Streak Produces Different Outlooks

INDIANAPOLIS —  Sixteen in a row, 17, 40, 50 . . . however far the winning streak extends, it doesn’t mean anything unless it leads to a Laker championship, Shaquille O’Neal said after Thursday’s practice at Conseco Fieldhouse.

“I don’t care about the streak. If it ain’t going to get me one of these,” O’Neal said, pointing to a piece of jewelry on his wrist as a symbol of a title ring, “it doesn’t matter.”

With the winning streak at 16, the Lakers face one of their most dangerous opponents tonight in the Indiana Pacers, who have the best record in the Eastern Conference and have won 11 consecutive home games.

But while O’Neal remained publicly blase about the increasing attention about the streak--tied for the second-longest in franchise history, behind only the 33-game streak of 1971-72 that is the longest in professional sports history--other Lakers recognized its effect on their performance.

“I think the one positive thing that may come out of it is that the focus will be on winning, trying to keep it alive,” forward Rick Fox said.

“Every night we step on the court now it’s going to be, ‘We’ve got to play well to win, to maintain this streak.’ You won’t have us step on the court, no matter where we play, where we’ll play an effortless game.”

*

Forward Robert Horry, whose nose was accidentally broken by Tim Thomas in Milwaukee on Wednesday, practiced and said he expected to play tonight, assuming a plastic mask could be found and fitted.

TONIGHT

at Indiana, 5 PST

Channel 9, TNT

* Site--Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis.

* Radio--KLAC (570).

* Records--Lakers 31-5, Pacers 23-11.

* Record vs. Pacers (1999)--0-1.

* Update--For the second consecutive game, the Lakers face one of the league’s highest-scoring teams. Indiana averages 102.9 points. But the Pacers are one of the NBA’s worst rebounding teams, averaging almost 6.5 fewer rebounds a game than the Lakers’ league-leading 48.1 average.