Although L.A. Loves Shaq, Crunch Time Is Van Exel’s

Around the NBA

Shaquille O’Neal had fouled out after scoring 34 points but Nick Van Exel was still playing and that’s all that mattered to Los Angeles Lakers coach Del Harris.

Van Exel hit consecutive 3-pointers in the second overtime as the Lakers won at Houston 126-115 Tuesday night, the Rockets’ first loss of the season.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if Shaq had been in there, we still would have gone with Nick,” Harris said. “He was the hot guy. That’s kind of ironic because he hasn’t been playing offense very well lately.”

Van Exel, who had 29 points and 14 assists, put it away for the Lakers early in the second overtime.

“I just wanted to keep playing,” Van Exel said. “I could have played another overtime.”

Cedric Ceballos started the second overtime with a basket and then Van Exel hit his 3-pointers with 4:09 and 2:04 to play for an 8-0 run that gave the Lakers a 121-113 lead.

“This was a wonderful game between two good teams with an improbable outcome,” Harris said. “It looked like we had it going, then they started winning.”

The Lakers led 88-77 with 8:19 left in regulation but the Rockets pulled even with 5.7 seconds to play when Charles Barkley, who played the entire game, hit a 3-pointer for a 100-100 tie.

Hakeem Olajuwon, who played most of the second half with four fouls, gave the Rockets a 113-111 lead with 25 seconds left in the first overtime but Elden Campbell’s two free throws with 8 seconds left forced the second overtime.

Allen Iverson scored 35 points, caused both opposing point guards to foul out and iced the game from the foul line to lead Philadelphia over the Knicks 101-97 in New York.

Tim Hardaway scored 22 points and handed out 12 assists as Miami extended its best start ever to 5-1 with a 105-97 home win against Charlotte.

Mookie Blaylock scored a career-high 39 points, including the game-winner with 4.9 seconds remaining in Atlanta’s 87-83 win over Cleveland.

Derek Harper had 17 points and Jim Jackson added 16 as Dallas presented new coach Jim Cleamons with his first home victory, 103-82 over Indiana.

Around the league

Chris Childs begins full-scale workouts with the Knicks today, and he is likely to be activated within the week. He has missed the regular season with a nondisplaced fracture of the right fibula, after signing a six-year, $24 million contract. … Center Benoit Benjamin was waived by the Toronto Raptors. … The Dallas Mavericks activated first-round pick Samaki Walker from the injured list.