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Finals Notebook Superstar wars: Lakers' Kobe and Shaq vs. Nets' KiddPosted: Monday June 10, 2002 5:08 PMUpdated: Wednesday June 12, 2002 3:51 AM
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- When the postscripts are written for the 2002 NBA Finals, the bottom line might be that it was too much Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant for Jason Kidd to overcome. Kidd was brilliant in defeat for the New Jersey Nets with 30 points and 10 assists, including 20 points in the final 15:19 Sunday night. But Bryant scored 36 points and O'Neal 35. Nets coach Byron Scott said it's still too early to declare Shaq and Kobe the best duo ever. "You've got to wait until they're done," Scott said. "You've got to see how many championships they win. Then you can put them in a category with some of the greatest players or greatest duos of all time. "Shaq is 30-something, Kobe is 23, they're still pretty young. They have a lot of years left in them. It depends on where they end up." Scott said that the Lakers' 106-103 victory Sunday was almost a case of "two stars beating 1 1/2 because Kenyon Martin really brought it last night. He's that other guy that you can look at as a future star if he keeps developing, which I know he will. "But Shaq and Kobe obviously were better than Kenyon and Jason. They made the shots, and we missed the big shots." Martin finished with 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting in Game 3 after combining for just 27 points on 9-for-30 shooting in the first two games of the Finals.
Bringing home a championshipThe Los Angeles Lakers have a message for any of their fans who want to see the team win the championship on their home court: Forget about it. "People ask us, 'Don't you want to win it at home?'" Lakers guard Derek Fisher said. "But we would have to lose two straight to get the series back home, and we aren't going to lose focus and let that happen." Lakers coach Phil Jackson remembers how Chicago took a 3-0 lead over Seattle in 1996, then saw the SuperSonics win two straight before Jackson's Bulls won the championship in Game 6 at Chicago. "I've been in this situation before," Jackson said. "You just cannot relax in that particular setting of the Finals because you never know what's going to happen. They have a couple of days to adjust and do some things, try to come back."
Shaq on KiddThe Lakers' 3-0 lead on New Jersey doesn't diminish Shaquille O'Neal's admiration for Jason Kidd's game. "Jason Kidd undoubtedly was the MVP of this year," O'Neal said, disregarding Kidd's second-place finish to Tim Duncan in the MVP voting. "The guy had nine or 10 triple-doubles; he plays with a lot of emotion and is a class act. Magic Johnson said it best, that kids need to watch Jason Kidd and pattern their games after him rather than pattern their games after people that shoot a lot. He's a great player who plays his heart out."
Odds and endsThe Lakers are one short of the NBA Finals record for consecutive road victories. They have won four straight (three at Philadelphia in 2001 and Wednesday night at New Jersey). Chicago won five straight from 1992-96 and Detroit had five in 1989-90. ... The closest any team came to winning the NBA championship after falling behind 3-0 was in 1951, when the New York Knicks won three straight before losing Game 7, 79-75, to Rochester. ... Sunday night's game marked the first time both teams shot better than 50 percent from the field in a Finals game since the Lakers beat Boston 141-122 on June 4, 1987. Los Angeles shot 54.4 percent and New Jersey 51.8 percent on Sunday. ... Nets center Aaron Williams fouled out in seven minutes Sunday, the quickest disqualification in NBA Finals history, surpassing the previous record of nine by Bob Harrison of Minneapolis in 1952. The NBA playoff record is still six minutes by the Lakers' Travis Knight against San Antonio in 1999. |
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Byron Scott and the Nets intend to get right back into the series -- one game at a time.
