Household chores

Lakers' 'supporting cast' does the dirty work

Through three quarters, Rick Fox was the only Laker other than Shaq and Kobe with more than five points. AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- For much of the game, the Lakers' "supporting cast" mostly took care of mundane chores such as inbounding the ball, bringing it up the court, playing a little defense, and taking an occasional shot or grabbing a rebound.

The primary duty for Los Angeles starters Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and Robert Horry was simply to toss the ball in to Shaquille O'Neal and watch him bull his way over the overmatched New Jersey Nets on his way to the hoop.

With the crowd chanting "Three-peat!" and "MVP!" O'Neal scored 40 points in a 106-83 victory Friday night that gave Los Angeles a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. Two more wins would give the Lakers their third consecutive title - and almost certainly a three-peat for O'Neal as MVP of the finals.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson was pleased with the way his team adjusted to keep clear passing lanes to O'Neal.

"We had angles that were good, positions that were good. They took some angles away and we found others to feed him the ball," Jackson said.

Even Kobe Bryant, the Lakers' other superstar, was relegated to a bit part, although he did hit a couple of 3-pointers in the final moments to finish with 24 points.

Talking about the way O'Neal is dominating the series, Bryant said, "I just have to figure a way to get him the ball, that's my job."

Bryant said the Lakers' have played the triangle offense well, spreading out the defense and allowing O'Neal more room to work inside. Bryant also mentioned the play of Fox, who had 10 points.

"He's had two solid games, and when we're getting play like that, it keeps them from doubling down on Shaq," Bryant said.

Fox likes the way the Lakers' offense has run smoothly so far in the Finals.

"The play of Shaquille O'Neal, the execution of our offense has been great," he said. "Whenever the offense rolls the way it has, I tend to look a little better."

Bryant figures the Nets will be tougher when the series resumes Sunday night in New Jersey.

"I expect them to pick up the pressure on defense, and I think their shots that didn't fall here will fall in New Jersey," he said. "We'll need to take care of the basketball, get the ball into Shaq inside and hope to win Game 3."

Virtually every time New Jersey's Jason Kidd would help the pesky Nets climb within four points or so in Game 2, the Lakers would turn serious again, which meant getting the ball into O'Neal's huge hands.

The other Lakers did take and make some shots late in the game, especially after Los Angeles had it under control. But through the first three quarters, Fox's 10 points made him the only Laker other than O'Neal and Bryant with more than five points.

Fisher finished with 12 points and Horry had nine. Los Angeles' bench contributed just 11 points, six by Devean George and five by Brian Shaw.

The Lakers were in front all the way after also leading from the opening moments of their 99-94 victory in Game 1 on Wednesday, when O'Neal scored 36 points.

 

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