The Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat both traded Shaquille O'Neal after winning NBA titles with the "Big Aristotle."
The Lakers have rebuilt themselves into a championship-caliber team, while the Heat are faced with a long climb from the bottom of the standings.
Jordan Farmar scored a career-high 24 points, Kobe Bryant added 21 and the Lakers extended their winning streak to a season-best 10 games on Thursday night with a 106-88 victory over Miami in Los Angeles.
"Four years ago they made a massive change in personality and dimension when they traded Shaquille," Heat coach Pat Riley said. "They took in a lot of young guys and they didn't make the playoffs the first year. The next two years they were good and they lost in the first round to Phoenix - and now they're here."
The Lakers (41-17) maintained their one-game lead over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs for best record in the Western Conference, and lead Phoenix and New Orleans by two. Just 6 1/2 games separate the top nine teams in the West.
The double-digit winning streak is the 23rd in franchise history and 19th in Los Angeles - including an NBA-record 33-game run during the 1971-72 championship season, when Riley was playing for the Lakers.
In the only two other games on the night, the New Jersey Nets defeated the Milwaukee Bucks 120-106 and the San Antonio Spurs slipped past the Dallas Mavericks 97-94.
Bryant talked about how much fun the players are having during the streak.
"We're really having a good time playing with one another. It makes the season that much more enjoyable," Bryant said.
Riley and Lakers coach Phil Jackson have won a combined 14 NBA titles as head coaches, seven in Los Angeles. Riley is second in postseason wins, eight behind Jackson's 179. But that gap could widen considerably come the spring.
"I think it's a very mature team, from the standpoint of young players getting a lot of playing time and developing very quickly," Riley said. "I think Phil has done a great job offensively with them, in terms of changing things, and they made the trade of all trades. Getting Pau Gasol puts them over the top."
Gasol had 13 points and 11 rebounds. The 7-foot center is averaging 20.7 points and 7.7 rebounds since joining the Lakers in a trade from Memphis, and the Lakers are 11-1 with him.
The Heat, which ended an 11-game skid with a 107-86 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, absorbed their 27th loss in 29 games.
Source: Shanghai Daily/Agencies
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