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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The birthday boy had his way with the
Golden State Warriors.
|  | | Shaquille O'Neal didn't celebrate his birthday with 61 points this year, but he did rip the Warriors all the same. |
Shaquille O'Neal had 26 points, 17 rebounds and a dominant
defensive game on his 29th birthday as Los Angeles beat the
Warriors 97-85 Tuesday night.
The last time the Lakers visited Golden State, Kobe Bryant and
Antawn Jamison scored 51 points apiece as the Warriors won an
overtime thriller. There were no such dramatics this time -- just a
solid, balanced performance by the Lakers, who won for the seventh
time in eight games as they warm up for the playoffs.
"I wasn't really looking to score 61," said O'Neal, who scored
61 points against the Clippers on his birthday a year ago. "They
were doubling a lot in the second half. ... I don't have to score
61 every night for this team to win."
Bryant scored 12 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter, and
Horace Grant added 15 as all five Lakers starters had double
figures.
Mookie Blaylock scored 25 points and Jamison had 21 for the
free-falling Warriors, who lost for the 12th time in 13 games.
Golden State was held scoreless in the first -- minutes of the
fourth quarter, but the Warriors stayed close until two big shots
by the Lakers' stars.
After the Warriors pulled within eight, Bryant threw down a
breathtaking dunk over Bob Sura on an alley-oop pass from Brian
Shaw with 4:15 left. O'Neal's 3-point play moments later put the
Lakers up 88-77.
"After I missed (an earlier dunk), I went back to the bench and
I told the guys, 'Watch the next one. I'll dunk the next one so
hard,"' Bryant said. "I got the chance to throw it down, and I
threw it down so hard."
A crowd of 20,181 ? the largest home crowd in the Warriors'
history ? gave Oakland Arena a festive atmosphere it rarely sees
these days. With a large portion of fans cheering the Lakers' every
basket, Los Angeles beat its upstate rival for the second time in
three days and the 19th time in 23 games.
"We should have got it over with earlier," O'Neal said. "They
played inspired ball over there, and we had a couple of mistakes."
The Lakers fans spent much of their time cheering O'Neal.
Rookies Mark Madsen and Mike Penberthy led the Lakers in a pregame
rendition of "Happy Birthday" for O'Neal, who then had the kind
of dominant game he produced almost every night during his MVP
season.
"Shaq was good tonight," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
"Sometimes we left him out of the offense at times, but he played
well."
Bryant, who went 14-of-15 from the free throw line, shot 58
percent in his first three games against Golden State this season,
but he missed his first six shots Tuesday night and had just two
points until a thunderous dunk shortly before halftime.
"Phil said this was the kind of game where he wanted his
starters to play 30 minutes and rest and get ready for tomorrow
night," Bryant said. The Lakers play host to Toronto on Wednesday
night.
O'Neal also excelled on defense, with three big first-half
blocks on Warriors rookie Marc Jackson, who went 2-for-15 from the
field. Jamison, who was held scoreless by the Lakers on Sunday,
looked better but still never got his jumper into a groove,
shooting 8-for-23.
"It's a familiar tune: We couldn't make a basket," Warriors
coach Dave Cowens said. "It always seems to come to that. We only
had three turnovers in the second half, and we outrebounded them."
The Warriors are healthier than they've been in months, yet
they're still at the bottom of the Western Conference. Golden State
played without Larry Hughes, who has a strained left shoulder, but
Adonal Foyle, Erick Dampier and Chris Porter all are back in the
lineup after lengthy stints on the bench.
Game notes
The Lakers' ties to Oakland run deep. Isaiah Rider, Greg
Foster, Shaw and Madsen are all from the East Bay. ... Run DMC's
Jam Master J had a tough night as the Warriors' guest public
address announcer and halftime entertainment. He misidentified one
of the Warriors' starters during pregame introductions, and heavy
microphone feedback during his halftime mixing performance
threatened to deafen the crowd of children dancing for him. ...
Bryant missed on an attempt at a 360-degree putback dunk in the
third quarter, but the crowd still gave him a standing ovation.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Golden State Clubhouse
RECAPS
Minnesota 95
Charlotte 89
New York 97
Indiana 83
Chicago 87
Cleveland 74
Phoenix 93
Denver 82
Sacramento 98
Toronto 91
Vancouver 105
Portland 97
San Antonio 101
Seattle 73
LA Lakers 97
Golden State 85
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