Lakers Dance To Victory Over Jazz

The Los Angeles Lakers did their part to win the Pacific Division on the season's final day, but they didn't get the assist they needed from Portland.

Still, they didn't seem particularly concerned afterward.

"Nobody's going to remember who won the division title if we win the whole thing," Shaquille O'Neal said after leading the Lakers past the Utah Jazz 102-98 on Sunday for their 22nd win in the final 25 games. "We wanted to end the season on a positive note. We did what we're supposed to do today."

"Nobody on this team is disappointed," said reserve forward Corie Blount, who had nine rebounds in 21 minutes to help the Lakers to a 43-37 advantage in that department. "Going into the playoffs, I think we're playing pretty good basketball."

O'Neal agreed.

"I think so," he said when asked if the Lakers were peaking at the right time. "We just have to continue to play smart. Our guys have been playing very, very inspired ball."

O'Neal has been leading the way, and he did so again against the Jazz with 33 points and 15 rebounds, which has become a typical performance for him recently.

And 19-year-old Kobe Bryant played one of his best games since the All-Star break, scoring 12 of his 25 points in the final period, when the Lakers outscored the Jazz 29-25.

The Lakers and Seattle SuperSonics both finished with 61-21 records, but the Sonics, who beat Portland 90-82 Sunday, are division champions by virtue of a 3-1 record against Los Angeles.

"Right now, we feel very proud of our guys for being co-champions of our division," Lakers coach Del Harris said, reminding reporters that the Sonics receive the higher seed by virtue of the season series, but nothing else.

The Jazz are seeded first in the Western Conference, followed by the Sonics and Lakers.

"We would have rather won the (division) championship outright, anybody would," Harris said. "It's on to the next step right now."

The Jazz open the playoffs Thursday night against the Houston Rockets, while the Lakers begin Friday night against the Trail Blazers.

O'Neal, who missed 22 games early in the season due to a strained abdominal muscle, finished second in the NBA scoring race behind Chicago's Michael Jordan, who won his 10th title with a 28.7-point average.

Jordan's 44-point effort Saturday night against the New York Knicks left O'Neal needing 59 points to surpass him. The 33 points gave O'Neal a final average of 28.3.

The loss was only the fifth in 37 games for the Jazz (62-20), who had no tangible incentive after clinching homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with a 102-99 win at Phoenix two days earlier.

Karl Malone, who missed his first five shots, led the Jazz with 27 point and nine rebounds. Reserve Howard Eisley added 18 points.

Utah's substitutes scored 48 points, and Lakers reserves totaled 51.

Malone acknowledged it was difficult to get up for the game.

"But you still want to stay sharp," he said. "I didn't come out and get into the flow early. That's something you have to work on in the playoffs.

"The season's over with now. We went into this season with expectations to have the best record, and now we've just got to see, just take one series at a time. Now, we've just got to get ready for Houston."

Antoine Carr's jump-hook with 9:42 remaining put the Jazz on top 79-77 Utah's first lead since the opening quarter.

Bryant outscored the Jazz 7-2 by himself to give the Lakers an 88-85 lead with 5 ½ minutes remaining, and they stayed on top the rest of the way.

Bryant's 3-point shot with 1:01 to play shortly before the 24-second clock expired gave the Lakers a six-point lead.

Nick Van Exel, who had 20 points and seven assists, made four foul shots in the final 22 seconds to keep the Lakers safely ahead.

The Lakers got a little payback on Greg Foster early in the game when Rick Fox committed a flagrant foul on the Utah center.

Fox was among the most incensed members of the Lakers after Foster made a throat-slitting gesture at the Los Angeles bench after scoring on a dunk in the late stages of the Lakers' 106-91 loss at Utah on March 28.

Foster took the foul without reacting, and made both free throws. There were no further incidents.

Notes: The Lakers lost at Portland in their final regular-season game last season, enabling the Sonics to win the division title. ... The Lakers had a 3-1 record against the Jazz this season. ... Attendance was 17,505 the 26th sellout in 41 home dates at the Forum this season. ... The win was the 550th for Harris, tying him for 17th place on the NBA career coaching victories list with Cleveland's Mike Fratello. Harris has a career record with the Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets of 550-451. ... O'Neal needed just two minutes to get the two rebounds he needed to reach the 5,000 mark for his career. ... O'Neal won the NBA field-goal percentage championship by a wide margin, making more than 58 percent of his shots a higher percentage than he had from the free-throw line. ... Malone finished as the NBA's third-leading scorer. ... Bryant was the top-scoring reserve among players making 11 or fewer starts, averaging over 15 points per game.

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