Jones Gets Hot, so Spurs Get Hurt

SAN ANTONIO — Fat lip. Sore elbow. Bruised ego.

Smiling?

It was the best Eddie Jones could do with those two stitches newly implanted on the left side of his lower lip, courtesy of a first-quarter collision with San Antonio’s Greg Anderson. Jones’ revenge was to not merely come out for the second half, but to come out of his shooting slump. He made five of seven shots the rest of the way, including all four three-pointers, to finally shake the Spurs and help the Lakers to a 99-92 victory Wednesday night before 25,570 at the Alamodome.

What a short, strange trip it had been. The Lakers went 3-0 by beating Seattle in a challenge, then holding off lowly Dallas and San Antonio. Jones gets 23 on Sunday, his first all-star invitation Tuesday afternoon, a poor showing that night, beat up Wednesday in the first half and the hero treatment afterward.

If he would have known being recognized as one of the best guards in the game hurt so much, they could have kept their stupid All-Star game.

“I’m wearing red and bulls are coming at me,” he said.

Not yet--he doesn’t have to deal with Michael Jordan until next week. For now, there is the swollen lip, thanks to Anderson, and the right elbow, from when he tipped in Nick Van Exel’s miss and on the way down had his funny bone hit the left side of Kobe Bryant’s face.

That’s nothing. Jones had missed eight of his 10 shots the first half, dropping him to 38.8% the previous nine-plus games.

So all he did in the third quarter was make all shots, including three-pointers on consecutive possessions. Even if the Lakers hadn’t yet warmed up, still down four points to a limping club, their shooting guard had.

“If I’m wide open, the shots have got to fall at some point,” Jones said. “I wasn’t going to back down.”

When he made another from behind the arc with 10:23 remaining, the Lakers were still only within four. But when he did it again with 7:34 left, the deficit was down to 80-79.

“That’s why he’s an all-star,” Coach Del Harris said. “Of course, when you look at his three-point record, those aren’t the first that he’s made.”

It was Bryant’s turn, this time inflicting pain on someone besides a teammate. His three-pointer came a possession after Jones’ and got the Lakers even, 82-82. Bryant would also make two from long distance in the fourth quarter and three in all.

But the Spurs weren’t on their last legs, their last healthy legs having ended up on the injured list long ago. With Dominique Wilkins en route to 28 points and 12 rebounds off the bench, they were still within 96-90 with 1:04 remaining.

They were also already fouling intentionally to stop the clock, but this was only of mild concern considering the opponent, the NBA’s worst in that department.

Right on schedule, Shaquille O’Neal, hit as soon as the ball came into the post, missed both free throws with 49.5 seconds left.

Then he missed two more with 30 seconds to go.

Jones got the offensive rebound and was fouled immediately, but then he missed the first try with 28.5 showing, before making the second. That made the score 97-90, an insurmountable lead for what became the Lakers’ fifth consecutive victory.

“We’ve had two games on successive nights that I think a lot of teams would have gone ahead and lost,” Harris said. “I’m sure people will find fault in that we got behind behind undermanned teams that are down in the standings. Or they could note that the glass is half full and that our guys found a way to win.”

Said Van Exel, who finished with 14 points and 12 assists against one turnover in 43 minutes: “If we were worried, we showed the sign of a good team. Fighting back to win.”

Jones ended with a game-high 23 points, 19 coming in the second half, seven of 17 from the field and four of six on three-point shots. Bryant, a starter for the second consecutive night, had 19 points. O’Neal had 21, despite going three for 13 from the line, and 19 rebounds.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Season of Expectations

The Lakers acquired nine new players before this season, including Shaquille O’Neal and his $120-million contract. In turn, with big acquisitions come big expectations. Throughout the season, The Times will monitor O’Neal’s numbers along with how the team compares to some of the best Laker teams in history.

GAME 45 OF 82

* Record 33-12

* Standing 1st place

Pacific Division

1996-97 LAKERS VS. THE BEST LAKER TEAMS

*--*

Year Gm. 45 Overall 1987-88 36-9 62-20 1986-87 34-11 65-17 1984-85 30-15 62-20 1979-80 30-15 60-22 1971-72 40-5 69-13

*--*

Note: The five teams above all won NBA championships

THE SHAQ SCOREBOARD

Basketball Numbers

* Wednesday’s Game:

*--*

Min FG FT Reb Ast Blk Pts 40 9-18 3-13 19 2 3 21

*--*

* 1996-97 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Ast Blk Pts 39.5 .558 .470 13.0 3.2 3.1 26.2

*--*

* 1995-96 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Ast Blk Pts 36.0 .573 .487 11.0 2.9 2.1 26.6

*--*

Money Numbers

* Wednesday’s Salary: $130,658.53

* Season Totals: $5,879,633.85

* FACTOID: The Lakers had their worst scoring night in more than six years during Game 45 of the 1984-85 season, a 96-83 loss to Utah. The Lakers committed 27 turnovers and had more turnovers (nine) than points (seven) during the last six minutes of the third quarter. “It was just one of those games,” Coach Pat Riley said. “I’m pretty sure we are better than that.”