SHAQ DOES VANISHING ACT : INJURED CENTER DRIVEN AWAY BEFORE LAKERS LOSE ORLANDO 110, LAKERS 84.

Byline: Marc Stein Daily News Staff Writer

The big moment finally arrived and big Shaq didn't show. Just like the rest of the Lakers.

The guys actually wearing purple and gold got only slightly closer to Sunday's action than Shaquille O'Neal, who was greeted by a media horde in the Orlando Arena parking lot and promptly turned his truck around.

``I think he did the right thing,'' Lakers coach Del Harris said later, accounting for the first bit of defense L.A. mustered on an afternoon that saw them absorb a nationally televised 110-84 thumping courtesy of the Orlando Magic.

``He should come back here when he can defend himself. Today, he would have been a sitting-duck target unable to defend himself. . . . Particularly the way we played.''

Intent on giving the 17,248 vultures gathered here at least half of what they hungered for - since the opportunity to shower O'Neal with boos (or worse) never materialized - the Magic sped away from the Lakers faster than Shaq escaped the press.

While the visitors were missing 20 of their first 24 shots for an accuracy rate of 16.7 percent in the opening quarter, Orlando tied a team record for rebounds in a period with 24 in bolting to a 31-14 lead.

The margin swelled to 31 late in the second quarter (65-34) and reached 32 in the third quarter (84-52) before a garbage-time rally left the Lakers with their second 26-point loss - this season's biggest margin on defeat.

``We definitely wanted to win for the Big Fella,'' Lakers co-captain Nick Van Exel said after seeing a weekend that already included Friday's heartbreaking loss in Miami and Saturday's $10,000 fine for criticizing the referees from that game somehow get worse.

``I guess they wanted to win it, too, for Shaq.''

If not for O'Neal, the Magic (39-29) definitely wanted to win because he longer plays for them, because people here feel jilted by his decision to leave Orlando last summer for the riches and relaxed atmosphere of Los Angeles.

Unlike the Lakers (45-23), who were perhaps too hyper at the start and shot themselves out of the game, the Magic appeared to be fueled by the hype. All five Orlando starters scored in double figures, led by 21 points each from Penny Hardaway and O'Neal's nemesis, Nick Anderson.

Horace Grant had 16 points and 16 rebounds and Rony Seikaly, the new Magic center and the recipient of the loudest ovation during introductions, added 11 points, 10 boards and four blocks.

``They kind of rode the fans,'' Van Exel said.

In magnificent voice and armed with dozens of clever signs, those fans were fully prepared to ride O'Neal in what was supposed to be his first public appearance in town since signing with the Lakers.

The local media was even more ready, as evidenced by the helicopter an area TV station had hovering over O'Neal's Isleworth mansion Saturday night.

But it's that kind of scrutiny that helped drive O'Neal out of Orlando and what ultimately convinced him to stay away Sunday. The skycopter didn't spoil the dinner Shaq's mother prepared for his Lakers teammates, but he wanted no part of the swarm of minicams waiting for the sight of his sport-utility vehicle.

Shaq dropped off Lakers security chief Jerome Crawford at the door and drove back to Isleworth to spend a little extra time with Mom before returning to L.A. to resume rehab on his left knee.

``Next year, hopefully, he will be healthy and then we'll see what happens,'' Harris said. ``What was he going to say (to heckling fans)? `Your mother's mustache,' or, `So's your old man.' ''

Lakers players, though insisting that O'Neal's absence wasn't a letdown, nonetheless did want him there to incite the crowd; Van Exel claims that they play better when being booed.

``I told him to come four or five times,'' Van Exel said. ``He came to the gym. But he said the media wouldn't let him in. He didn't want to bother with all that.''

It was a decision that delighted the Magic.

``I knew he wouldn't show up,'' Grant said. ``Shaq talks a lot.''

Said Anderson, the target of harsh criticism from O'Neal soon after the divorce: ``Why couldn't he just come out to the game? All of us get hurt.''

Maybe because that would detract from how much interest the league - with NBC's help, of course - can generate for next season's Lakers-at-Orlando fixture.

``I don't see the big problem here,'' Harris said. ``Everyone seems to be satisfied with things here. They love Rony. We love Shaq. We should be the best of friends. Sister cities.''

Or the sibling rivalry of the '90s.

SHAQ ATTACK

A sampling of anti-Shaquille O'Neal signs in the stands at Orlando Arena during the Lakers-Magic game Sunday:

L.A. misses Shaq . . . We don't

BOOOO SHAQ

FROM: A REAL PERSON

TO: A REAL JERK

Shaq Who?

Shaq: Take The Money And Run

RONY: MVP 

SHAQ: NO BODY CARES

Shaq: Go back to L.A. to stay

Shaq's not worth a Penny

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Chart

Photo: (1--color) Stopped by a group of reporters in the Orlando Arena parking lot, Shaquille O'Neal turned his truck around and left.

(2) Rony Seikaly, who has become Shaquille O'Neal's replacement in Orlando, knocks the ball away from Lakers forward Corie Blount in the first quarter.

Associated Press

Box: SHAQ ATTACK (see text)