The message sent by the Lakers the past two weeks and hammered home again last night is a simple warning to every NBA team that fancies itself a contender for the title:
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
And be forewarned: The Lakers are again the Lakers.
“It’s one thing to wear that championship ring, it’s another thing to do it on the court,” coach Phil Jackson said. “We found out the hard way this year that people aren’t impressed by having those championship banners; [you’ve] got to go out and play every night.”
The way the Lakers went out and played in their final game before the All-Star break, the three-time champions appeared ready to assert their power in the second half of the season. They built a 34-point third-quarter lead, watched it shrink to a four-point margin and finally held off the Knicks 114-109.
This wasn’t the way the Lakers wanted to close out the game, but it was precisely the way they wanted to close out a mostly forgettable first portion of the season.
Ever since losing 19 of their first 30 games, the first 12 without Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers slowly and steadily have reached the level expected of them. They’ve won five consecutive games and are 13-4 since that 11-19 start.
“We predicted that we’d start slow, but we didn’t anticipate it would be a two-month drought,” Jackson said. “It’s not our best thing, but we never said it was gonna be easy, and the challenge, I think, it’s important for us.”
As the Lakers labored without O’Neal following offseason toe surgery, all the talk out west was about how they needed help. A third scorer was considered necessary, and Jackson admitted he thought about making a change simply to shake up his struggling team.
Such wakeup calls are no longer required. Jackson, predictably enough, said the Lakers are fine the way they are.
“You’d always like to have a third scorer, but what we really need is the guys who are part of the team who have always played key roles just to be consistent,” Jackson said. “As long as they’re doing what they’ve done the last few games we’ll be fine without a third scorer.”
There was no third scorer last night. O’Neal scored 33 points and Kobe Bryant scorched the Knicks for 46. Next in line was Rick Fox with nine.
“For the most part those two guys [O’Neal and Bryant] have stepped up their games,” said Robert Horry, who had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds. “They’re like the leaders of the pack, so when they step up we step up.”