By Johnny Ludden

PHOENIX – The arena went dark, the flames stretched halfway to the ceiling and somewhere out of the pyrotechnics and howling fans Shaquille O’Neal rose from his seat and lumbered into the most ferocious conference race the NBA has ever seen.

O’Neal would go on to score 15 points, collect nine rebounds, scalp DJ Mbenga with a punishing dunk and take out a ref and “Mr. Pau” while twice diving to the floor in his 29-minute debut for the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night. He would also leave with a loss.

For as encouraging as O’Neal’s performance was for the Suns, the evening still belonged to Kobe Bryant, whose 41 points, coupled with 29 more from Pau Gasol, allowed the Los Angeles Lakers to claw out a 130-124 victory in a game that proved as thrilling as it had promised to be.

Said Bryant: “I felt a familiar energy in the building.”

Everyone better get used to it. The Western Conference race is running nine deep these days with five games separating top from bottom. A three-game losing streak, as New Orleans Hornets coach Bryon Scott recently said, “could leave you on the outside looking in.” The competitiveness has even stretched from the court to the front office with the teams seemingly trying to one-up each other with trades.

The Big Aristotle was the center of attention at US Airways Center Wednesday, but it was the wisdom of 21st century philosopher Cedric Ceballos who put the evening in perspective for the entire conference. Delivering a rousing opening to the crowd moments before tipoff, Ceballos nodded first to the Lakers then to his Suns. “You got bigger. We got bigger,” he shouted. “You got better. We got better.”

So it has gone for the West. You got Gasol? We’re getting Shaq. Well, we just landed Jason Kidd. The Utah Jazz’s earlier pickup of Kyle Korver already has proven to be a season-changing transaction. The San Antonio Spurs, rarely prone to making in-season trades, realized they better step up in size and acquired rugged center Kurt Thomas from the Seattle SuperSonics on Wednesday for Brent Barry, Francisco Elson and their 2009 first-round draft pick.

 Complete Story

• Thoughts for Next Season
• West MVP, Two Trimesters In
• With Gasol, Lakers’ season takes shape
• Bryant plays only three minutes for West in All-Star Game; East wins
• Lakers clinch no. 1 seed in west