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Shaq gearing up for another title run
His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed, Shaquille O'Neal has that look about him these days, the one that tells opponents to get out of his way. The one that says it's almost playoff time.
Now O'Neal is looking for the other parts to fall into place for another title run.
"We're winning games, but we're not winning them pretty," he said. "We're still learning each other ¡ª we're going to be fine. The last few games, we've had 15-point, 17-point leads and let teams get back in it."
O'Neal put forth one of the most impressive individual performances of the season Sunday night, leading the Lakers to a 104-103 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Bucks rallied from a 15-point third-quarter deficit and nearly won despite O'Neal's 31 points, NBA season-high 26 rebounds and seven blocked shots in 47 minutes.
The Lakers are as healthy as they've been since winning 20 of their first 25 games before Karl Malone tore a knee ligament that sidelined him for nearly three months.
That began a string of nagging injuries to O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, among others.
While they bring a five-game winning streak into Wednesday night's game against the Sacramento Kings (news), the Lakers have been winning ugly. And they've been doing so despite having all their key players available except backup forward-center Horace Grant, who they hope will be able to play in the postseason.
The Lakers, 47-23 and in third place in the Western Conference, have put together their latest winning streak against non-playoff teams, with the exception of Milwaukee, which has lost five straight and eight of nine to drop below .500.
And they were extended to the limit in all five games, perhaps an explanation for coach Phil Jackson deciding to give them Monday off rather than get in an extra day of practice to prepare for the Kings.
"We're fighting; we have a lot of fight," O'Neal said. "We can't do this against the more better, experienced teams."
He referred to the Kings (51-19) and the Minnesota Timberwolves (48-22), who visit Friday night, along with the majority of teams the Lakers face before the playoffs begin in mid-April.
Despite their recent struggles and all the other wacky things that have gone on, Jackson believes the Lakers can finish like they did three years ago, when they won eight straight to complete the regular season before going 15-1 in the playoffs.
"I think it's possible," Jackson said. "We're going to have to have that rejuvenation at some point, where you can get that energy shot. It's going to come from Shaq rebounding, defensively. That's where we get our strength as a basketball team is from his turn at the end of the season to a defensive, rebounding player."
O'Neal has averaged 15.6 rebounds in the last eight games to raise his season average to 11.4. He had 27 points, 23 rebounds and five blocks in a 113-110 overtime victory over Orlando on March 15.
Then came Sunday night's effort, when he surpassed the previous single-game high of 25 set by Minnesota's Kevin Garnett in an overtime game at Sacramento in December. O'Neal fell two rebounds short of his career high, set in 1993 while he was playing for Orlando. "He was a monster on the boards. It was just a huge night for him," Bryant said. O'Neal was also a monster offensively, making 14 of 16 shots despite not attempting a shot until the opening minute of the second quarter. He had 10 rebounds by that time. "We tried to get him out, but he just stayed in the lane," said Milwaukee's Brian Skinner, who is listed at 6-foot-9 and 265 pounds, but appears tiny next to O'Neal. Added Bucks coach Terry Porter: "He was so explosive and so big."
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