Bryant removed the scorer the Rockets could not afford to lose, and the Rockets crashed to a 114-90 defeat worthy of their departed 15-game losing streak.

"He's just a good defender, he really is," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said of Bryant. "I've watched him play a lot of different guys. He's so athletic. He played a smart defensive game and they helped well."

That was what it took. And there were shots Mobley normally makes and had knocked down regularly in three consecutive 30-point nights leading to Sunday.

According to the LA Times, Shaquille O'Neal said Sunday night that he expects to play against the Phoenix Suns on Friday, when he can be activated from the injured list. "The troops need their general," he said. "The troops need their Patton. So, Patton will be back."

"I didn't want to do the drug treatment, I wanted to do the natural treatment," he said. "But I just got to do all the drug stuff now. I have to get it shot up, whatever. If it gets real ugly, I'll just have to get the surgery after the season to get rid of it. I'm not thinking about that really, but I'll have to do the drugs now."

O'Neal had hoped to avoid anti-inflammatory medication, because it upsets his stomach, and because he fears its effect on his kidneys. He concedes that it appears to be the only way to treat his right big toe, which is arthritic, causing him great pain when he runs and jumps.

Surgery would create greater mobility in the toe and, apparently, eliminate some of the pain, though team physician Steve Lombardo called that a distant option.

More than any other team in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers realize that championships are neither won nor lost in December.

After finishing the last regular season on an eight-game winning streak and waltzing through a 15-1 post-season, they know full well there is no reason for panic in December.

That's why they aren't fretting that Shaquille O'Neal is on the injured list with an arthritic toe, Kobe Bryant is not himself because of sore right ribs and they lost to Memphis and Golden State in two of their last three games before last night's game against the Raptors. The Lakers were only 6-4 in December ? 4-4 in their last eight games ? after starting the season 14-1.

"We've had a tough stretch for finding our rhythm and knocking down some shots but the shots are there," Bryant said after the Lakers' most recent loss, a 101-90 defeat Wednesday by the Warriors. "They're available to us. It's a matter of being patient and having the confidence to knock them down."

It's funny to think that something as small as a toe could fell a seven-footer.

But there was an epidemic along those lines last night as the Raptors visited the Los Angeles Lakers at the Staples Center.

Neither Raptors' starting centre Hakeem Olajuwon nor Lakers' starting centre Shaquille O'Neal played, thanks to toe ailments.

The Raptors yesterday placed Olajuwon on the injured list, which requires him to miss a minimum of five games. That means Olajuwon will be out at least until the Raptors' game in Memphis against the Grizzlies on Jan. 8, and he'll miss the Raptors' return match against the Lakers on Jan. 6 in Toronto.

Shaq could be back by then, but there are no guarantees. He went on the injured list on Christmas day and will be eligible to rejoin the Lakers' active roster for their game against the Phoenix Suns on Jan. 4.

Things got weird when the Lakers played in Oakland on Wednesday.  Matt Steinmetz of the Contra Costa Times concludes the league doesn't approve of the way the referees handled things.

Here's the recap:  With five minutes left Devean George got his sixth foul plus a technical.  After Chris Mills made the free throw the game resumed before the Lakers had a replacement for George on the floor, allowing Larry Hughes to nail a three-pointer.  Phil Jackson comes on to the floor to complain, and is quickly given two quick T's (plus automatic ejection) by referee Rodney Mott.

The referees conferred and determined they didn't give the Lakers the necessary 30 seconds to get a replacement in the game.  They then rolled back the two T's on Jackson, and took Hughes' trey off the board.

NBA senior VP for operations, Stu Jackson, has reviewed the replay, but won't comment on it.  Several Warriors officials confirmed the league made it clear the officials didn't handle the situation correctly

The LA Times reports that Shaquille O'Neal, who has pain in both feet, watched Thursday's practice from the baseline, atop an exercise ball. He will spend at least three more games?against Toronto tonight, Houston on Sunday and at Denver on Wednesday?on the injured list.

"I'm still hurting, but I'm OK, I guess," he said.

Asked if he expected to come off the injured list when he is eligible, O'Neal said, "I hope so."

Coach Phil Jackson didn't get much more information. "I asked him if he's any better," he said. "He said, 'No.'"

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant said his sore right side continues to improve despite a series of pokes to his rib cage from opposing players. Bryant's shooting is fine, but he still can't drive to the hoop and has had difficulty moving on defense -- a concern tonight, when he'll probably be matched against Toronto's Vince Carter.

"It's not over ... but I'm able to do a little bit more than I could a couple days ago," he said. "Once I can penetrate off the dribble and get around guys, then I'll feel a lot better."

