WASHINGTON - On paper, those guys wearing the purple and gold uniforms certainly look like the Los Angeles Lakers and, goodness knows, they have the gaudy championship rings - three of them - to suggest they are the genuine article.

But through the first week of the new season, these Lakers, who arrive in Washington for their annual meeting with the Wizards tonight, don't much resemble the team that laid waste to the NBA the last three years.

The proof of that lies in the fact that Los Angeles, which lost its first two games of the season for the first time since 1990, was actually beaten the other night by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Yes, those Cleveland Cavaliers. In the old days, the real Lakers would have pummeled the Cavaliers into submission before the echoes of the national anthem had started to fade at Gund Arena.

But these other Lakers, guys named Tracy Murray, Jannero Pargo, Kareem Rush and the unforgettable Soumaila Samake, actually dropped an 89-70 decision to Cleveland, and last night's overtime loss to Boston left Los Angeles with an unfamiliar, 2-4 mark.

The fact that these Lakers aren't much like the ones the rest of the league knows and fears took a little of the sheen off beating them for the Cavaliers.

"We didn't beat the whole Lakers. Let's not lose perspective here," said Cleveland coach John Lucas.

The Lakers are missing a rather significant component of their three-peat, namely one Shaquille O'Neal. The 7-foot-1, 338-pound center has missed all of his team's games so far and will not play tonight as he recuperates from offseason surgery for bone spurs in his right big toe.

O'Neal, a three-time Finals Most Valuable Player, is not expected back before next week, and the Lakers have, predictably, struggled in his absence, though not nearly as badly as the 1-6 or 0-7 start coach Phil Jackson facetiously forecast before the season.

"Without Shaq, it's a whole different ballclub," said Cleveland forward Ricky Davis Wednesday. "It's a different presence. I think guys play harder when Shaq's there. You get guys going in dunking on everybody, trying to get themselves going.

"Kobe [Bryant] really didn't get going, so it really didn't pick up the ballclub, so that was a plus for us."

The hope, then, for the rest of the league and for the Wizards, specifically, tonight is to tiptoe past the injured lion before it wakes and attacks.

"It's not the championship team, but they are still a super team," said Washington coach Doug Collins. "They're still going to be tough, and they're still a good team. When they get Shaq, they'll be the champions. Right now, we catch a break without him.

"Hopefully, we can try to take advantage of it. These are scheduling things where, if you get a guy out, you'd like to try to take advantage of it."

The Lakers have had other problems not necessarily connected to O'Neal's absence. Forward Rick Fox, first among the supporting cast that orbits around O'Neal, and guard Bryant served the last game of a six-game, league-mandated suspension - stemming from a preseason fight with Sacramento's Doug Christie - last night.

Fox, a solid one-on-one defender, is eligible to play tonight and should see a lot of time, given that his replacement, Devean George, is playing on sore ankles.

Bryant has done his part to pick up the slack with O'Neal out. The shooting guard recorded two straight triple doubles in wins over the Clippers and Portland and nearly gathered a third in the loss to Cleveland.

Wizards tonight

Opponent:Los Angeles Lakers

Site:MCI Center, Washington

Time:8

TV/Radio:Comcast SportsNet, ESPN/WTEM (980 AM)