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Shortcomings Apparent For Rockets, Knicks, Lakers

Associated Press

Around the NBA

This week began with the New York Knicks on top in the Atlantic, the Houston Rockets holding a commanding lead in the Midwest and the Los Angeles Lakers battling for the lead in the Pacific, but their records - and their strong positions - were accomplished in spite of their shortcomings. Here’s a look:

Rockets: The Rockets are asking for lots of minutes and production from Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon at such an early stage in the season.

Now, with Olajuwon hospitalized with the same heart problems that bothered him in 1991, the Rockets have lost their go-to guy. Although Olajuwon’s heartbeat was back to normal, he remained hospitalized pending further tests.

Olajuwon could be released from The Methodist Hospital within the next day or so, depending on test results.

Team officials expected Olajuwon to be sidelined for five to seven days.

Compounding the team’s problems is Clyde Drexler, who is shooting below 30 percent over the last seven games.

Knicks: They were supposed to be a high-scoring, up-tempo, exciting team after they dumped defense for offense, yet they are still winning with defense.

The three players the Knicks acquired last summer - Chris Childs, Larry Johnson and Allan Houston - haven’t made much of a difference offensively. At least Childs has an excuse; he’s just returning to action after missing the first three weeks with a broken leg.

Johnson is bypassing shots and averaging only 13 points a game. Houston is shooting just 36.2 percent from the floor.

Lakers: The Lakers haven’t run up the score, or up and down the court. The addition of Shaquille O’Neal was supposed to bring glamour and exciting basketball back to the Forum. Instead, the Lakers are a dump-it-into Shaq team, with Nick Van Exel and Cedric Ceballos (before his knee injury) looking totally lost.

Thank heavens for Eddie Jones, who’s off to a fine start and appears headed for the All-Star game. If not for him, the Lakers would be hurting worse than Ceballos, who could miss a month.