Midway through the third quarter on Friday night, Shaquille O'Neal dunked on the fast break, did a chin-up on the rim and shook his head from side to side, as if to suggest this whimpering start to the Lakers' season might soon burst into full roar.
Los Angeles had played perhaps its most encouraging half on the road, and the game eventually extended to overtime. Still, the Lakers lost for the fifth time in sixth games, 107-104, dropping to 10-18. O'Neal had shaken the basket support, but he had not shaken his team from its curious torpor.
In some ways, this defeat may have been more discouraging than Thursday's blowout loss at New Jersey. The Lakers had a chance to win in regulation and in overtime but came up short in the most excruciating ways.
With three seconds remaining in overtime, and the Lakers trailing, 105-104, Rick Fox knifed down the lane and found himself wide open for a layup, but he dropped a pass from Robert Horry, leaving Horry cringing in disbelief and exasperation. Derrick Coleman closed out the scoring for Philadelphia with two free throws, finishing with 18 points and eight rebounds, and using his muscular quickness to lure O'Neal into foul trouble.
As regulation wound down, O'Neal was hindered by a chronic and familiar problem -- atrocious free-throw shooting.
With his awkward shot-putting style, he made only eight of 19 attempts and missed badly on four consecutive free throws in the final two minutes 42 seconds of the fourth quarter before fouling out in overtime. He scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds but was inaccurate and ineligible in the game's critical moments.
Criticized for being too passive in recent games by coach Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant responded Friday night with a game-high 44 points, making 16 of 35 shots. He had shot a frigid 8 for 29 against the Nets, but Friday night he displayed the breadth of his talent with 10 assists and four rebounds.
As has been the case all season, Bryant and O'Neal are not receiving sufficient help from their teammates. Through three quarters Friday night, Philadelphia's bench had outscored the Lakers' reserves, 23-0, and wound up with a 33-6 edge.
At times, the rest of the team seemed to stand around and watch as Bryant did all the heavy lifting. Or perhaps he did not trust the others enough to get them involved.
Los Angeles must grow healthy as a team before it can think about becoming a threat again, Jackson said. "It looks like they're starting to make a move in that direction," Jackson said. "Then we can say, `We have a challenge in front of us, so we have to get after it.' Then it will be an enjoyable thing to hunt down. Right now we can't even hunt."
Los Angeles has won three successive NBA titles, but it was the Sixers who played with the self-assurance, depth and maturity of an aspiring champion. The Lakers never gave the impression when they had the lead that they possessed enough confidence, chemistry and touch to hold it.
"It's a matter of guys starting play with some pressure on them," Jackson said. "There's a difference between playoffs and pressure to succeed, and the pressure of losing, how do you survive under that. It's an interesting feature to watch our team handle that, try to handle that."
Of course, it is only December, so it would be a huge mistake to dismiss the Lakers.
Friday night, the Lakers stretched the Sixers, one of the powers in the Eastern Conference, to the limit, but this is not the same Lakers team that swept the Nets in last season's NBA finals.
O'Neal said he felt he was about two weeks away from being at full strength, completely fit for the banging underneath.
He had surgery on his right big toe in October and missed the first 12 games of the season.
He still seems to lack lift at times, and the legalization of zone defenses has allowed teams to defend him inside more aggressively.
In past seasons, O'Neal said, he could tell whether his team was of championship caliber by March or April. So far this season, the signs have not been encouraging.
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