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Overview
Forget that JV tournament going on over on the East Coast. This is the real NBA Finals. The Kings and Lakers were the two best teams during the regular season, and three of their four regular-season contests were decided by eight points or fewer. Sacramento, led by Chris Webber, is coming off an impressive five-game series win over the Mavericks and badly wants to avenge last year’s playoff sweep by L.A. The Lakers, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, are 7-1 in the postseason after sweeping the Blazers in the first round and then taking out the Spurs. The Lakers also come in having won an amazing 11 consecutive playoff road games. It will be the Kings’ depth versus the Lakers’ 1-2 punch and championship experience. Home-court advantage could be huge for Sacramento if the series goes to a Game 7, but without All-Star forward Peja Stojakovic (ankle) for at least the first two games, will the Kings be able to get it that far?
The Kings will win if...
Stojakovic returns by Game 3, and bench players Scot Pollard, Bobby Jackson and Hedo Turkoglu come up big. Sacramento needs Pollard, in particular, to provide quality minutes on Shaq so that Webber and Vlade Divac don’t pile up fouls. Jackson and Turkoglu must chip in by providing a perimeter scoring dimension, at least until Stojakovic gets back. Point guard Mike Bibby outplayed Steve Nash in the Dallas series, and needs to do the same to L.A.’s Derek Fisher. His quickness could be a problem for the Lakers, particularly on pick-and-rolls as the Kings try to lure Shaq out of the lane. Also, Webber (23.2 points, 10.8 rebounds in the playoffs) must attack the basket and not settle for jumpers. L.A.’s defense is much better than Dallas’, so
Sacramento is going to have to take care of the ball and knock down outside shots.
The Lakers will win if...
Shaq can suck it up for the first three quarters of each game so that Kobe can finish the job. Bryant was sensational in crunch time against the Spurs, and seems hellbent on leading the Lakers to a three-peat. He will be matched up against a tough defender in the lanky Doug Christie, but Bryant still averaged 35.0 points against the Kings in last year’s playoffs. The bigger question revolves around Shaq, whose scoring and rebounding are down from his 30-point/15-rebound averages of the past two Lakers title runs. L.A. needs Shaq to offset Webber and Divac inside, because role players Fisher, Rick Fox, Robert Horry and Samaki Walker have not been shooting particularly well. The Lakers will live or die with their defense in this series. Look for Bryant to be all over the court, possibly even taking a turn on Bibby as Phil Jackson tries to cut off the head of the Kings’ attack.
Key Stats
Stojakovic averaged 18.3 points and 5.7 rebounds in three games against the Lakers during the regular-season series; Bryant averaged 25.5 points (on 50.0 percent shooting), 4.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists against the Kings.
Did you know?
The Kings are making their first trip to the conference finals since 1981, when the franchise was located in Kansas City.
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| Prediction: Lakers in 6
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