Laker Big Men Spank Kings

Speaking of sore rear ends . . .

This one belongs to the Sacramento Kings, who had the misfortune of coming through the Forum the night Elden Campbell returned after sitting out the previous two games, and five of the last seven, because of a bruised buttock. Not only that, he had 21 points and six rebounds in 26 minutes as the Lakers remained half a game behind Seattle in the Pacific Division with a 108-99 victory Thursday night before 17,505 at the Forum.

That was Shaquille O’Neal with the other hand on the paddle, even if it was a routine outing for him: 42 points, the most by a Laker since Cedric Ceballos had 50 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Dec. 20, 1994, and 12 rebounds in 33 minutes. The game before, he had 39 and 13.

O’Neal now has 105 points and 36 rebounds in 98 minutes in his three games back from the knee injury. He also has a free throw touch, making 12 of 14 against the Kings, including his last 10 in a row, after going 11 of 18 Sunday against Utah.

He had said all along he would be better from the line because the two-month layoff gave him time to work on the shot. The level of Campbell’s play, that was the unknown, before some of the answers came.

“I thought he looked like he’d never been injured, personally,” Coach Del Harris said after the Lakers won for the 10th time in 12 games and kept themselves in position to win the Pacific with victories in the final two games. “I thought he looked very much at home.”

O’Neal had 22 points by halftime, even while again missing some shots he normally converts, but the presence of Campbell may have been a more pleasing sight for the Lakers. Not only because they had finally been put back together again, this being the first time they were able to send out the preferred opening lineup since Feb. 12, but because time was becoming a critical element.

Campbell’s return will give them three games and either three or four days to mesh at a mini-camp next week in Palm Desert, depending on whether Game 1 of the playoffs is at the Forum on Thursday or Friday. This comes with only one starter, Eddie Jones, having played in each of the previous eight games.

“It has to be enough time,” O’Neal said. “We’ll be straight.”

So many Lakers need minutes to shake off the rust. The tougher part is that they don’t have the luxury of making playing time the priority over the winning times, what with one loss enough to drop them from second to fourth in the Western Conference, the difference between facing the Portland Trail Blazers and the Minnesota Timberwolves or Phoenix Suns in a five-game series.

So as the SuperSonics are left only with a Saturday night date with the Clippers on their schedule, and the Rockets get to finish with the Dallas Mavericks tonight and the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday, the Lakers have additional concerns. They must find a balance between winning the Pacific Division title or aiming everything for the playoffs.

“Much like we’ve done all year, in the sense of trying to develop players and still win games,” Coach Del Harris said.

Except that it seemed like a more obvious set of priorities in December or January.

“I’m not going to play somebody out there 35 minutes if they’re not playing well just to get them minutes,” Harris said. “I could if we were four games ahead in first place with three games left. But I have an obligation to the fans and to the team to win every game, even though our focus is on the playoffs.

“It’s a delicate line. But you try to do both.”

Campbell’s effort guaranteed that he will become only the seventh player in NBA history to improve his scoring average in each of their first seven seasons, no matter what happens in the last two games.

The others to achieve the feat are Kevin McHale, Derek Harper, Alex English, Happy Hairston, Avery Johnson and Shawn Kemp.