It started with an early morning call and ended with several calls of another kind.
The first was from Kobe Bryant to Shaquille O’Neal at 2:30 in the morning before Friday night’s Game 6 at the Staples Center.
Bryant said the gist of his call was, “`Let’s go. We’ve been through so much together since we first came here. We’ve been through playoffs where we’ve been swept, we’ve been through coaches coming and going, so many ups and downs. This is nothing. Facing elimination is nothing to us.'”
About 18 hours later, the calls–foul calls–were from a trio of NBA referees who sent the Lakers to the free-throw line 27 times in the fourth quarter to nine for the Sacramento Kings.
The Lakers hit 21 of those free throws and thus were able to prevail 106-102 in the Western Conference finals. The series is now tied 3-3, with the deciding Game 7 on Sunday in Sacramento.
“I feel sorry for our team because they did everything they could to win the game,” said Kings coach Rick Adelman. “It’s just a shame, a real shame.”
And so with that comes the deciding game for the season between the team with the best record this season, the Kings, and the two-time defending champion Lakers. One game to go to the NBA Finals, where the Western representative will be favored over the New Jersey Nets starting Wednesday night.
And if Friday’s game was any indication, Sunday’s contest will be a brutal battle.
“The pressure’s on them now,” said O’Neal.
O’Neal put pressure on the Kings with his biggest game of the playoffs, scoring 41 points with 17 rebounds and sinking 13-of-17 free throws. Bryant added 31 points and 11 rebounds, and the Lakers eased ahead down the stretch to nullify a big game by Chris Webber, who had 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. But Vlade Divac and Scot Pollard fouled out for the Kings, while Webber and Doug Christie finished with five apiece.
“I’m just ready to go home, go to sleep, wake up and thank God for living and that I have family and friends,” said Webber. “Get right back to practice and ready for the Lakers. We just wish none of us had faces or names on jerseys. Now it’s in the books and we have to come back ready to play. In no way is this crying. I heard from some champions that to get to be a champion, you have to go through this. I was warned.”
That was Webber’s way of noting the Lakers got the benefit of a large disparity of foul calls after complaining bitterly about their Game 5 loss, when O’Neal attempted just one free throw. The final tally Friday was 40 for the Lakers and 25 for the Kings.
“If they call [Game 7] like they’re supposed to call it, the outcome will be the same because you have to foul me to stop me,” said O’Neal.
The Kings thought otherwise, that they were being asked to prove they can beat a champion by winning a seventh game. No particular accusations, just a feeling.
It was a close game throughout with the Lakers jumping ahead behind O’Neal and Bryant, but the Kings continued to stay close even with a poor-shooting first half by Mike Bibby. The Lakers led 28-26 after one quarter, but the Kings went ahead 56-51 at halftime. It was tied at 75 after three quarters, and the antagonists battled down the stretch with four fourth-quarter lead changes and five ties, neither team leading by more than three the last six minutes until the final margin.
The Kings led 92-90 on a Bibby driving layup with just under four minutes left. The Lakers then shot free throws in their next five possessions, making 9-of-10 and 12 of their last 14 points on free throws, with one O’Neal spin move for a layup.
“We’re not going to dwell on this,” said Adelman. “The season’s riding now for both teams on the seventh game.”
