Lakers Happy to Pile It On

By TIM KAWAKAMI

Jan. 13, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

MILWAUKEE — They say they aren’t chasing history, but they’re gaining, anyway.

It’s all simple addition now, each victory piling on top of the previous collection, higher and higher, heading toward who knows what and for how much longer?

The Lakers added one more game to the winning streak, put a stake through one more opponent’s chest, and spent one more evening casually explaining that 33 in a row simply is neither possible nor worth imagining.

Simple math, though, says it is out there. And, with this kind of play, imaginations are free to run wild.

With a controlled, confident 103-94 victory over the high-powered Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday before 18,717 at the Bradley Center, the Lakers ran their winning streak to a sweet 16, not yet halfway to the franchise and professional sports record of 33, but far enough along to raise some serious wonder.

“I just didn’t believe we were going to win the game that easily,” said Laker Coach Phil Jackson, whose early skepticism about his team seems to have turned more to happy bemusement. “I thought it was going to be a difficult game.”

Even if the streak falls far short of 33--and all logic says it will--the Lakers are expanding to new heights and levels of precision.

The valid point raised until the start of this trip, which continues to Indianapolis and Minneapolis, was that the Lakers had feasted on a majority of wobbling franchises, mostly at home.

On Wednesday, the Lakers took everything the Bucks had to offer, then squeezed and squeezed.

“We get a joy out of beating up on teams,” said Kobe Bryant, who scored 22 points and spearheaded a Laker defensive effort that wore down a Buck attack that had been tearing up the league. “That’s fun. . . . That’s fun for us.

“Especially when you come down and get an easy basket, then we go on the other end and have them struggle to get a basket. Even if they make it, if it’s a tough shot. We can live with that. They were struggling for it.”

The 16-game streak matches the second-longest in franchise history--first accomplished in 1990-91--and raised the Laker season record to an NBA-best 31-5.

It also is the longest winning streak in the NBA since Jackson’s Chicago Bulls won 18 in a row during the 1995-96 season.

This came against a Milwaukee team that features three pure scorers--Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassel--and that put up 137 points on the Charlotte Hornets only last Monday.

But, even while the Laker offense was off kilter at times, the defense strangled the Bucks into 39.7% field-goal shooting (31 for 78) and, until a scattered fourth quarter, kept Robinson, Allen and Cassell from any easy baskets.

The Lakers took command in a blue-collar third quarter, outscoring Milwaukee, 21-16, edging their lead to 13 points, and refusing to give up easy baskets.

“When we’ve struggled offensively, like tonight in the third quarter--we did not necessarily have a good stretch there,” forward Rick Fox said, “but they couldn’t score.

“And that’ll win you games.”

In response, the Bucks--who stayed in the game by making all 28 of their free throws, tying an NBA record--flailed and complained, drawing three technical fouls and turning the ball over 17 times.

“You see the frustration and the technical fouls tonight,” Fox said. “You see shots that probably are comfortable and normally go down, they get tighter for guys with hands in the face.”

Shaquille O’Neal led the Lakers with 27 points and 10 rebounds, and made seven of 10 free throws, but he did not have his usual dominant presence--not that it was necessary on this night.

Glen Rice, who finished with 20 points, made several key jump shots--including consecutive three-pointers in the third quarter, and Ron Harper scored 16 points.

The key performances, as Jackson said, were on the defensive side--Bryant vs. Allen, who ended up with 25 points but only eight in the fourth quarter; and Rice and Fox vs. Robinson, who had 22.

“That’s the most serious I’ve seen a Laker team in a long time,” said Milwaukee Coach Karl, the longtime Seattle coach. “They don’t mess around.”

Hear players’ postgame comments from Wednesday night’s Lakers-Bucks game at the Times’ Web site: https://sports.latimes.com.

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Laker Streak

The Lakers’ winning streak reached 16 games Wednesday:

at Vancouver: 106-94

Detroit: 101-93

Clippers: 95-68

at Atlanta: 95-88

at Minnesota: 97-88

at Toronto: 94-88

at Boston: 99-90