Only One Laker All-Star Performs Like One in Win

DALLAS — One star wasn’t so big and bright deep in the heart of Texas on Tuesday, maybe because he’s new at this sort of thing.

Eddie Jones got word in the afternoon he had been named an all-star for the first time, then marked the occasion hours later by making three of 11 shots and scoring six points. On the other hand, the Lakers were playing the Dallas Mavericks, so they could withstand the rare poor showing and much more in cruising to a 102-83 victory before 18,042 at Reunion Arena behind 31 points and 10 rebounds from their other selectee, Shaquille O’Neal.

The Mavericks, dangerous but only rarely able to fulfill the possibilities even when at full strength, played without Chris Gatling, No. 1 on the team in scoring, rebounding, blocks and shooting. That’s because he’s merely somewhere in the middle of the depth chart for creating problems, his contribution to the ongoing disharmony having come Monday when he left practice and was given a one-game suspension.

It was served against the Lakers, but he was allowed to watch in street clothes from the bench after apologizing to the team, and with starting point guard Sam Cassell sitting nearby because of a bruised thigh. That made the reunion at Reunion a complete wash--Cassell and former Houston Rocket mate Robert Horry of the Lakers were both sidelined, Horry because of the sprained ankle suffered Sunday.

Horry’s injury, which will probably also cost him tonight’s game at San Antonio, prompted Jones’ move to small forward, instead of Jerome Kersey returning to the opening lineup. In turn, that not only put Kobe Bryant in Jones’ spot at shooting guard but made Bryant, at 18 years and five months, the youngest starter in NBA history. The former record-holder, Bill Willoughby, did it at 18 years and seven months early in 1975-76.

So it was first steps all around. Jones to the All-Star game, Bryant to the start of the game.

“I felt so good going in,” Jones said after the Lakers blew the game open with a 19-2 run to end the third quarter. “I felt great. Then I wound up not being able to hit a shot. But it’s like that.”

Not very often for Jones, the cause of his distress being the constant questions about whether he was going to be selected to the Western Conference team, including regular queries from his mother in Florida. So when the news finally came that he had been added as a backup to Gary Payton and John Stockton, along with Mitch Richmond, Latrell Sprewell and Clyde Drexler, there was more than one reaction.

“An honor.”

And:

“I’m relieved.”

“I wasn’t getting excited,” he said. “If it didn’t happen, I would have been a little upset. I’d be a little mad. But in the same breath, it would have been, ‘I’m going to see family.’ ”

Instead, he’s going to Cleveland for the Feb. 9 game, elected by the coaches who fill out the remaining seven places for each side after fan voting decided the starters.

“I have a high regard for coaches and their opinions,” Laker Coach Del Harris said. “They all watch. Everyone in our conference is going to watch the Lakers play 30 or 40 games [during a season]. . . . You watch us play that many times, I trust you’ll come away feeling Eddie Jones is an all-star.”

Whatever uncertainty there was about Jones’ selection, even with him leading the league in steals and averaging 16.6 points heading into what became the Lakers’ fourth consecutive win, came from the possibility of a logjam with Drexler and Sprewell. But the coaches, none of whom could vote for their own players, worked around that by going with six guards and only four forwards, along with O’Neal and starter Hakeem Olajuwon at center. Besides, all of the reserves besides Richmond have played small forward in their careers.

The selection of O’Neal was, of course, a no-brainer. He had insisted all along he wouldn’t mind playing behind Olajuwon--”Now, if Gheorghe Muresan started before me, I’d be [ticked],” he said--so when word came, it was barely newsworthy. As if to prove it, O’Neal had no idea he had even been selected.

“Oh,” he said before the game. “I was?”

He was.

“Thank you,” he said. “I appreciate it, to all the voters.”

He meant the fans, but it could have been said with a yawn either way. It’s the fifth selection for O’Neal, the first in the Western Conference and the first time he won’t start, and things are already getting so redundant he has promised to skip the mandatory media session that starts the weekend and accept whatever fine the league hands down.

Together, Jones and O’Neal are the first to represent the Lakers since Cedric Ceballos in 1995.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Season of Expectations

The Lakers acquired nine new players this season, including Shaquille O’Neal and his $120-million contract. In turn, with big acquisitions come big expectations. Throughout the season, The Times will monitor O’Neal’s numbers along with how the team compares to some of the best Laker teams in history.

GAME 44 OF 82

* Record: 32-12

* Standing: 1st place Pacific Division

1996-97 LAKERS VS. THE BEST LAKER TEAMS

*--*

Year Gm. 44 Overall 1987-88 35-9 63-20 1986-87 34-10 65-17 1984-85 34-14 62-20 1979-80 29-15 60-22 1971-72 40-4 69-13

*--*

Note: The five teams above all won NBA championships

THE SHAQ SCOREBOARD

Basketball Numbers

Tuesday’s Game: *--*

Min FG FT Reb Ast Blk Pts 37 13-23 5-10 10 3 2 31

*--*

1996-97 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Ast Blk Pts 39.5 .560 .478 12.9 3.2 3.1 26.3

*--*

1995-96 Season Averages:

*--*

Min FG% FT% Reb Ast Blk Pts 36.0 .573 .487 11.0 2.9 2.1 26.6

*--*

Money Numbers

* Thursday’s salary: $130,658.53

* Season Totals: $5,748,975.32

* FACTOID: One game after their record 33-game winning streak ended, the Lakers set another record by scoring 18 consecutive points in the third quarter, a Cobo Arena record, in a 123-103 victory over Detroit in game 44 of the 1971-72 season. Helping the Lakers to victory was six points by Jim Cleamons, who coached Dallas against the 1996-97 Lakers on Tuesday.