Lakers Get Wish, So Does Van Exel

DENVER — One minute 53 seconds. That’s all it lasted. But that’s not all it was.

“It was heaven,” Nick Van Exel said.

If only for the briefest of times in the fourth quarter of a game that had already been decided, he got to be a shooting guard in fact instead of a shooting guard in description, the latter of which had sometimes come as a criticism. Wednesday night, though, it arrived with an unexpected late role change and with honor, with Van Exel going five of five on three-point shots and scoring 19 points in the 107-89 victory over the Denver Nuggets to set a Laker regular-season record for most makes from behind the line without a miss.

Of course it would happen in McNichols Arena. In his last three visits, Van Exel is a combined 19 of 28 on three-point shots, two of which got him in the team record book, when he made eight on Feb. 13, 1997, for the most by a Laker in a game no matter the attempts and then this. The previous best was four of four, by Rick Fox, Sedale Threatt, Byron Scott and Magic Johnson.

Coincidentally or not, both performances came while Shaquille O’Neal was injured. Then again, Elden Campbell did a numerical duplication of O’Neal this time--25 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 12 rebounds--so it can’t be the lack of inside presence that stokes the Van Exel fire.

It’s just that he wouldn’t have expected any such showing on this night, with his arms feeling tight from weightlifting sessions on Monday and Tuesday, prompting a decision, in a change from his usual routine here, to spend additional time on the court trying to warm up and take additional shots. Shots that mostly fell short.

So Van Exel didn’t attempt a three-pointer in the first half, even though “Nick owns this arena,” according to Coach Del Harris. But come the third quarter, he made all three from behind the arc, a boost for the Lakers because the Nuggets, though behind, stayed precariously close. And in the final period, he made two more, one as shooting guard and the other in his more familiar role at the point, to help the Lakers finally pull away, falling short only of Robert Horry’s seven-of-seven performance in the playoffs last season at Utah.

“I do feel confident here,” said Van Exel, who finished seven of 11 overall, putting him at 56% in the last five meetings with the Nuggets, no matter the location. “It’s like some places you struggle shooting and might have to go out and get in some extra shooting before the game. Here, I usually don’t have to.”

The opportunity to play shooting guard for the 1:53 span in the middle of the fourth quarter, during which time the Lakers put the game away and the Nuggets were sentenced to a 14th loss in 15 games, came as a treasured opportunity to many.

Just not Kobe Bryant, who sat out the final 8:14 as Harris became frustrated with some forced plays and went with Van Exel and Jon Barry instead.

Van Exel got the chance to do something different.

Derek Fisher, the understudy at the point, got the chance for extra minutes there and add to his impressive outing of 11 points, four assists and three steals. When he and Van Exel were on the court together, it was the first time Harris had used the starter and second-stringer together since Nov. 27, 1996, though he was quick to note it might be another 53 weeks before it happens again.

“Derek was playing so well and Nick was having a good game,” Harris said. “So what was I supposed to do?”

And Eddie Jones got the chance to rest. He would have been thrilled for the respite if it didn’t pain him so to celebrate, the dehydration that caused leg spasms last Friday in Philadelphia having now prompted back spasms.

“Del called me [late in the fourth quarter],” Jones said. “He said, ‘Eddie, go in.’ Then he looked up at the scoreboard and saw we were up by about 15. He said, ‘Jon!’ That was good.”

Better to let Jones rest. He had a good game--16 points--and had already played 33 minutes.