To get back from the brink, the Los Angeles Lakers first must get back together.
As of Sunday evening, coach Del Harris and point guard Nick Van Exel had not spoken about their spat in the early minutes of Game 4 - a spat that contributed to the 110-95 loss and, for many, will symbolize the 1997 playoff collapse if the Lakers do not recover from a 3-1 deficit in this Western Conference semifinal."I'm not talking about Del," Van Exel said.
"We didn't talk, because it really wasn't that big a deal," Harris said. "Everybody made a big deal of it, but if it had been a big deal, I wouldn't have put Nick back in."
Will the argument have an impact on the team's performance tonight against Utah in Game 5?
"It's an unfortunate situation, but it's over and we have to try to move on," veteran guard Byron Scott said. "Right now, it's all about us as a team. We can't let ourselves get caught up in anything else."
Like injuries, for instance.
Shaquille O'Neal said he will play tonight despite a bruised tailbone, suffered during a hard fall in Game 4. It prevented him from practicing Sunday. Guard Eddie Jones also skipped practice (knee tendinitis) but is expected to play.
Scott is another matter. His sprained right (shooting) wrist is more painful and swollen than before Game 4. When asked if he was doubtful, questionable or probable, Scott shrugged and said: "All three. I don't know what to tell you."
And what of Elden Campbell? The enigmatic power forward scored three points in Game 4 and has been outscored 111-33 by counterpart Karl Malone.
"We really need Elden," Harris said. "(Saturday) was not a good performance."
Scott believes postseason life depends on regaining the sense of urgency that existed in Game 3, a 20-point victory, but mysteriously vanished before Game 4. Without it, the Lakers became passive, sloppy and self-destructive.
"Any indecisiveness, and it will be over (tonight)," he said. "We have three Game 7s, and we have to play like that. We can't play like it's the 25th game of the regular season, be lackadaisical and running around hoping to win it in the end. That's what it seemed like to me (in Game 4)."
Now the Lakers will attempt what five teams in NBA history have accomplished: win a series after trailing 3-1.
"It's adversity," O'Neal said, "but it's also a challenge, and I love challenges."
Even if Van Exel and Harris have reached detente, even if Jones and O'Neal are 100 percent, Scott can play, Campbell contributes and the Lakers rekindle that sense of urgency, then all they must do is beat Utah twice in the Delta Center - where the Jazz is 42-3 this season and the Lakers have not won since 1994.
"We knew we were going to have to win one game here regardless," Harris said, referring to Utah's homecourt advantage. "Now it has to be this one, and then hope for a Game 7. The history of Game 7 is that it's anybody's ballgame."
The Lakers' practices are closed to the public, but by all accounts Sunday's workout was quiet and serious.