Posted on 06/05/2002 9:50:49 PM PDT by diamond6
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- What began as a mismatch turned into something mildly intriguing.
The Los Angeles Lakers gave everyone a little suspense in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, letting a 23-point lead slip to three in the fourth quarter before they finished off the New Jersey Nets 99-94 Wednesday night.
Nobody will remember this one as an NBA classic, especially the underdogs representing the Eastern Conference. The Nets were out of their league in the first 15 minutes of the game, digging themselves a hole that was too deep to climb out of.
Shaquille O'Neal was as dominant as everyone expected, totaling 36 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Kobe Bryant did his thing, too, scoring 22 points with six assists -- the biggest of which was his feed to Rick Fox for a layup with 1:11 left that gave Los Angeles a 95-87 lead.
For the most part, Los Angeles stayed in control and dictated the style of play, keeping the Nets from playing the uptempo game they prefer. The Lakers also were the more aggressive rebounders and the more accurate free throw shooters -- two huge intangibles on a night when the Lakers weren't crisp offensively over the final 2 1/2 quarters.
The Lakers wrapped things up by going 6-for-8 from the free throw line over the final two minutes. The Nets had a few chances to hit 3-pointers and turn it into a two-point game in the final 30 seconds, but they couldn't come up with the key buckets.
Game 2 is Friday night at Staples Center.
Jason Kidd had 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the first triple-double in the NBA Finals since Charles Barkley did it for Phoenix in 1993. But no one else seemed prepared to assert himself for the Nets, whether it was Kenyon Martin refusing to take wide-open jumpers, Keith Van Horn failing to get going early or Kerry Kittles not doing much of anything all night.
Most damaging to the Nets was their free-throw shooting, as they missed 11 of 26 attempts.
Rick Fox added 14 points and Derek Fisher had 13 for the Lakers, whose only deficit was 2-0.
The game lacked the level of electricity normally found at an NBA Finals, the celebrity studded crowd acting as relaxed and casual as the Lakers played. The Nets gave them only scant opportunities to get nervous, pulling within four points midway through the third and within three with 5:26 left.
"I think we were kind of lackadaisical," O'Neal said, summing it up perfectly.
The pace of the game changed drastically in the fourth quarter, with fouls whistled on nearly every possession. O'Neal missed two free throws with 6:12 left, and Kidd hit a long 2-pointer to pull the Nets to 81-77. O'Neal then made one of two, and a dunk by Van Horn off an offensive rebound got New Jersey within three.
Fox restored a five-point lead, Van Horn missed a 3 and O'Neal bulled over Jason Collins for a layup and a seven-point edge with four minutes left.
New Jersey was able to get within four points four times after that, but never closer.
In the early going, the Nets were as tentative and hesitant as the Lakers were relaxed and confident.
The Nets looked good for about 20 seconds in the first quarter, then the Lakers started looking like champs. An 8-0 run gave them a 10-4 lead, and Bryant dribbled around his back and fed O'Neal for a layup.
A 3-pointer by Fisher made it 19-8, causing the Nets to call a timeout and bringing the first chant of "three-peat" from the crowd. An obviously frustrated Martin fouled O'Neal by grabbing him around the waist late in the quarter as Los Angeles was on its way to a 29-14 lead after 12 minutes.
The Lakers' onslaught didn't cease in the early part of the second quarter, with O'Neal hitting a 9-foot turnaround, a dunk and a 6-foot fadeaway -- all on assists from Brian Shaw -- to take a 42-19 lead.
New Jersey responded with a 14-4 run and pulled to 48-36 at halftime, and the Nets had to be somewhat satisfied that they were at least within striking distance after what was probably their most miserable half of the postseason.
After Van Horn hit two 3-pointers early in the third, Bryant drove the lane and threw down a crowd-pleasing slam for a 56-44 lead. A 3-pointer by Kittles pulled the Nets to 60-56, but the Lakers quickly went back ahead by double digits.
Kidd scored on a drive but failed to complete the three-point play with 1:13 remaining, leaving New Jersey trailing 68-63, and the Lakers scored then final five points of the period to take a 72-63 lead into the fourth.
Notes: Magic Johnson, whose upcoming induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame was announced earlier Wednesday, received a huge standing ovation during a first-quarter timeout. ... Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he foresees a role in this series for Mitch Richmond, who is in the Finals for the first time in his 13-year career. "Mitch walked through the door Tuesday morning and said, 'Don't forget about me, coach. I'll be ready to play in this one." I said, 'I won't,'" Jackson said. Richmond, however, did not play. ... Collins played eight minutes in the fourth quarter and fouled O'Neal five times.
Many of OJ's relatives behaving badly there. Hope they have the class to not loot their neighborhoods again in a riot if they win.
But your 1/4 of the way there now. But does the tightening of the score worry you? I didn't(and won't) watch, so don't know what the feel and flow was like, but the thread sounds like the Lakers blew a big lead.
1. After every missed shot, instead of yelling or whining at the referees (like the Kings did), the Nets got back on defense. Wow!
2. New Jersey's defense actually played defense instead of falling down every time Shaq looked at them (like Vlade "no-talent" Divac does). This shows a team that actually cares about the game instead of trying to make a mockery of it.
3. After the game, Jason Kidd accepted the loss. He didn't blame the refs, David Stern, the Laker Girls, or anything else for the loss. Unlike the Kings, who whined, cried, and blamed their loss on everything from the hardness of the floor to Jupiter not aligning with Saturn properly.
New Jersey is a classy team. On several occasions when players on either team were fouled, the fouler would try to grab a hold of the foulee to prevent them from falling down. Think we would have seen that in the Kings series? Ha.
That another of your "indisputable facts"? I hate to break it to you, but they MADE 15 out of 26.
I'm sorry, you're right. That's a much better percentage than I thought!
You counted two? I thought I counted six. You must have better eyesight than me. I'm so glad that Shaq was only "touching" Shaq. I thought he was trying to get underneath Shaq's skin. Maybe he was pretending we was Shaq's wetsuit!
Yes, you are correct. I wasn't really pleased with that. The Lakers had a 23 point lead, and then let the Gnats back in it. I think Jackson made a mistake in clearing his bench too early and too Shaq out of the game. If Jackson had allowed the game to go on the way it was for probably 5 more minutes, I think the Lakers would have had a lead of 30. There were several wild missed shots by both teams when Shaq went out, and the game got very sloppy. The Lakers got out of the rhythm of their offense, and struggled thereafter. However, I don't believe the Gnats really solved Shaq. I also don't believe the game was really seriously in doubt. I'm sure the Lakers gave the Gnats confidence, but I don't know if that's going to translate to more than one win.
That being said, the Nets just don' t have the horses to get it done. They have no answer for Shaq, unlike the Kings who caused a lot of problems in the middle early in that series. The Lakers seem to be regaining a shooting touch, and that's bad news for New Jersey. Kobe still seems to be pressing a bit, and forcing some things that get him into trouble. I was disturbed that L.A. failed to score 100 points. That's the key barometer to look at- when the Lakers score they usually win. Check the last series, the four games they won they scored 100 or more and the three they lost they were under 100.
All in all I expect the Lakers to win with less than inspired efforts, and take the series in five games.
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