Thu, Mar 31, 2005 page20

• Lakers seem to be sunk

  AMERICAN BASKETBALL LA's recent losing streak was the second longest for the Lakers since they moved from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Los Angeles in 1960

  • AP
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  Drama seems to follow the Los Angeles Lakers, win or lose.

  During the past five years, when the Lakers were reaching four NBA Finals and winning three of them, there was always something between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, Shaq and coach Phil Jackson, or Kobe and Phil.

  Now that O'Neal is playing in Miami and Jackson is out of coaching -- at least for the moment -- the Lakers are Bryant's team.

  And they're losing. The Lakers have dropped eight straight games, their second-longest losing streak since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.

  Bryant was at the center of another controversy on Monday, albeit not of his own doing.

  First-year Lakers guard Chucky Atkins was asked before Sunday's game against the Philadelphia 76ers what offseason moves he'd make to improve the team.

  "I ain't no GM. Ask Kobe. He's the GM. It's his team," Atkins said.

  The 30-year-old Atkins seemed to backtrack almost immediately. Following the Lakers' 96-89 loss to the 76ers, he acknowledged that while confidence and morale were down, team members were "too professional to point fingers."

  Following Monday's practice, Atkins acknowledged it was "very possible" that what he meant to say wasn't what came out, although he insisted the reporter questioning him had been trying to get him to say something negative about Bryant for weeks.

  "I don't think you should try to divide my team," Atkins said. "We're not going to splinter. Kobe's my man. Me and Kobe have developed a relationship where anything I have to say to him, I can say to his face. I'm in a no-win situation."

  Only Atkins knows his true feelings.

  "We're in a bad situation right now," he said. "We know that."

  The Lakers (33-37), who ended their current skid on Tuesday against the New York Knicks, lost their last 10 games of the 1993-1994 season to finish with a 33-49 record. That was the last time they failed to qualify for the playoffs, something that will happen this year barring a complete turnaround in the last 13 games, and prolonged slumps by two of the three teams immediately above them.

  LeBron James, playing on a sore left ankle, scored 22 points Tuesday to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Los Angeles Clippers 94-84.

  James shot just 7-for-20 from the field, but he hit two key 3-pointers down the stretch.

  "I thought we would be a lot more tired," said James, who got treatment on his ankle before the game. "I felt OK."

  The Cavaliers, coming off a one-point overtime win Monday in New Orleans, won on consecutive nights for the first time since Nov. 26-27 and moved closer in the race for home-court advantage in the playoffs.

  "We want the playoffs and we want to be at home, too," said point guard Eric Snow.

  "Every team is fighting for it now and we're right there. We have to keep winning."

  Corey Maggette scored 26 points to lead Los Angeles.

  Heat 103, Raptors 91

  In Miami, Shaquille O'Neal had 28 points and Dwyane Wade added 27, leading Miami to its 17th straight victory at home in a game marred by the fourth-quarter ejections of Toronto forward Morris Peterson and coach Sam Mitchell.

  Damon Jones added 14 for Miami, which trailed by two with 10 minutes remaining before outscoring the Raptors 24-10 down the stretch.

  Rafer Alston had 19 points and Chris Bosh had a 16-point, 13-rebound game for the Raptors, who also got 15 points from Peterson.

  SuperSonics 102, Grizzlies 99

  In Memphis, Tennessee, Ray Allen and Jerome James with 22 points each as Seattle clinched a Western Conference playoff berth with a victory over Memphis.

  Pau Gasol, in his best performance since returning March 20 from a foot injury, led Memphis with 24 points and eight rebounds.

  Lakers 117, Knicks 107

  In Los Angeles, Kobe Bryant scored 20 of his 32 points in the second half as the Los Angeles Lakers broke an eight-game losing streak with a win over road-weary New York.

  New York's Stephon Marbury had a season-high 45 points, six rebounds and 10 assists in defeat.

  He scored 34 in the second half, shooting 9-of-13 from the floor and 10-of-11 from the foul line.

  He wound up making 12 of 22 field goals and 15 of 16 free throws in falling five points shy of his career high.

  An NBA fan charged with throwing a chair during one of the worst brawls in US sports history pleaded no contest on Tuesday to felony assault.

  Bryant Jackson was the only one of the 13 players and fans charged with a felony for their alleged role in the Nov. 19 melee during an Indiana Pacers-Detroit Pistons game at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

  Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Rae Lee Chabot indicated she would sentence Jackson to up to three months in jail, but he could get probation if he expresses remorse at the sentencing hearing on May 3. Events at the Palace were triggered by a "mob mentality," the judge said.

  Assistant county prosecutor Paul Walton, however, said his office would request a sentence of one year in jail.

  "These are adults," he said. "They should be able to control themselves. If they can't, they should be in jail."
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