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'Working vacation' Lakers have time to heal, drill and rest
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The playoffs have been a romp, practically a working vacation for the Los Angeles Lakers. Now they have more than a week to heal, drill and rest for the Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia 76ers. "We are playing great team ball. Now we just need four more victories," said Shaquille O'Neal, who has a mildly sprained left ankle. "I've got five or six days off, so I'll be ready to come back with a vengeance once the Finals start." The way Los Angeles brushed aside Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio, four more victories may take only four more games. "We are on a mission. We know what we want to accomplish, and we are not worried who gets in our way," said Rick Fox, whose shaggy locks have grown considerably since he vowed to forego a haircut as long as the Lakers are winning. So far, that has been 19 games over almost two months, including an NBA record-tying 11 consecutive playoff victories. The Lakers have to wait to see if they can make league history as the first team to sweep the playoffs. The NBA Finals will begin in Los Angeles on June 6, meaning the Lakers will have 10 days between games. The break shouldn't affect the Lakers' rhythm, at least if their earlier series are any indication. They had long breaks after beating both Portland and Sacramento. "The coaching staff does a good job of keeping us focused and preparing us," Kobe Bryant said. "We'll be eager and ready to go again." Having humbled the San Antonio Spurs in what many saw as the matchup of the NBA's two best teams, the Lakers remain hungry. "We're not happy with what we've accomplish so far," Brian Shaw said. "We still have some work ahead of us." The Lakers routed the Spurs for the second consecutive time, 111-82 in Game 4 on Sunday and outscored them by a 22.3-point margin during the series. The Lakers said they have no preference for which team they meet in the Finals, and also insisted they aren't thinking about their winning streak. "It's still very far back in our minds," Derek Fisher said. "The object is to win the championship, and not necessarily win 15 games in a row. I'm sure if we get to 12, 13, it will definitely start to work its way toward the front of our minds." Said Bryant: "We just want to win the championship, no matter how we get there, no matter what it takes." Fox believes these Lakers have something they didn't last year when they won the NBA title -- a killer instinct. "We weren't as ruthless with opponents as we are this year. This is the way we thought this team could be," he said. Fisher, who led Los Angeles with a career-high 28 points in the clinching game against the Spurs and went 15-for-20 from 3-point range in the series, said the Lakers still aren't taking anything for granted. "Both teams [Bucks and 76ers] present different problems for us, so we have to have a different perspective. We have to work hard this week. My focus will change to defense," said Fisher, whose outside sharpshooting has provided the Lakers an even more overpowering attack in the postseason.
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