Shaquille O'Neal, the superstar center for the Los Angeles Lakers, didn't play like a superstar Thursday night against the Utah Jazz. In fact, he didn't play much at all. Afterward, he complained about not getting superstar treatment from the officials.
But even with O'Neal sitting out for most of the game - first with foul trouble, then due to ejection - the Lakers cruised to a 104-84 victory in the Forum."That's the sign of a good team," said O'Neal. "A couple of our main guys didn't do a lot offensively, but we still won. I'm happy."
While O'Neal may have been happy with the Lakers' first victory in three tries in the best-of-7 NBA Western Conference semifinals series, he was angry - to say the least - with the officiating.
O'Neal picked up three fouls in only 10 minutes of play in the first half. He was whistled for foul No. 4 just three minutes into the third quarter, which sent him back to the bench.
O'Neal, after scoring 11 points in 18 minutes of play, was sent packing for good with 7:36 remaining in the game and the Lakers leading by a comfortable margin. He was ejected after getting two quick technical fouls from referee Bill Oakes for arguing that he had been fouled on a dunk.
O'Neal "committed two unsportsmanlike acts," explained Oakes.
"I've seen guys do a lot more than (O'Neal) did and not even get a technical for it," said Laker guard Nick Van Exel.
While not mentioning any names, it is clear the Lakers feel Jazz star Karl Malone is getting "star treatment" in the series, while O'Neal is not. Malone, for instance, argued longer and harder about a non-call in the
first game of the series last Sunday in the Delta Center, but was not ejected.
"Don't ask me why Shaq got thrown out. I have no idea," said Laker coach Del Harris. "I've certainly seen guys on the other team demonstrate more than that and not get thrown out of a game."
O'Neal went so far as to say he'll boycott the NBA's mid-season showcase even, the All-Star Game, next season because he feels picked on by the referees.
"I thought I was an All-Star player," said O'Neal. "But from this day on I'm not going to anymore All-Star games until I start getting treated like an all star. It's unfair. Some guys get to say and do certain things, but I can't say nothing. (Bleep) that."
Added veteran guard Byron Scott, "Shaquille is one of the marquee players in this league. For him to get kicked out for that is shocking to me."
With O'Neal out for much of the game, other Lakers picked up the scoring slack - most notably Kobe Bryant. The 18-year-old rookie guard scored a team-high 19 points, 17 of them in the second half to help the Lakers pull away for the easy win. He was 13-of-14 from the foul line.
"Kobe's making things happen for us," said guard Eddie Jones. "He's 6-6 and most guys that size can't do what he can do. He's tremendously creative with the ball and hard to guard one on one."
Scott, who is nearly twice as old and several inches shorter than Bryant, had another solid game with 10 points for Los Angeles. He left late in the third quarter, however, with a hand injury. He is questionable for Saturday's Game 4, pending the results of an X-ray.
While the Lakers won big Thursday, they still know they have their work cut out for them. The Jazz still have a 2-1 series lead and the home-court advantage.
"It was a game that we had to win, but now we have another one that we have to win," said Harris. "This win doesn't get us anywhere except to get us in a position to take the next step."