LAKERS NOTEBOOK: ROYALLY VIEWED LAKERS LOOK WITH PURPOSE TO GAME VS. KINGS.Byline: Rich Hammond Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Staff Writer EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and - It's taken almost five full months, but the Lakers finally have found a regular-season game that means something to them. The Lakers trail the Sacramento Kings by 1 1/2 games heading into the teams' meeting today in Sacramento. With just more than three weeks left in the season, the Lakers know a loss today could dash their hopes for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Both teams are hurting. Lakers guard Derek Fisher Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9 1974 in Little Rock, Arkansas) is an American professional basketball player with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was with the Utah Jazz but asked to be released from his contract to care for his 10-month-old daughter, who has cancer. suffered a sprained right index finger in Friday's victory over Detroit, but he is left-handed and is expected to play today. The Kings have larger issues: They might be without both Doug Christie Doug Christie may refer to:
Regardless, the Lakers expect a battle. Sacramento has the best home record (32-3) in the league and defeated the Lakers 97-91 on Dec. 7 in the teams' previous meeting up north this season. ``We will play them just like we've done in the past,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. said. ``We get the ball to (center Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). ), everything has to go through Shaq. They're a pretty good defensive team this year and they run well off of (missed shots), but we're going to put the ball inside and force them to collapse. ``The big thing with us is transition defense, that's one of the things we always harp on, and this is one of the teams that wants to run the ball down before we get our defense set.'' --Minor problem? Fisher officially is listed as probable for today's game since the sprained finger is on his nonshooting hand, but Jackson sounded less than optimistic when asked whether the injury was anything to worry about. ``I hope it isn't,'' Jackson said. ``We're doing some kind of therapy (Saturday afternoon), working on it to give him some relief from the discomfort.'' --Still strong: The possible loss of Christie, who hurt his knee Thursday when he ran into a courtside court·side n. The area immediately bordering the official court of play, as in tennis or basketball. cameraman, could hurt the Kings because of his usual strong defense against 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. . But Hedo Turkoglu has filled in nicely for Stojakovic. In Thursday's victory over Denver, Turkoglu totaled career highs with 31 points and 10 assists, and he added nine rebounds in 44 minutes. ``They have a very strong bench,'' Jackson said. ``They can replace, pretty well, players in the starting lineup For the line of action figures, see . A starting lineup in sports refers to the set of players actively participating in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes , but the familiarity and teamwork that comes with time on the court together is the big thing. ``Turkoglu has had a few games and he's playing great. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about Christie; he's a specific defensive player who has done a great job against Kobe at times. But they've got good enough athletes and a good enough game plan to make up for it.'' LAKERS vs. SACRAMENTO Tipoff: 3:30 p.m., Arco Arena. TV/Radio: Ch. 4; 570-AM, 1330-AM (Spanish). Lakers (48-20) update: If Doug Christie (knee injury) does not play today, it could be a game for Kobe Bryant to dominate. Bryant scored a team-high 29 points in the Lakers' 93-85 victory over the Kings on Nov. 18, but in the teams' next meeting, he made just 9 of 23 shots from the field and the Lakers lost by six. Kings (49-18) update: They have far bigger goals in mind, but the Kings officially can clinch a playoff berth with a victory today. The team is well within range of setting the franchise record for victories in a season. - Rich Hammond CAPTION(S): photo, 2 boxes Photo: Lakers coach Phil Jackson said the team's offense will be centered around Shaquille O'Neal today in Sacramento. Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer Box: (1) LAKERS vs. SACRAMENTO (see text) (2) STRETCH DRIVE |
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