Not Great, but Lakers Pull Escape

Overcoming their own ineptitude from the line and a career-high 32 points from Lorenzen Wright, the Lakers beat the Clippers, 118-114, in overtime Friday night before 17,505 at the Forum.

It marked their fourth consecutive victory--and their latest struggles against a lottery-bound team.

The Lakers recovered from a 12-point third-quarter deficit as Nick Van Exel had 30 points and 12 assists, Elden Campbell added 18 points and 11 rebounds and Rick Fox and Eddie Jones contributed 20 points each. That was enough to offset the entire team going 22 of 40 on free throws (55%).

The Lakers had problems at the line all night--Campbell, obviously taking this idea of replacing Shaquille O’Neal to heart, made only eight of 18--but most costly at the end of regulation. They missed five of seven free throws in the fourth quarter and all three of their final attempts over the last 1:15, including a pair by Campbell with 41.9 showing.

That prevented the Lakers from building on their 106-104 lead. So when Rodney Rogers scored inside with 21.4 seconds left and Van Exel missed, the Clippers got overtime.

The free-throw struggles followed the Lakers there, at least after Van Exel made both attempts with 2:41 remaining. But when Jones had the chance to provide a three-point cushion with 20.9 seconds left, he missed the second attempt, Rogers grabbed the defensive rebound and the Clippers called a 20-second timeout.

Upon returning, they got the clock down to about seven before Rogers tried a tough turn-around seven-footer from the right side, with Campbell providing tight defense. The shot missed and Fox controlled the rebound.

He was fouled with 3.5 seconds left--and made both to provide the final four-point margin.

This was the opener to a five-game home stand for the Lakers, the longest of the season after they had played as many or more road contests than any team. Now, though, they’ll leave the Forum only four times before the all-star break, and one of those will be to play at the Sports Arena, the others as far away as Phoenix, Seattle and Vancouver.

It was also the start to potential trouble. The Clippers were first up. Then the Boston Celtics arrive Sunday, the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday. On it goes, five games against teams that had a combined .398 winning percentage heading into Friday night, and that includes the Central Division-leading Atlanta Hawks.

It was another one of those so-called soft spots in the schedule that look appealing to the Lakers, at least until they take the first steps into it and find it’s soft like quicksand. So comes another test for the group that has historically, and recently, played down to the level of their competition.

“A lot of teams have a tendency to play a team, not play a game,� Robert Horry said, his Lakers being one of them. “We’re going to need to go out now and play the games.�

Unlike, of course, a month ago. That’s when the last alleged breather rolled around, and the Lakers lost to the Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors and looked looked sluggish in victory against the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets.

The Clippers, now losers of four in a row and 10 of 12, presented the first opportunity, not to mention a perfect one, for the Lakers to shake their self-inflicted reputation.

Or to perpetuate it.

With Wright getting 13 of his points and 11 of his rebounds for a double-double in the first half, after he had come in averaging 15.8 boards in the past five games, the Clippers had a 55-49 edge at intermission. They built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter and then an 86-74 advantage when Wright converted two free throws.

Wright’s previous career high in points was 24, set last season as a rookie, and he had surpassed that by scoring 16 more points before the end of the period.

Two three-pointers by Kobe Bryant in the final 1:39, combined with Van Exel’s 16 points in the quarter, sparked the rally that got the hosts within 88-87. The Lakers still trailed heading into the fourth, 90-88, but that didn’t seem so bad at the time.