LAKERS CRUISE IN RARE LAUGHER SHAQ, KOBE AND CO. GET SWAGGER BACK IN BLOWOUT LAKERS 110, GOLDEN STATE 95.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

It wasn't enough that the Lakers set the Way-Back Machine to last season, refitted themselves with the championship look, cranked up their swagger and started treating the Golden State Warriors like a squad of 45-year-old accountants from the local YMCA.

No, they had to laugh about it, too. And a rollicking good time it was.

Shaquille O'Neal rode Corie Blount like a show pony, then cackled all the way back down the court. Kobe Bryant threw down a nasty, two-handed reverse jam, and there were smiles and hoots up and down the Lakers bench.

Hey, after a season stuffed with infighting and frustration, who could blame them for a little mid-game party?

It'd been two months since they enjoyed an early rout, even longer since anyone used the word ``dominant'' and ``Lakers'' in the same paragraph. So when the lead ballooned to 30 points - in the first quarter - they savored the scene.

And when the Lakers closed out the 110-95 victory before a chalupa- crazed 18,997 at Staples Center, they breathed a little easier, knowing they're still capable of crushing a weak opponent.

``We haven't had a game like this in a while,'' Bryant said. ``At least for the coaching staff, it calms their nerves a little bit.''

A bucket of Vicodin couldn't have done a much better job than the Lakers did. The lead was 26-6 midway through the first quarter. Minutes later it was 41-11, after Rick Fox caught a deep pass on the fast break, then bounced a behind-the-back pass to Bryant for the reverse dunk.

O'Neal opened the second quarter by dunking over Blount, then hung on the rim and straddled his former Lakers teammate for a few seconds - a big, goofy grin on his face.

The Lakers reserves let the Warriors (16-44) claw within 15 points, then 11, but it never got any closer.

``That's when the basketball is fun, and it's not work,'' said Fox.

O'Neal got his 26 points and 15 rebounds in just 31 minutes of work, and Bryant scored 22 points in the same amount of time. Both earned an extended rest, which they'll surely need in this 17-game month.

Minutes before tipoff, Bryant missed warmups while getting precautionary X-rays on his sprained right ankle. He could barely sleep the night before because of the pain. But the X-rays were negative, and Bryant showed no sign of slowing down, making 9 of 15 shots.

The most stunning line of the night belonged to Antawn Jamison, the presumed All-Star candidate, the guy who punished the Lakers with 51 points in an overtime victory back in December. Looking decidedly uninspired, Jamison missed all nine shots he took and finished with zero points in 28 minutes.

``I told Horace (Grant) he's done pretty good against him,'' said coach Phil Jackson. ``He's held him to 25 a game.''

The victory was the Lakers' sixth in seven games and their seventh in a row at home.

Only two Lakers failed to enjoy the party - Greg Foster, who spoiled his rare appearance by getting tossed, and Isaiah Rider, who played a listless first half (12 minutes, no points, three turnovers) and then was benched until garbage time.

Booed when he was throwing passes away early in the game, Rider earned redemption from the fickle (and apparently hungry) home crowd, making the basket that got the Lakers to 110 points and sending the fans home with coupons for free chalupas.

Foster, who hadn't played in nine days, tangled with the Warriors' Marc Jackson with 7:26 left in the game, then lost his temper after Jackson poked him near his right eye. Mark Madsen was barely able to restrain Foster, who was ejected.

The fight can resume, and Jamison can get another shot at 51, on Tuesday when these teams close out the season series in Oakland.

For now, the Lakers will celebrate their newly rediscovered dominance.

``It's nice to have it happen for a change,'' said Fox, ``especially this time of the year, when we'd like to think that a team that hasn't played well all year, in their case, you take care of them, put them away, you get some rest. And knowing that we see them again on Tuesday, we want to do some of the same things.''

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Photo: Horace Grant draws a foul against Golden State's Mookie Blaylock as he goes up for a basket in the first quarter Sunday.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

Box: GAME RECAP