O`Neal`s New Milestone

Giant center Shaquill O`Neal of LA Lakers set a milestone yesterday. He scored his career 20,000th point even in the face of a stomach disorder.

The record was made in a game between LA Lakers and Sacramento Kings held yesterday in Sacramento, USA. Suffering from the stomachache throughout the game, he made a record of 20,000 points with 1.15 minutes left to the end of the second quarter. It is the 28th record of this kind in the NBA history.

O`Neal made the latest milestone in 727 games. He first scored against Miami Heat in November of 1992. Among the current NBA players, he is only behind Michael Jordan of Washington Wizards. Yesterday along, he scored 28 and rebounded 13.

Even with O`Neal`s excellent performance, Lakers lost the game to Sacramento Kings 99-107. Lakers just depended on the twin offense by O`Neal and Bryant, while Kings mobilized four of its five players. Each of them recorded a two-digit point.

In the meanwhile, Detroit Pistons beat up Philadelphia 76ers with Chauncey Billups waging a brisk attack. On the other hand, 76ers star Allen Iverson stopped short of making five points. Thus, Iverson ended his two-digit scoring marching in 186 games. On the other hand, Tony Parker pulled off his winning basket with 1.2 seconds left in overtime, giving the San Antonio Spurs a 112-110 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling, pivotal match of the NBA`s top two teams.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com