Larry Brown reviewed the NBA standings and pointed out the math to his team.

Before the 76ers played the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, the Sixers were six games out of first place in the Atlantic Division and, more important, a game and a half out of a playoff spot.

That reminder could have brought desperation. But for the Sixers, it brought relief.

"We looked at it as we're a game and a half back and we haven't been playing well with 50 games left," Eric Snow said. "We're trying to find a positive situation and build off it instead of a negative."

The meeting, over eggs and coffee, was somber yesterday morning as the 76ers players and coaches tried to digest the previous night's debacle. How had they squandered a 13-point fourth-quarter lead over the defending NBA champions, and how could they best rebound from that depressing 88-82 loss to the Lakers?

"I know how I hurt," coach Larry Brown said before the Sixers regrouped last night against the Los Angeles Clippers. "I don't think there was one person in that room that didn't hurt."

The hurt subsided, a bit, last night. After nine losses in 12 games, and 11 road losses this season, the Sixers finally, mercifully notched a win, 100-86, over a young Clippers team loaded with potential. So they leave the Staples Center with a bit of dignity. It is, at least, a start.

"After the disappointment of [Tuesday] night, to have our guys respond like they did, it was kind of nice, Brown said.

This seven-game road trip now swings to Game 3 in Denver, where the 12-16 Sixers will play the Nuggets, whose coach, Dan Issel, resigned yesterday after a furor over insulting comments he directed toward a fan.

Brown said he hated to see Issel, like Jeff Van Gundy and Tim Floyd before him, leave the NBA. If Brown had his way, every coach would get to reach the 800-win plateau in the league, a level he hit last night with the victory.

But right now, Brown has bigger issues than the employment status of his coaching colleagues. He has his own tenure to consider.

They are damned -- I'm convinced of it.

Just as the Boston Red Sox have had to live with the Curse of the Bambino for the last century, the Orlando Magic will have to endure the Curse of the Shaquino.

How else can you explain what has happened?

How does a sports franchise go from being one of the most providential in history to being one of the most plagued? And if you don't believe the Magic have somehow enraged the sports gods, consider this:

They will not only go down in history as the franchise that suffered the worst free-agent loss in NBA history (Shaq), but they also may have signed the biggest free-agent bust in NBA history (Grant Hill).

This is not meant to assign culpability. It's certainly not Hill's fault his medial malleolus has become as fragile as an 800-year-old Ming figurine. I'm sure he feels worse than anybody.

But, still, this is what it is. And right now, it is the biggest free-agent bust in NBA history.

Correction: This has the makings of the biggest free-agent bust in SPORTS history. Bigger than Albert Belle. Bigger than Scott Mitchell. Bigger even than Fox Sports Net signing Keith Olbermann. I've taxed my brain and tapped my resources for the past several days trying to come up with a bigger potential flop than Hill, and nothing even comes close.

There have been some draft picks who have been massive duds -- LaRue Martin and J.R. Reid come to mind in the NBA; Ki-Jana Carter and Tony Mandarich in the NFL -- but never has there been an established superstar of Hill's stature who has been paid so much and contributed so little.

Regionally, we've seen the Tampa Bay Buccaneers bust with Alvin Harper and the Jacksonville Jaguars flop with Bryce Paup, but those players weren't in Hill's stratosphere. The closest thing I could find to the Magic's malady came in 1985, when the Atlanta Braves signed reliever Bruce Sutter, baseball's elite closer, to what was then a mega 6-year, $10 million contract. Sutter almost immediately hurt his arm and went from best to bust. He played sporadically for three more seasons. His stats with the Braves: 112 games, 40 saves.

Of course, even those lowly numbers don't approach Hill's -- two years, 18 games with the Magic. And, really, you can't compare a relief pitcher -- even one as good as Sutter -- to Hill, who was considered one of the top five players in the game when he signed with Orlando.

The Magic still are saying they believe Hill will someday return to his pre-surgery form, but that's being more Pollyanna than pragmatic. One surgery didn't fix Hill's problem. Two surgeries didn't fix Hill's problem. Who's to say three will?

Let's be honest, shall we? Foot injuries are often career killers. And in this case, the doctors don't even know what's the matter with Hill's foot -- not really. Bone spurs? That's medical jargon for: "Well, um uh, your guess is as good as mine."

My guess is this: This is all cosmic payback. A decade ago, the Magic hierarchy sold its soul for the pingpong balls that landed Shaq.

But when Shaq left, the basketball gods became angry. And they rained fire, hail and Jon Koncak down upon the franchise. The Magic became doomed to 100 years of plague, strife and Mark Acres.

It is the Curse of the Shaquino.

Grant Hill never knew what hit him.