Lakers 99 Knicks 91
INGLEWOOD – The Knicks lost their head and a game to the Lakers last night at the Forum.
Both Chris Dudley and Kurt Thomas were ejected. Dennis Rodman wasn’t. That tells you all you need to know as the Lakers came away with a wild 99-91 victory.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 29 points while O’Neal pumped in 21 and Glen Rice 19. Latrell Sprewell paced the Knicks with 25 after only scoring only four in the first half. The loss put the Knicks at 1-2 on the trip and 4-9 on the season. They come home to face the Pacers tomorrow night at 16-14.
Rodman hit foul of five from the line down the stretch to frustrate the Knicks, who were fouling him on purpose.
The Lakers were leading 83-75 when Chris Childs hit a three but ex-Knick Derek Harper followed with his own three that put the Lakers up and away 86-78 with 3:18 remaining. And then for fun and to show the Knicks he can still play, Harper buried another trey after a Latrell Sprewell free throw.
Patrick Ewing said he was going to bring his “A” game to take on O’Neal, who last week ripped Ewing for his union leadership. Ewing scored only 20 points and was 9-for-25 from the field before fouling out in the final minute.
With 6:13 left in the game, O’Neal jammed over Dudley and wound up in Dudley’s lap. O’Neal pushed Dudley down to separate the two and was given a technical. Dudley didn’t let well enough alone and got up and fired the ball at O’Neal, hitting him in the leg. For that,Dudley was ejected.
O’Neal’s basket put the Lakers ahead 80-75.
All the fun began in the final seconds of the third quarter when Thomas grabbed Rodman around the neck and slammed him to the floor, a WWF move for which Thomas received a flagrant foul. On the play Sprewell dunked, bringing the Knicks with 71-64. Thomas was ejected. Rick Fox got involved and picked up a technical.
Then early in the fourth, Rodman so frustrated Ewing that Ewing gave him an elbow to the chest to earn a technical. Rice missed the free throw, however, and the Knicks stayed within 72-68 with 10 minutes remaining. But they could never catch up.
Ex-Knick Derek Harper stood up for Jeff Van Gundy before the game, saying, “I don’t think there is a harder working coach in the league. I think I put him right in the category with Pat Riley, when it comes to working and being dedicated to the job. I’m a Jeff Van Gundy fan, I think it would be crazy to get rid of him because the core of that team is very, very comfortable with him as a coach and I think that is very important.
“Losing [Charles Oakley] hurt them; you need guys to do the dirty work,” Harper said. “They try to get younger as a basketball team, [but] getting younger doesn’t necessarily mean you are getting better all the time.”
Harper said the big challenge for these Lakers is to learn to put defense first. “You win with defense,” he said. “All the teams that win championships win with defense and haven’t really been concerned with offense. If we ever do that, we’re really going to be a good team.”
They were a good team in the first half, moving to a 50-42 halftime lead, getting and inside-outside game from their key players O’Neal and Bryant. That lead balooned to 12 in the third as Ewing completely lost his shot, at one point missing eight straight over two quarters.
Sprewell helped cut the Laker lead to 66-60 when he got off the bench. His jam with 2:34 brought the Knicks within six with 2:34 remaining in the third.
Because of O’Neal’s massive size, the Knicks started Chris Dudley in favor of Kurt Thomas.
“It’s not like we’re breaking up a successful lineup,” Van Gundy said. “I told them long ago we were going to go with what’s appropriate.”
Thomas’ big problem has been turnovers.
“He’s been a higher-than-suspected turnover player,” Van Gundy said. “We have enough turnover players. He can get that down, which I think he can, because he’s a good passer. But he’s played well. The more he can rebound, the more he can stay on the floor.”
Before the game, the fans were hassling the Knicks in warmups. One fan came out and stood right alongside David Wingate as Wingate tried to go through his paces, bouncing passes to teammates to get them ready. Security finally came to remove the fan. Then another fan came and tried to do the same thing and Wingate created his own space by throwing a kick in the fan’s direction. Security then removed that fan.
During a halftime promotion, a 17-year-old Laker fan from Arkansas became a Laker for a day and was paid the minimum wage, a little more than $3,000. Laker legend Chick Hearn told the fan, “You’ve got to be on time for practice and games,” a pointed comment at Dennis Rodman. The crowd immediately gave a huge cheer backing Hearn.
Van Gundy had some thoughts on Rodman, who blew off practice Saturday and said he was too stiff to go into the last game.
“I think that’s difficult for a team, not just a coach,” Van Gundy said. “Thankfully for their team and their organization, he’s not their best player. Their best player [O’Neal] works hard in practice. Kobe is hard-working, too. So their tone is set by their best players. That’s good for their organization. If [Rodman] were their best player, that would be something that would be real difficult.”
Having said all that, Van Gundy added, “But, you know what? If he gets you 20 rebounds and guards, then it may be worth it.”
