For 47 minutes Nick Van Exel played much like his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate Magic Johnson. but during the final six minutes of Monday night's game - the last minute of regulation and the five-minute overtime - Van Exel was Magic. He just disappeared.
With Van Exel missing in action, 18-year-old Kobe Bryant was left to try to extend the Laker's season. Instead, Bryant tossed up a week's worth of airballs in the overtime alone, giving the Utah Jazz a 98-93 victory and sending the Lakers to an early vacation."This is very difficult," said superstar center Shaquille O'Neal. "There's an old saying that says: `Before you succeed, you must learn how to fail.' I just hope I don't fail too many more times. This is my fifth time failing."
Van Exel, who scored a team-high 26 points, figured to be the go to guy down the stretch since O'Neal had already fouled out. But while Van Exel was in the lineup during crunch time, he didn't take a single shot. his final attempt was a miss with 1:30 remaining in regulation.
Bryant, meanwhile, got off six shots in the waning minutes. He missed five times - including an airball on a potential game-winning shot at the end of refulation and three airballs on 3-point attempts in the overtime.
"I've seen a lot of all-stars shoot airballs like that," said O'Neal, who attempted to comfort Bryant following the loss.
Van Exel, who has feuded publicly with coach Del Harris the past few days, wouldn't comment on why he was so conspicuously absent from the Laker offense near game's end.
Said Bryant, "I don't know" why Van Exel didn't get any shots in overtime. "Maybe it was just the flow of the game, or maybe it was the Jazz defense."
Or maybe it was because a certain teenage rookie was hogging the ball in an attempt to be the hero.
"I had some good looks, I just didn't hit the shots," said Bryant, who won't turn 19 until August.
In any event, O'Neal was not about to point fingers at anyone except himself for the disappointing loss.
"I'll take the blame," said O'Neal, who finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with 1:46 remaining in regulation. "It wasn't Del's fault, it wasn't Nick's fault. It's the leader's fault, and I'm the leader of this team."
O'Neal, who signed a $121 million contract with the Lakers before this season, says he expects the Lakers to win an NBA title with him in the not-so-distant future.
"Only a few guys come into this league and win (an NBA title) right away," he said. "It took Michael (Jordan) seven years. It took Hakeem (Olajuwon) 10. I have plenty of time. I'm going to get one.
The Jazz led by as many as 13 points in the second half before the Lakers rallied. Los Angeles actually led by three points with under two minutes remaining.
The Lakers were at a big disadvantage in the overtime with veteran guard Byron Scott out with a wrist injury, O'Neal out due to fouls and starting small forward Robert horry out after being ejected for throwing a punch at Uta's Jeff Hornacek in the third quarter. To make matters worse, veteran forward Jerome Kersey fould out in OT.
"We fought hard and came back," said Van Exel," but the Jazz hung in there and they deserve to move on."
Van Exel, who has said he expects to be traded in the off-season, refused to speculate on that subject Monday.
"If I'm here (with the Lakers) I'm here. If I'm not, I'm not," he said.
Van Exel, who like harris may or may not be near the end of the line as a Laker, summed up the series with Utah this way: "We lost to a team that is not as talented, but they play together as one unit. We definitely could have played better, but we lost to a better team."