It seems as if the career paths of All-Star centers Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning have paralleled each other since the two were chosen Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the 1992 NBA draft.
However, during crunch time Wednesday in the Heat’s 92-86 victory over the Pistons that evened the Eastern Conference finals at 1-1, the two goliaths finally battled side-by-side in a Twin Tower effect to help thwart the massive, athletic front line of Detroit.
“We have battle scars since we’ve been in situations like this time and time again,” said Mourning, who had six points, two rebounds and four blocks–two in the fourth quarter–in 22 minutes. “There’s so much space in the paint, and we’re taking it up.
“It makes it look a little bit more challenging for opponents when we’re in the game together because if they get past me, then they’ve got to see him. They go past him, they’ve got to see me.”
When Heat President Pat Riley brought Mourning back on March 1 for the league minimum it was mainly to back up O’Neal or possibly team the two against the larger front lines of the Pistons, Pacers and Spurs.
Heat coach Stan Van Gundy has been reluctant to employ them together because he needed Mourning to supply 10-13 minutes at center. He also had to monitor Mourning’s minutes because of his prolonged absence from the game and his medical history.
Van Gundy finally caved in during Monday’s 90-81 Game 1 defeat because power forward Udonis Haslem was rendered ineffective with a dislocated finger and the Heat was trailing 66-54 while getting dominated on the boards.
Although the lengthy pair helped shave three points off the Pistons’ lead, the defensive rebounding actually suffered. Mourning, not used to guarding 6-foot-11-inch three-point threats like Rasheed Wallace, migrated from the lane in an attempt to swat every shot he saw.
That left a sore-thighed, gravity-impaired O’Neal struggling to corral defensive rebounds while tussling with a quicker Ben Wallace underneath the basket.
With Haslem saddled by fouls in Game 2, the newly formed Mourning-O’Neal partnership sparked a 15-7 run in the fourth quarter to transform a one-point deficit into a seven-point cushion with 3 minutes 18 seconds remaining.
“He had my back a couple of times,” said O’Neal, who had 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes. “I think it’s a good rotation. We don’t have to double as much and we’re both in there blocking shots.”
Logic would seem to indicate that nearly 14 feet and 600 pounds of flesh clogging the middle would be a massive roadblock for a penetrating guard such as Dwyane Wade.
Nevertheless, the second-year wonder slithered around them like a running back skirting giant pylons on his way to a 40-point masterpiece, including 20 of the Heat’s 30 fourth-quarter points.
Rasheed Wallace and point guard Chauncey Billups were not impressed with the coupling and were already devising ways to attack it.
“I don’t think it affects us too much,” Billups said. “Pick and rolls and pin downs, make them run and make them get out there and play on the perimeter a little bit.”
