LAKERS NOTEBOOK: DON'T ADJUST YOUR TV, IT'S REALLY RON HARPER.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

It's tough to say what will look stranger - Ron Harper coming off the bench this afternoon at Staples Center, or Ron Harper playing at all.

It's been almost three months since the Lakers veteran went down with a sore left knee. Since then, the Lakers have worked out their kinks, Derek Fisher has assumed the starting job and the team has won 11 consecutive games.

``I'm not going to slow them down,'' Harper vowed. ``The fun part of this game is we all have some hands in this thing, so we just go out and we just play.''

He'll probably make his return today when the Lakers open the conference semifinals against the Sacramento Kings. But he'll be a reserve from here on out, a role he hasn't played regularly since his first season with the Chicago Bulls in 1994-95.

``It's a long time,'' Harper said. ``I don't worry about (whether) you start the game or you don't. The main thing I see is we win games, and whatever role I have is fine.''

The advantage to starting Harper is that his creaky, 37-year-old knees already are warmed up from pregame exercises and don't have a chance to tighten up on the bench. But coach Phil Jackson isn't about to mess with a good thing, especially when Fisher has become the team's third-leading scorer.

So Harper will have to find other means for keeping himself ready.

``Only time will tell, right,'' he said. ``The main thing is once I step on the floor and get back in the game flow, that will be good, I think.''

After a steady week of practice, Jackson said Harper's defense looks sound, his offense a little less so. There's no telling how the surgically repaired knee will react to game conditions, or how many minutes Harper will be able to play. But the Lakers can use his steady hand running the offense, his leadership and his one-on-one defensive skills.

``They don't rely on me to score, and so whatever they get, they'll be happy with,'' he said. ``But if there's an open shot, I'm going to shoot it, you can believe that. I won't hesitate that way.''

--Parting shot: For the last word on Jackson's implication that the Kings' ``goofy'' demeanor might be caused by illegal substances, we turn to Sacramento's Jason Williams - an occasional offender of league drug policy.

``The guy can say whatever he wants,'' Williams said. ``He's a goof. I think it's stupid and chicken what he said. We're just going to go down and play ball.''

Not that the Kings ever will convince anyone that they are anything but goofy. As if to prove Jackson's point, Kings center Scot Pollard said his plan for guarding Shaquille O'Neal includes humming Johnny Cash's ``Ring of Fire'' to distract him.

Case closed.