O’Neal Is Still Questionable

Coach Phil Jackson said Shaquille O’Neal’s sprained left ankle was in better shape Sunday, but Jackson said he wasn’t sure if O’Neal would miss his second consecutive game tonight against the Seattle SuperSonics.

“We’ll see what it’s like [Monday],” Jackson said after the team went through a video session and light workout at its practice facility.

O’Neal underwent therapy and was not available to reporters.

“I think he’s going to be fine,” Jackson said, adding that O’Neal probably only needed two or three regular-season games to be sharp for the first round of the playoffs.

Including tonight, the Lakers have five games left--at home Friday against Sacramento, home Sunday against Minnesota and games at Dallas and San Antonio on April 18 and 19.

Even though Seattle is currently slotted to open the playoffs against the Lakers, Jackson said there was no extra interest on his part to defeat the SuperSonics so close to the first round.

“I really don’t know how important it is,” Jackson said. “It may not be ultimately important at all. It’s a game on the schedule and you want to play the games for what they’re worth, and that’s what we do. . . .

“Who knows how important it’s going to be? The reality is that it’s a game, we want to play, and we want to give a good effort. We want to play better than we did on Saturday [in a loss to San Antonio].”

That loss ended a winning streak at 11 games, but Jackson said that with the NBA’s best record clinched, it’s probably more important to keep his top players healthy than try to remain red-hot.

“A lot of teams gain momentum at the end of the season to get through the playoffs--the momentum builds,” Jackson said. “But that’s very rare. It’s very rare.

“Most of the teams know what they’ve got. They’ve got it intact. It’s pretty good, they’ve backed off at the end of the season. They just don’t stay at that same competitive level because they know they can go back and get to that again.”

TONIGHT

vs. Seattle

7:30, Fox Sports Net

* Site--Staples Center.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 64-13; SuperSonics 42-34.

* Record vs. SuperSonics--2-1.

* Update--Seattle has dropped eight of its last 10 games, sinking one game behind Sacramento in the battle for the No. 7 playoff spot in the Western Conference and the right to avoid the Lakers in the first round. The Lakers haven’t lost back-to-back games since Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 to Houston and San Antonio.

* Tickets--Sold out.