Through their 8-13 start, most of Los Angeles has been hunting for a sign that the Lakers were about to start playing like the three-time champions they are. The Southern California consensus is growing that Friday's comeback victory over Dallas -- in which the Lakers trailed by 27 points entering the fourth quarter -- will be the trigger.
   
Even Utah coach Jerry Sloan believes a long Laker winning streak is possible, though not necessarily because of Friday's big rally.

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Fans attending Lakers games now enter the Staples Center from Chick Hearn Court, the street that runs in front of the arena. The city of Los Angeles renamed a three-block stretch of 11th Street after the longtime broadcaster last week.
   
For Rod Hundley, Jazz broadcaster and Hearn's first radio partner in the mid-1960s, it's a nice reminder of his old friend. But it doesn't help him shake the odd feeling he had Sunday night, of working a Lakers game without Hearn sitting across the way.