Lakers Win Despite Fuss
Shaquille O’Neal had 29 points, including a surprising 13 of 15 from the foul line Wednesday night, as the Los Angeles Lakers, perhaps stung by reports that their coach was about to be fired, beat the Indiana Pacers 104-95.
The Lakers snapped a two-game losing streak with just their sixth win in 13 games since the All-Star break, a slump prompting a newspaper report that coach Del Harris was on the verge of being dismissed.
However, team spokesman John Black said before the game that the team had “no plans at this time to make any coaching change.
“Beyond that, we’re not going to comment on media speculation.”
In addition, All-Star Shaquille O’Neal defended Harris, and said the slumping Lakers “weren’t in a desperate situation.”
Harris, 60, is in his fourth season as coach of the Lakers and 13th season as an NBA coach. His teams have an overall regular-season record of 528-448, and only 17 coaches in league history have recorded more than his 528 wins.
The Lakers opened the season with 11 straight wins, but are 28-18 since, and have fallen into fourth place in the Western Conference. They were just 5-7 since the All-Star break entering Wednesday night’s game.
However they have been hampered by injuries, most notably to O’Neal, who missed 22 games due to a strained abdominal muscle, and point guard Nick Van Exel, who hasn’t played since Feb. 15 due to an injured right knee.
Van Exel underwent diagnostic arthroscopic surgery last week and will be sidelined for at least two more weeks.
O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher and Robert Horry all said there was no truth to a report by Fox Sports News that the players had voted 12-0 calling for Harris’ dismissal.
“I’m the team captain and I didn’t call that meeting,” O’Neal said. “So I don’t know where they got that information from. All I can say is that it’s yellow journalism.
“We have an organization that is being run by players that played the game and dominated the game,” O’Neal said, referring to executives Jerry West and Mitch Kupchak. “And whatever Jerry and Mitch and (owner) Jerry Buss decide to do, I’m behind those guys because they run this organization and we just play for them.
“But personally, I like Del, he’s a good guy.”
Harris shrugged off the report he was about to be fired.
“There is pressure on all of us all the time to try to win as many games as possible,” he said. “The only good news about (the report) is that the year that my Houston Rockets team went to the Finals (1981), the New York papers had me fired four different times, so, hopefully, that will work out the same way this year.”
Elsewhere on the courts
After losing the Latrell Sprewell arbitration case, the Golden State Warriors came back to the court and won.
Playing hours after an arbitrator reinstated the last two years of Sprewell’s contract and reduced his one-year suspension by five months, the Warriors beat the San Antonio Spurs 90-83 in Oakland, snapping their four-game losing streak.
Corliss Williamson scored a career-high 40 points as the Sacramento Kings ended their seven-game losing streak with a 109-89 victory over the Detroit Pistons in Sacramento.
Karl Malone had 32 points and 15 rebounds and the visiting Utah Jazz overcame 36 points and 10 rebounds by Antoine Walker to beat the Celtics for the 13th consecutive time.
Nets coach fined
Coach John Calipari of the New Jersey Nets was fined $1,000 by the NBA for directing a profanity at a fan during Saturday night’s game with Miami.
Last year, Calipari was fined $25,000 for calling a beat reporter “a Mexican idiot.”
In this latest case, Calipari responded to the remarks of a fan during the Heat’s comeback from a 20-point deficit at the Meadowlands.
Stoudamire’s status questionable
Damon Stoudamire is on crutches with a sprained ankle, and Portland coach Mike Dunleavy doesn’t think his star point guard will be able to play Sunday against San Antonio.
“We don’t know for sure, but he looks doubtful,” Dunleavy said. “I don’t think he will play.”