NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Shaquille O'Neal and his Los Angeles Lakers teammates had no problem getting to the free-throw line. Allan Houston and the New York Knicks did, and it proved costly.
O'Neal scored 23 points and was one of four players to attempt at least as many free throws as the entire New York roster as the Lakers cruised in the second half of a 104-83 triumph over the Knicks.
Kobe Bryant added 21 points and Karl Malone chipped in 17 and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who went 37-of-47 from the line while the Knicks were just 6-of-6. O'Neal made 11-of-16 attempts from the stripe, Bryant 7-of-9, Malone 7-of-8 and Gary Payton 6-of-6 as Los Angeles snapped a three-game road losing streak.
"We got them into foul trouble and just played our game," O'Neal said. "We had a lot more energy and played with a lot more effort. We knew we had to get this one because we didn't want to lost four (straight) on the road. In order to get the No. 1 spot (in the Western Conference) we have to be dominant at home and way above .500 on the road."
"It's very hard to win a game if they get to the line 47 times and we only got there six," Knicks coach Don Chaney said. "They pounded the ball inside a lot. That's the number that stands out."
Los Angeles took the lead for good, 53-51, on a dunk by Devean George 1:38 into the second half and pulled away thereafter, opening an 80-67 advantage after three quarters and leading by double digits throughout the final period.
"I think we played hard defense and made a statement," Malone said. "We had them stuck at the 3-point line with the clock winding down. That's how we have to play guys on the defensive end."
"We used our pressure defense and really made them uncomfortable," Bryant said. "We squeezed them out of their sets, got ourselves a lot of easy baskets and we were able to pull away."
Houston, who scored a career-high 53 points in a road win over the Lakers on February 16, scored 10 points on 5-of-14 shooting and did not attempt a free throw. Backup guard Frank Williams scored 12 of his career-high 14 points in the second quarter.
"It was an ugly game," Houston said. "We got into foul trouble, we never got into a flow on either end."
Until rookie Mike Sweetney sank a pair of free throws with 1:14 remaining, the Knicks had matched their franchise low in attempts from the line, set at Atlanta in 1974 and equaled vs. Memphis on March 11.
"Foul trouble killed us tonight, especially myself and Kurt (forward Kurt Thomas)," said New York center Dikembe Mutombo, who was one of five Knicks with four fouls. "We couldn't get anything done. We got into a lot of foul trouble in the beginning of the game, which let them go to the line."
