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EVENTS
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Edge of greatness Lakers have chance at postseason history
Updated: Friday June 15, 2001 1:58 AM
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kobe Bryant was dreaming of a dynasty, Shaquille O'Neal was pondering his legacy, Ron Harper and Horace Grant were making comparisons to the Chicago Bulls of the 1990s. The Los Angeles Lakers were getting a little ahead of themselves Thursday on the eve of Game 5, but with good reason. There was a sense pervading the First Union Center that the NBA Finals are all but over. Even the Philadelphia 76ers seemed ready to succumb to the inevitable. "What I'm starting to feel like now," Allen Iverson said, "is that the way to beat those guys is to really blow them out to have a chance. And the way things are going, that's just not going to happen." The Lakers hold a 3-1 lead in the series and have a chance Friday night to finish with a postseason record of 15-1, which would be the best in NBA history. They also would become the first team ever to go through the playoffs undefeated on the road.
Although the task at hand is winning one more game, the Lakers allowed themselves to look at the bigger picture. Bryant admitted that he goes to bed at night wondering whether this Lakers team could become a dynasty. Head coach Phil Jackson discussed O'Neal's desire to leave a legacy as one of the game's best big men, and Harper and Grant -- who each won three championships with Michael Jordan during the last decade -- gave their unique takes on how history will judge this team. "I think in terms of running through the Western Conference like we did and winning two on Philly's court, it puts us among the best teams ever," Grant said. "But in order for us to rank up there with those best Bulls teams, we have to win more than two championships." The Sixers now have to win the final three games of the seven-game series, a feat no team has ever accomplished in the Finals. They are beaten up, mentally and physically, practically running on fumes. "I have enough in my gas tank to keep going, but I don't know when it's going to run out," Iverson said. "Hopefully we'll win this game and I'll find out in L.A." Asked if he could remember the last time he lost three consecutive games, Jackson pondered the question for a moment and answered with a simple, "No." For the record, the Lakers haven't lost three in a row since Jackson took over as head coach two seasons ago, and a Jackson-coached team has not had a three-game losing streak since December 1994, during Jordan's first retirement. The Lakers held a 3-1 lead over the Indiana Pacers last season but fell behind by 20 points at halftime and lost Game 5 by 33 points. The Pacers, however, had more offensive weapons and were healthier than the 76ers, who have received little from anyone other than Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo. Further decreasing their chances, the 76ers are facing a team that is 3-0 in elimination games this season. A year ago, Los Angeles was 4-6 in elimination games. "We put ourselves in this situation last year and got blown out in Game 5, but we've matured so much this season that it's very difficult for us to imagine coming in for a Game 5 and having a letdown like we had last year," Bryant said. The Lakers are playing with a level of confidence that would have been foreign to last year's team. Actually, it would have seemed foreign to this year's team just a few months ago when Bryant and O'Neal were taking potshots at each other and the team was infected with finger-pointing, internal discord and pettiness. Back in late March and early April, there were serious doubts about whether the Lakers would even have the home-court advantage in the first round. "I'm glad we started at the bottom and worked our way to the top rather than starting at the top and falling short," O'Neal said. "Certain guys had different agendas and certain guys were doing certain things, and it was my job to get everybody on the same page. I said what I had to say and I did what I had to do, and things worked out the way they did. "The last 15 games, everybody got on the same page." O'Neal is almost certain to be named the finals' MVP for the second consecutive season. He is averaging 34.0 points and 16.5 rebounds and has been a dominant force when he hasn't been in foul trouble. Sixers head coach Larry Brown has chosen to double-team O'Neal when he gets the ball deep in the low post, and role players such as Robert Horry, Derek Fisher, Ron Harper and Brian Shaw have consistently knocked down the open shots that have resulted. The 76ers have been able to control the pace for much of the series, but the Lakers have held Iverson around 30 shots over the past three games when the 76ers have needed him to squeeze off 10 more -- as he did in Game 1. "I don't know what we can do strategically other than tell Aaron McKie, Tyrone Hill and Eric [Snow] now to get double figures and Deke [Mutombo] and Allen to do what they've been doing," Brown said. "I'm going to tell them, 'Let's figure it out,' and we'll go from there."
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