The star-studded Staples Center crowd barely stirred Friday night when he donned his warmups and took his place on the bench.
His team had struggled without him, a settling presence on offense and a hustling one on defense.
We’re talking, of course, about Fred Hoiberg, who lost 10 pounds in two days and missed the last game with the flu.
“They’re getting Shaq back,” Bulls coach Bill Cartwright said with a smile. “But we’re getting Freddie back.”
As for the other return, the much-hyped and much-anticipated season debut of Shaquille O’Neal, the sellout crowd of 18,997 erupted when he checked in following a timeout with 5 minutes 43 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
Asked how O’Neal looked after the morning shootaround, coach Phil Jackson cracked wise.
“He looked vibrant, fresh, healthy,” he said. “And big.”
Coaches were offering their best one-liners hours before tipoff, but things got serious once the movie stars had settled in their seats.
O’Neal’s absence has been no laughing matter for the three-time defending NBA champions, who won for just the second time in nine games with their 86-73 decision.
The Bulls shot 34.8 percent and posted their lowest point total ever against the Lakers.
O’Neal, out since undergoing surgery on his right big toe on Sept. 11, tallied 17 points and seven rebounds in 21 minutes to help send the Bulls to their 24th straight loss over the last four seasons on the annual November trip.
Shaq, who started the second half, was indeed back.
Or, as Jackson put it:
“We’re a team that thrives off that energy that he provides in the middle.”
O’Neal provided that energy from the moment he starred in a “Rocky” spoof that aired on the video scoreboard just before tipoff. If the crowd cheered O’Neal punching slabs of beef, one can imagine what it did when he scored on his first shot, a hook over Donyell Marshall at the 3:50 mark.
Meanwhile, Jalen Rose took 11 shots to make his first one, going scoreless until the 4:45 mark of the third quarter.
Still, somehow, the Bulls were still in it at that point, trailing 57-54. But Kobe Bryant, who scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the third, helped the Lakers close the quarter with a 12-4 run. Bryant also had 10 rebounds and seven assists.
The Bulls pulled to within 71-65 in the fourth. But O’Neal re-entered with 8:57 to play and sparked an 11-0 run that included a spectacular alley-oop dunk on a feed from Rick Fox.
“It felt pretty good,” O’Neal said. “I’m playing with 10 toes again. It was fun.”
Rose, with six points on 2-for-16 shooting, failed to reach double figures for the first time in 43 games as a Bull. He was in Los Angeles for the first time since getting carjacked there Sept. 3.
“It doesn’t get any worse than that,” Rose said. “The way my teammates played, it’s unfortunate I had a night the way I did because I feel we definitely win this game.
“I’m very disappointed. There’s no excuse. It had nothing to do with the incident this summer. I just didn’t get it done.
“I missed open jumpers, covered jumpers, layups, shots in the paint. I finally made a shot then came down and shot an air ball. I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my career.”
Jay Williams had 10 points and six steals for the Bulls, who committed 22 turnovers and also watched a two-game winning streak in the series come to an end.
Marshall, who led the Bulls with 14 points and 14 rebounds, guarded O’Neal.
“What am I supposed to say?” Marshall said. “He’s not where he’s going to be at when he gets in game shape. But he’s still a hard man to guard.”
