Lakers Had No Shot

By SCOTT HOWARD-COOPER

May 5, 1997 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SALT LAKE CITY —

What the Lakers would not admit Sunday afternoon the Utah Jazz said for them, in words and outcome.

“They were probably a little bit tired,” Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan said.

“He did not have the quick spring he would normally have,” Karl Malone said of Shaquille O’Neal. “He normally gets quicker shots up there.”

Or at least makes them. But then came Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, a 93-77 Laker loss before 19,911 at the Delta Center that came as they tied a Los Angeles-era playoff record with only 27 baskets and shot 22% in the second half and 34.2% overall.

O’Neal was only two of seven after halftime and six of 16 for the day, a horrible showing by his standards but especially since many of the misses came from about an arm’s-length away. Of equal note, he took only one shot in 10 minutes of the fourth quarter, a time when the Lakers were briefly still in striking distance, down by nine points with 9:16 left.

But when Kobe Bryant’s three-point basket turned out to be their last field goal for about 4 1/2 minutes, until Nick Van Exel hit from behind the arc with 3:44 to play, the Lakers were beyond fatigued. They were finished, left only to rest up for Game 2 of the best-of-seven series here Tuesday night.

That’s if they were fatigued in the first place. The Lakers said they weren’t, despite what the Jazz said, or saw. The Lakers said going nine of 41 in the second half and four of 17 (23.5%) in the fourth quarter was simply because they played badly. They couldn’t make shots, but at least they weren’t making excuses.

“I thought we came out with some energy,” Eddie Jones said. “Just a few turnovers hurt us, some missed shots. They [the Jazz] came out with more energy. That’s the bottom line. More energy.”

Which is not to be confused with less rest.

“We came out ready to play,” said Van Exel, who had four three-pointers and a team-high 23 points after averaging only 8.5 points and shooting 30% in the first-round series against the Portland Trail Blazers. “We may have died down in the second quarter, but we played well other than that.”

That, and the little matter of defense taking O’Neal out of his rhythm. The Jazz do deserve credit for that, of course, the execution of the double-team plan.

The Trail Blazers waited longer to run a second man at O’Neal, either until he had started his dribble or gotten into the lane, or sometimes just because they were not aggressive enough. But Utah, a standout defensive team despite the absence of a dominating center, came quicker, either when the pass went in or on the catch.

“That’s a big change from the series we just came out of,” Jerome Kersey said.

It was more than the lack of rest caused by the quick turnaround from Friday night at Portland to Sunday afternoon in Salt Lake City. Lack of time to prepare for the change in styles from the Trail Blazers to the Jazz cost the Lakers. Sleep, nothing. O’Neal, and his teammates on the perimeter who had trouble finding proper spacing, had bigger problems.

O’Neal finished with only 17 points, his third-lowest output of the season, not counting the Feb. 12 outing at Minnesota that lasted only eight minutes before he suffered the serious knee injury. The only two worse was a 14-point effort against the Mavericks on Jan. 20 and a 16-point game Nov. 17 at Phoenix.

“I don’t make excuses,” O’Neal said. “I was just off. And they played well. They did what they had to do.”

Not that he was saying the Jazz played that well.

“You know,” he said, “they play excellent post defense. They never commit any fouls.”

But they do get at least some credit, a showing that was especially important because it came as Utah committed 16 turnovers and won without an overpowering performance by either Malone (23 points and 13 rebounds, but only nine of 21 from the field) or John Stockton (10 points, six assists).

“He is heavy, but we did a good job of getting the double team down there quickly,” Ostertag’s backup, Greg Foster, said of the work against O’Neal. “I think that frustrated him a little.”

Responded O’Neal: “I don’t get frustrated. I just adjust.”

He’ll get the chance to prove it Tuesday. He and all the Lakers.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NBA PLAYOFFS

LAKERS vs. JAZZ

Jazz leads series 1-0

* Game 1: Jazz, 93-77

* Tuesday: at Utah, 7:30 p.m.

* Thursday: at Forum, 7:30 p.m.

* Saturday: at Forum, 12:30 p.m.

* May 12: at Utah, 7:30 p.m.-x

* May 14: at Forum, TBA-x