Van Exel’s Career Night Not Enough

The patient stirred. The eyes flickered. Laker layups actually went into the basket.

The exact medical procedure for this temporary revival was not revealed Monday, but sources indicated that a heavy dose of Denver Nugget non-defense--and the inflammatory, exclamatory presence of Nick Van Exel--pumped life into the place.

Whatever the resuscitation device, the Lakers woke from their pleasant imitation of a coma patient and fought off Van Exel to defeat the Nuggets, 117-104, before 17,505 at the Great Western Forum.

But Van Exel made his return to the Forum a showcase, almost personally giving the Lakers their second straight horrid home defeat, following Saturday’s loss to Golden State.

The former Laker bad boy turned in a massive performance, returning to the Forum for the first time as a Nugget to roast his former teammates for a career-high 41 points.

Van Exel also had nine assists, seven rebounds and several foo-on-you gestures to the crowd.

Van Exel’s inspiration was not missed on the Lakers.

“If he always played like that,” O’Neal said, “he would still be here.”

Said Glen Rice: “You could definitely see it tonight--he really wanted it. But it really doesn’t matter to us either way. He’s going home with an ‘L’.”

And what did O’Neal think of the performance?

“I’m going to save my comments,” said O’Neal, limited to 21 minutes because of constant foul trouble. “I don’t want any back-and-forth. It was a good game for us, and we’ve got a tough game coming up [against Utah tonight].”

Van Exel was happy, to a point.

“Ever since being traded away from L.A., I just wanted to feel what it was like to come in this place and play,” Van Exel said. “Just the atmosphere. I would’ve really loved to have gotten the win.”

After Van Exel’s three-point shot basket and Danny Fortson’s three-point play narrowed the Laker lead to 100-96 with 4:50 left, the Lakers scored three consecutive baskets to stretch the lead back to 10.

The 117 points--with Rice and Kobe Bryant both scoring 26--was a Laker season high. Rice’s total was also a season high.

Afterward, Laker Coach Kurt Rambis said he was pleased by two statistics--the Lakers turned the ball over only eight times, and they had 33 assists, including nine by Derek Harper, seven by Derek Fisher, and four by Rick Fox.

He also pointed to Bryant’s relatively subtle, 26-point, eight-for-12 shooting, zero-turnover effort.

“He played a really efficient basketball game tonight,” Rambis said. “No turnovers--I absolutely love that.”

Dennis Rodman had 17 rebounds.

“It is very difficult for me to go out there and keep doing it,” Rodman said. “I am 38 years old. Come on, I am not supposed to be doing the stuff that I am doing.”

Of course, the Nuggets haven’t won a road game in 17 tries this season, actually haven’t won a road game in more than a calendar year.

It was the first game of a three-games, three-days scenario, that continues tonight when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz.

If the Lakers were determined to reverse their recent trend of sluggish starts against lesser teams, it was not immediately evident.

Shaquille O’Neal got into early foul trouble, Van Exel controlled the tempo (he scored 18 first-half points with seven assists) and neither team defended well.

Before the game, O’Neal said that despite the rough recent times, it wasn’t time to panic about their playoff positioning.

“We know . . . the teams above us are playing their best ball,” said O’Neal, “and we haven’t even started yet.”

IT’S SETTLED: Laker Coach Kurt Rambis and star center Shaquille O’Neal say their problems are behind them. Page 11

FIRED: In danger of missing the playoffs yet again, the Washington Wizards oust Bernie Bickerstaff as coach. Page 10