Lakers Fight Their Way To Victory

April 14, 1998 / 1:00 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The Lakers and Spurs literally fought for playoff position Monday night.

While a pair of fights ended in a draw and four ejections, Los Angeles won the game 99-75 over San Antonio.

"Maybe they got a little frustrated, but they started taking cheap shots at our point guards," said Shaquille O'Neal, who led Los Angeles with 28 points and 16 rebounds. "They tried taking cheap shots at me, but I'm unbreakable. Nobody can stop me."

The win brought Los Angeles within one game of Seattle in the Pacific Division, while the loss dropped San Antonio behind Phoenix in the race for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Eddie Jones backed O'Neal with 18 points, while Nick Van Exel scored 17, and Kobe Bryant added 15.

With the Lakers leading handily in the fourth quarter, the game was halted twice in less than 45 seconds with fighting. Ejected were Will Perdue and Monty Williams for San Antonio, and Derek Fisher and Van Exel for Los Angeles.

"It was no big deal," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "It was your typical NBA nobody-hits-anybody sort of fight. Nobody got hurt and that's the main thing."

San Antonio, which played without the injured David Robinson, was led by Tim Duncan with 26 points and 16 rebounds. The Spurs shot a season-low 31.0 percent from the field (26-for-84).

"I just wanted to remind the players that there was a big game tomorrow and then the playoffs," said Lakers coach Del Harris, whose team won for the sixth straight time on the road. "We don't need guys getting suspended.

"I was proud of the game. This team is the same that beat Seattle. We knew we were in for a tough game."

Leading 51-42 at halftime, Los Angeles opened the third quarter with an 18-10 run capped by Jones' 3-point field with 4:24 to play in the quarter.

Jones had 12 third-quarter points as the Lakers led 73-59 going to the fourth period.

"Some teams win with finesse, some teams play a more physical style," Jones said. "It really doesn't matter to us, our team can play successfully both ways."

Los Angeles stretched the lead in the fourth quarter. A 7-0 run capped by Bryant's two free throws built the Lakers' lead to 86-65.

"It was one of those nights when it was tough for us," Popovich said. "They shot very well and we had a bad night shooting. We worked hard, but we couldn't throw it in the ocean and obviously we couldn't handle Shaq."

The first fight of the evening came with 4:46 remaining and resulted in the ejections of Perdue and Fisher, who tangled and exchanged pushes after Bryant's dunk.

"I thought he came in too low on the screen and I just tried to get him off of me," Perdue said.

At 4:02, both Van Exel and Wlliams were ejected for fighting after a missed 3-point field goal by Van Exel.

"It was just one of those nights," said San Antonio's Avery Johnson. "It was an aggressive game. As a team you get tired of seeing and hearing that you're backing down from everyone. It was just a rough game out there."

Behind 23 points from O'Neal and 13 from Van Exel, Los Angeles led 51-42 at halftime.

"If Shaq can get the ball enough, there is not anybody that can guard him," Harris said. "If he gets the ball in good position, it doesn't matter if you double-team or triple-team, he can still score the ball."

With their fourth straight win over San Antonio this season, the Lakers are 23-2 against Midwest Division opponents this year.

The Lakers will travel to Dallas on Tuesday, where they can tie their record for road wins in a season, 28, accomplished twice. Los Angles is 27-13 away from the Forum this season.

Notes: San Antonio leads the NBA in field goal percentage against (40.9) and is tops in the league in fewest points per game allowed (88.4). ... The Lakers lead the NBA in scoring with an average of 105.3 points per game ... Robinson did not play for the second straight game, because of a concussion he suffered from the elbow of Karl Malone last Wednesday.