They’ve got the beach, the sun, Snoop Doggy Dog, and now this.
The Los Angeles Lakers may not be the best team in NBA history, but no team in NBA history ever has been as successful in the two-month pressure cooker known as the NBA playoffs. And now perhaps poised to blow the lid off NBA parity for years to come. The dynasty now moves to L.A.
That’s because the Lakers, with an 108-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, won their second consecutive NBA championship. They did so with a fourth consecutive victory in the NBA Finals to set a playoff record with a 15-1 overall mark. That erased the 18-year-old standard held by Julius Erving’s 76ers as the Lakers finished the last 10 weeks with a 23-1 record.
By taking three in a row in Philadelphia, the Lakers won eight straight road games, tying the playoff record set by the Houston Rockets in 1995.
“This is really surreal,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
But believe it. It’s no dream, though it might be a nightmare for the rest of the NBA. The Lakers’ domination was unparalleled as they plowed through four teams that won at least 50 games in the regular season. This Lakers team appears poised behind Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, both not yet 30, to dominate the NBA for years to come.
“With Shaq and Kobe at the age they are,” Horace Grant said, “I give them eight, nine more times.”
The Lakers were led by O’Neal, who won his second straight Finals Most Valuable Player award, picking up the MVP that regular-season winner Allen Iverson most wanted. O’Neal had 29 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. He averaged 33 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.4 blocks in the series. He joins only Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon as back to back Finals MVPs.
“For him to win a second one this is a validation of your greatness, your ability,” Jackson said. “If you look back at the great centers, [Wilt] Chamberlain had two championships spaced apart.
“Shaq has more in him.”
Bryant, returning to Philadelphia where he attended high school, had 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, capping a versatile series that belied questions of his once-selfish play as he led the team in assists.
“This time around we went through so much adversity, so many ups and downs,” noted Bryant, whose feud with O’Neal during the season cast doubt on the Lakers’ future. “As far as a dynasty, I don’t know. We have to take our time and see what happens.”
O’Neal and Bryant were supported by 12-of-17 three-point shooting, 20 points from Rick Fox and 18 from Derek Fisher on six three-pointers.
“I think this series showed everybody what [O’Neal] is, what a complete, dominant player he is,” said 76ers coach Larry Brown. “He’s as good as they get. I’ve never seen a better player in my life. I mean that.”
Iverson led Philadelphia with 37 points and averaged 35.6 in the Finals, but he left the arena without comment. Complaining of a rib injury late in the game and surrounded by three teammates with various leg fractures, the 76ers refused to yield to a 19-point fourth-quarter deficit, pulling within nine points with more than five minutes left before the Lakers’ superior talent and perimeter shooting prevailed.
“Most of the year we messed around, let a lot of teams beat us,” said O’Neal. “But the last 15, 20 games we became a great team. Kobe did a great job of keeping everybody involved, and everybody shot the ball well. We played with that hunger.
“The first championship was to get the monkey off my back. The ones I get from now on will [be] to stamp my name in history. Somebody told me we made history, we have the best record in winning a championship. [Call me] `the Big Historian.'”
Jackson also continued his historic run–earning his eighth title in 11 years as an NBA coach, one behind Celtics legend Red Auerbach.
“It’s incredible to be in this position as a coach,” Jackson said. “But everything revolves around a team, the staff I’ve assembled. And to be in the same level of a Red Auerbach, I’ve been in the right spot and been fortunate to have players put me in that position.”
The 76ers were determined, if still limping. They attacked the backboards and hit their shots, opening up a 27-21 first-quarter lead. They held on, like residents fighting a flood, trying to hold back the eventual, inevitable rush of O’Neal and Bryant. The shots began to fall short, and the Lakers went ahead by nine in the second quarter and finished the half up 52-48.
The trickle became a flood in the third quarter as O’Neal backed his way inside and Fisher hit from the outside. The Lakers went ahead 83-68 after three quarters, and held off one last, desperate 76ers push that brought them within 93-84 with just over five minutes left. But there was Fisher with another three, O’Neal banging away again, and an end to a brave 76ers’ season.
“The championship is in L.A.,” Fox said. “That’s where it’s supposed to be,”
No one is arguing.
Brown’s future: Philadelphia coach Larry Brown continued to leave open the possibility he could leave coaching. Said Brown: “I haven’t stopped coaching for the last two years. I need some time off.”
Who’s the best? Lakers reserve Tyronn Lue wasn’t afraid to designate the Lakers the best ever. Said Lue: “We’ve got to be at the top of the best. No team has ever gone 15-1 [in the playoffs]. So I think this team ranks with the best teams in NBA history.”
The prophet: Ron Harper said the 76ers always knew the Lakers would be champions. Said Harper: “The last time we were here, in February, I told a security guard, even though we weren’t playing as a basketball team, that we’d be back; we were going to be NBA champions again. I had faith in these guys.”
