Getting Out of the Blocks

And then they actually played basketball, not a red-haired rebounder or labor lawyer in sight, if you don’t count union chief Billy Hunter in either category.

The play was sporadic, the crowd was enthusiastic, the end game was dramatic and Kobe Bryant’s impact as a starter was definitely emphatic, if you count his first career double-double as fulfilling expectations.

After all the scintillating subplots were played out, the Lakers outkicked the Houston Rockets, 99-91, before 17,505 at the Great Western Forum on Friday night in the opening game of the regular season.

“The story was Kobe coming in starting, going against Scottie Pippen, and I think nine out of 10 people would’ve thought Houston had the edge in that one,” said Laker Coach Del Harris, who started Bryant when the Lakers’ two starting forwards were not available.

“But Kobe established himself defensively early on, he played under control the whole game. . . . I don’t think anybody’s overly surprised that Kobe had a great game. We know he’s an outstanding player.”

It was a Laker victory for the young and old, because it was triggered by the combined efforts of the 20-year-old Bryant (25 points, a career-high 10 rebounds, three blocked shots and four crucial free throws in the last two minutes) and 37-year-old Derek Harper (16 points, seven assists).

And down the stretch, with the veteran Rockets wrestling and clawing and jawing, Shaquille O’Neal scored two huge baskets and grabbed several late rebounds on his way to 30 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.

“That was a hard-fought, playoff-style game,” Harris said.

The tight finish was set up by Rocket forward Barkley, who taunted the crowd repeatedly, posted up ferociously, and found time to also score 20 of the Rockets’ 45 second-half points (and 31 in the game).

In what looked suspiciously like grind-it-out, dump-it-low basketball, the Lakers, who were without Robert Horry or Rick Fox, threw just about everybody at Barkley, including Elden Campbell, Sean Rooks and Travis Knight.

Meanwhile, the featured attraction on the other side was Bryant, starting in Fox’s place, against Pippen, formerly known as Michael Jordan’s top lieutenant.

Somewhere in there, with the Rocket defense wheeling toward Bryant (enough to trigger two technical fouls for illegal defense) and O’Neal, Harper stepped in to make four three-pointers in six attempts.

“That’s the great thing about this game, you never know what’s going to happen, if you play the game and you try to plan it, it’s never going to go as planned,” Harper said.

“Shaq makes a lot of guys get open shots. I’m not afraid to take them.”

The Lakers made their crucial push with a little more than two minutes left in the game, ahead by four, and pounding it down low to O’Neal.

With 2:18 left, Campbell grabbed an offensive rebound and forced Hakeem Olajuwon, who was in constant foul trouble and scored only 11 points, to commit his sixth foul.

Campbell made one of two free throws, O’Neal followed the miss, and suddenly the Lakers had a 93-86 lead.

Lockout rustiness? The Lakers blasted out of the chute and the Rockets stumbled into foul trouble.

In the first half, Bryant twirled and shot and clamped down the defensive pressure on Pippen.

Bryant scored seven of the Lakers’ first 13 points, including a couple of hanging, floating, bump-off-of-Pippen layups that shot jolts of electricity through the building.

Harper came off the bench early, blew past Matt Maloney right off the bat for a layup, and made two quick three-point baskets to lead all first-quarter scorers with eight points.

With Pippen unable to make a jump shot, the Lakers went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the second quarter to grab a 12-point lead, 39-27, and looked like they might just keep on piling up the points.

But then the adrenaline seemed to run out, the fouls started piling up, Barkley and Othella Harrington began to eat up the offensive glass, and the Lakers scored only four points in the final six minutes of the half.

Houston finished the quarter on a 19-4 run--10 of the points scored by Barkley and Harrington--to finish the half with a 46-43 lead.

*

MARK HEISLER: Lakers certainly didn’t treat their elders, the Rockets, with much respect. Page 8

* RODMAN: Buss says it appears unlikely that the controversial forward will sign with Lakers. Page 8

* ROUNDUP: Kukoc has 32, 22 in the second half, but new Bulls fall to Jazz in rematch of finals. Page 7

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By the Numbers

21,191 Announced attendance at Charlotte (capacity is 24,042), largest crowd of the night.

7,689 Announced attendance at Sports Arena (capacity is 16,144) for Clippers-Suns game, ssmallest crowd of the night.

7 Victories in a row for the Lakers in season-opening games.

2 Losses in a row for the Clippers in season-opening games.

17-0 Run by Phoenix to start the second half of victory over Clippers.

32 Points by Toni Kukoc of Chicago, leading all scorers on opening night.

17 Most rebounds of the night, equaled by four players including Phoenix’s Tom Gugliotta.

110 Points by Minnesota, highest team total of the night.

66 Points by Charlotte, lowest team total of the night.