Lakers Have No Foul-Out Shelter

Home is where the heartbreak is.

The Lakers suffered their first Forum defeat since Nov. 24 on Thursday night, suffer being the operative word. They lost Eddie Jones to fouls, they lost Shaquille O’Neal to an ejection, and they lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 102-98, before 16,432, ending the 12-game home winning streak.

“It’s disappointing,” said Jones, who had 23 points before being disqualified with 1:53 left. “I don’t care if we lost by 50. It’s disappointing because we’ve got to take care of our home.”

The Lakers trailed practically the entire night, once falling behind by 18 points early in the third quarter, but with seven minutes left they had closed to 84-82. The Trail Blazers didn’t surrender the lead. They didn’t slam the door, either.

With 1:46 remaining, two free throws by Nick Van Exel got the Lakers within 97-94. They were still down three, 99-96, with 1:16 to play after O’Neal slammed Van Exel’s lob pass. It also turned out to be the basket that severely damaged their chances.

O’Neal came down at an awkward angle, so he hung on the rim for balance and to avoid falling on Arvydas Sabonis. But when he did let go, O’Neal clubbed the Portland center, apparently by accident, hard on the top of the head with an elbow. That elbow got O’Neal ejected by official Luis Grillo.

Even with a dramatic setback--O’Neal having contributed 33 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists--the Lakers kept the pressure on. They were down, 101-98, and had a chance to tie after getting the ball with 17.5 seconds remaining and then calling time with 13.1 showing, but with Byron Scott and Van Exel on the court, it was left to Jerome Kersey to try a three-pointer with about five seconds left.

Under tight coverage, it flew long, allowing the Trail Blazers to grab the rebound. Sabonis was fouled and made one free throw for the final margin.

Robert Horry came off the bench again in his second game as a Laker, but there is little doubt Kersey’s role as the starting small forward has a limited shelf life. That’s fine with Kersey, who signed on in the summer expecting to be a reserve anyway.

“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “As long as we get some consistency, it’s not an issue to me. Coming off the bench or starter, it doesn’t make a difference.

“I don’t expect my role to change. But I think my minutes are going to go down, which will be good.”

That’s because Kersey, at age 34, was averaging 27.5 minutes a game heading into Thursday. He had only himself to blame for the considerable load, though, the Lakers being 14-4 with him in the starting lineup. And then there’s practically the continuous stream of praise from Coach Del Harris.

The Lakers had been winning, Kersey had been producing, so Harris saw no reason to go away from him just because Horry arrived last Friday with considerable buildup--a terrific fit for the system, etc. That Horry still doesn’t know all the sets, having played power forward practically cold turkey Tuesday against Vancouver, and could stand to be in better condition--after averaging 22.5 minutes with Phoenix--provides Harris with additional reason to keep the lineup intact, if anything besides 14-4 was needed.

A Kersey-Horry switch will undoubtedly come, maybe even sometime in the final three games of this home stand, a seven-game set that is the Lakers’ longest in 18 years. But Thursday was much like Tuesday, Horry entering after about eight minutes.

That he didn’t contribute nearly as much the rest of the first half as against the Grizzlies, an opening that was especially impressive considering anxiety wore him out as much as the play, wasn’t cause for much notice because he just fit right in. Most all the Lakers were struggling.

The Lakers came in 17-2 at the Forum, but it took Portland only until the final minute of the first quarter to build an 11-point lead. By halftime, the Trail Blazers had shot 58.8% and were threatening to end the home win streak in a big way, their advantage up to 16, 60-44. Isaiah Rider already had 18 of his 30 points.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Season of Expectations

The Lakers acquired nine new players this season, including Shaquille O’Neal and his $120-million contract. In turn, with big acquisitions come big expectations. Throughout the season, The Times will monitor O’Neal’s numbers along with how the team compares to some of the best Laker teams in history.

GAME 39 OF 82

* Record 28-11

* Standing 1st place

Pacific Division

1996-97 LAKERS VS. THE BEST LAKER TEAMS

*--*

Year Gm. 39 Overall 1987-88 31-8 62-20 1986-87 31-8 65-17 1984-85 26-13 62-20 1979-80 26-13 60-22 1971-72 36-3 69-13

*--*

Note: The five teams above all won NBA championships

THE SHAQ SCOREBOARD

Basketball Numbers

* Thursday’s Game:

*--*

Min FG FT Reb Blk Pts 40 12-22 9-17 13 5 33

*--*

* 1996-97 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 39.6 .560 .481 13.1 3.1 26.7

*--*

* 1995-96 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Blk Pts 36.0 .573 .487 11.0 2.1 26.6

*--*

Money Numbers

* Thursday’s Salary: $130,658.53

* Season Totals: $5,095,682.67

* FACTOID: Laker third-string center Mike Smrek was the star of Game 39 of the 1987-88 season. Smrek blocked four shots in the fourth quarter, scored seven points (one fewer than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and grabbed five rebounds during a 111-100 victory over Utah. “I thought Smirk did a very good job tonight, or however you pronounce his name,” Utah Coach Frank Layden said.