several Division I college basketball teams.

But fortunately for the injury-depleted Lakers, one huge and imposing weapon was resting on the bench just a few feet away.

Shaquille O'Neal came through with a dominating effort, including team highs of 40 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists, and three other players scored in double figures as the Lakers held off the pesky but overmatched Washington Wizards 104-91 in front of a sellout crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center.

O'Neal was within one point of a season high in scoring and two assists short of his second career triple-double on a night the Lakers learned that Kobe Bryant will miss at least one more game with a strained left ankle but will not have to be put on the injured list.

``We have a lot of players who can step up and fill (Bryant's) void,'' said O'Neal, who also made 10 of 13 free-throw attempts. ``What he needs to do is get his ankle right. As long as one of the superheroes is still out there, we'll be OK.

``Superman is still out there and he's making his free throws, too, so bring it on.''

The Lakers, who had lost their two previous games and dropped to fourth place in the Western Conference, were able to grind out a gritty victory despite the absence of Bryant, Robert Horry (strained neck) and Tyronn Lue (sprained right ankle) and the illness of Isaiah Rider, who was pressed into action despite a viral infection.

Rider made just 4 of 13 attempts from the field for eight points, but several others came through. Derek Fisher made 4 of his first 6 shots from the field and added 13 points, as did Rick Fox. Shaw started in place of Bryant and added 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists in a team-high 31 minutes.

``The position that we put ourselves in, losing to Atlanta and Milwaukee, we can't afford to overlook anybody,'' Shaw said.

Still, the Wizards pushed the Lakers for much of the game. O'Neal dominated in the first half, but the rest of the Lakers struggled from the field and the Wizards hung around for much of the first half.

With Bryant out of the lineup, the Wizards put the ball in the hands of their guards and Richard Hamilton (23 points) and Hubert Davis (17) responded. The Wizards held their only lead in the first three minutes of the game, but they were able to keep the deficit under five points for much of the first half.

An 11-6 run late in the second quarter helped the Lakers take a 60-55 halftime lead, but spotty Laker defense allowed the Wizards to hang around.

``We came in and discussed it at halftime, and we came out more focused on the defensive end,'' Shaw said. ``Shaq got a couple of blocks early and we never looked back after that.''

It wasn't quite that simple. The Lakers built their lead to 15 points by the end of the third quarter, but the Wizards used a 12-4 run to close their deficit to seven points midway through the fourth quarter.

But O'Neal re-entered the game, after sitting out the early part of the period, and Washington's combination of Jahidi White and Popeye Jones had no answer. The Lakers outscored the Wizards 56-30 in the paint and outrebounded Washington 54-30.

CAPTION(S):

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Photo: (color) Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal, left, is fouled by Washington's Jahidi White on Friday at Staples Center.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

Box: GAME RECAP