It wasn’t long ago that the Los Angeles Lakers were swept more than a welcome mat. Cities welcomed their box office power, teams delighted in their basketball weaknesses.
Kobe Bryant was too young and selfish, too independent. Shaquille O’Neal too lazy, too indifferent. They went together like failure and frustration. They were losers, sports’ most virulent condemnation.
No more. And perhaps never more as the Lakers of O’Neal and Bryant won the NBA championship Monday night with a thrilling come-from-behind 116-111 victory over the Indiana Pacers. It was the club’s first NBA title since 1988 and seventh since moving from Minneapolis where the original Lakers won five championships.
O’Neal led the Lakers with 41 points. Bryant added 26 and the game wasn’t decided until the last seconds as Glen Rice and Bryant hit free throws with the Lakers leading by one with 1:16 remaining.
O’Neal, who hammered in consecutive slam dunks in a Lakers’ rally midway through the fourth quarter, was named Finals’ MVP and former Bulls coach Phil Jackson earned his seventh championship ring as a coach and became just the second coach ever to win titles with different teams.
“When you retire, 10, 15 years down the road, God willing you’re still alive, you think about those things,” Jackson said.
Monday night Jackson was just thinking about how his recently maligned team came charging back in the fourth quarter after trailing by 12 points earlier. The Lakers took a seven-point lead, were caught again by the valiant Pacers, and then pulled away again behind O’Neal and Bryant’s penetration to break down the Pacers’ defense, plus clutch shooting by Robert Horry.
O’Neal officially became a force and Bryant finally stopped forcing everything. They were stars, which is different from being winners. Now they are champions.
Together they’ve delivered the future. It’s a frightening vision for the rest of the league, two players who may well grow to be among the best inside/outside combinations in NBA history. This is a team that could make championships a destination rather than a stopover since they were pieced together this season with spare parts like A.C. Green and Ron Harper merely to get in position for a title run.
“I wanted to prove what they were saying was wrong,” Bryant said.
So did all the Lakers.
The Pacers’ triple threat of Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose and Dale Davis had been troublesome for the Lakers. Dale Davis?
“I’m just getting more opportunities,” Davis said.
Those opportunities negated the quick start of the Lakers.
“We talked about coming out with more aggression,” Jackson said.
But it was Davis who did. He hit a turnaround jumper to open the scoring for the Pacers, then tipped in a Miller miss, slammed a pass from Mark Jackson and slammed a Rik Smits pass, all in the first seven minutes. Davis’ effort, which yielded nine points and eight rebounds in the first quarter, enabled the Pacers to take a first quarter lead as Mark Jackson threw in a 40-foot push at the buzzer for a 26-24 lead.
“Obviously we [had] to get off to a good start,” Pacers coach Larry Bird said. “And when we move the ball and get good shots we usually shoot a high percentage.”
The Pacers did so, hitting half their first-quarter shots with Miller and Rose hitting five of seven. For the Lakers, Bryant and O’Neal combined for 6-of-17 shooting in the quarter as the Pacers stunned the home crowd by bolting to a 10-point lead early in the second quarter. Reserves Sam Perkins, Austin Croshere, with 10 in the first half, and Derrick Mckey hit three-pointers, sending the Lakers into a timeout with the Pacers ahead 47-35.
“We’re not a team that comes out trying to explode ahead on teams,” Jackson said. “We usually come out and pace the game because we have players who play long minutes. Then you set yourself up for a burst or something that might happen.”
It did again, as it did in the first half of Game 5 when the Pacers swept away the Lakers. The Pacers hung onto their double-digit lead until late in the second quarter. But Rice hit a jumper and Bryant finally drew a foul and hit two free throws. The Lakers then forced the Pacers into two turnovers and got an O’Neal slam. He had 15 points in the second quarter and a Bryant three-pointer helped the Lakers pull within 56-53 at halftime, a half the Pacers mostly controlled.
“Momentum is a mistress,” Jackson said. “You have to pay attention to it a lot. That’s what the home court does. It gives you that momentum base.”
The Lakers surrendered it again as the third quarter opened with the Pacers gaining a 67-59 lead behind a Miller three and jumper. But the Lakers refused to yield.
The Lakers got a lift, finally, from Rice, who posted up for a jumper and lined in a three-pointer, bringing the Lakers within 71-70.
The Pacers refused to back off and moved back ahead 80-74 as Mark Jackson hit a long three and held an 84-79 lead going into the fourth quarter. Three-pointers from Horry and Rick Fox pushed the Lakers ahead 94-90 with about eight minutes left.
