 |
| |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Survive and ... Lakers come up big in elimination game, force final contestPosted: Saturday June 01, 2002 1:18 AMUpdated: Saturday June 01, 2002 2:04 AM LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The budding dynasty remains alive. Now the Los Angeles Lakers have to battle history as well as the Sacramento Kings. And that's just fine with Rick Fox. The two-time defending NBA champions beat the Kings 106-102 Friday night thanks to 11 free throws in the last two minutes to set up a Game 7 in the Western Conference finals Sunday at Arco Arena. "We're probably better off to be on the road -- no slight to Staples Center or our fans," said Fox, who made four foul shots without a miss down the stretch. "We'll be focused, we'll have no distractions, we won't have anything else to think about." The Kings are playing in the conference finals for the first time in 21 years, while the Lakers have won six championships since that time, including the last two. "Game 7 will probably be more intense than the first six," Fox said. "We knew we'd have an opportunity to win tonight, the way we played in Game 5." The Kings earned homecourt advantage with their NBA-best 61-21 regular-season record -- three games better than the Lakers -- and now they'll reap the benefit. Only once has a road team prevailed in a Game 7 of the Western Conference finals in the past 52 years -- the Phoenix Suns won in that situation at Golden State in 1976. The feat has been accomplished 14 times overall in playoff history. Nevertheless, Fox expressed confidence. "This is an even playing field right now," he said. "Sacramento has never been in this situation. We have, we know what it feels like. They can't help but think about it." The Kings have won two of the three games in this series at Arco Arena. The Lakers, playing in their first elimination game since the 2000 conference finals, faced the must-win situation when they lost 92-91 Tuesday night at Arco on Mike Bibby's jumper with 8.2 seconds left. Bibby missed a 3-pointer that could have tied this game after Kobe Bryant's final two foul shots with 11.8 seconds remaining put the Lakers ahead 105-102. A free throw by Horry completed the scoring. The Lakers harassed Bibby into a 7-of-20 shooting performance including 1-of-8 in the first half, when veteran Brian Shaw spent considerable time shadowing his smaller foe. O'Neal and Bryant combined for 72 points with the rest of the Lakers totaling 34, but it proved to be enough. The Lakers might not be the same team that breezed through last year's postseason with an all-time best 15-1 record, but now they're one win away reaching the NBA Finals and a date with the New Jersey Nets. "We know what it takes to win ballgames," said Robert Horry, whose 3-pointer as time expired gave the Lakers a 100-99 victory in Game 4. I've been in so many elimination games, it doesn't bother me. Whatever happens, happens." The Lakers made 34 of 40 free throws while the Kings went 18-of-25 from the line. In the first five games, Los Angeles was 74-of-112 and Sacramento 100-of-149. Lakers coach Phil Jackson, more animated than usual on the sideline, relied on stars O'Neal and Bryant to get the job done, and they didn't disappoint. "That's what we said we wanted, to have a big game out of our guys who carried us and worked hard all year long to bring us to this point, Jackson said. Jackson-coached teams have won a record 22 straight playoff series -- 12 in Chicago and 10 with the Lakers. "Shaq did his thing, that's the biggest key," Horry said. "When he plays aggressive like that, it's easier on us and harder on them. He wanted it. He said, 'Come to me, come to me early and you'll handle it from there.' We get him rolling, we're going to ride." The Lakers, who averaged 22.4 free throws in the first five games, attempted 40 in this one, making 34. O'Neal was 13-of-17 and Bryant 11-of-11.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
