Just Too Good

It was a four-and-oh-so-sweet sweep as the Lakers swamped the Nets to seal an L.A. three-peat

By Jack McCallum

Issue date: June 26, 2002

"Destiny versus dynasty." That's the alliterative phrase Jason Kidd chose to characterize the 2002 NBA Finals. Well, Kidd didn't get too much wrong during a triple double-laden postseason, but the New Jersey Nets' savvy point guard wasn't exactly right on with that one. Or perhaps he was. Nobody expected Kidd to say it, but the Nets' destiny, since the first day of practice last October, was the same as that of every other potential Eastern Conference champion -- to play patsy in the Finals to the West, be that conference's representative the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sacramento Kings or the San Antonio Spurs.

A few New Jersey players might have believed the Nets had a chance, but most observers recognized the weakness of the East and, further, that a matchup with the Lakers offered the strong possibility that brooms would be coming out of the closet.

There were several reasons for that. The Nets are at their best playing in a fast-breaking style, but the Lakers are excellent at controlling tempo and forcing the opposition to play at a modulated pace, at least partly because L.A.'s triangle offense is set up so that usually at least one defender (and often two) is back to guard against transition. Second, New Jersey has three serviceable centers but none with the size or wingspan to keep Shaquille O'Neal from dominating. (The Philadelphia 76ers won Game 1 of the 2001 Finals partly because Dikembe Mutombo was able to put up a challenge to O'Neal.) Third, the Nets have no one to match Kobe Bryant's speed, quickness and strength except Kidd, who could not be asked to play Bryant for long stretches and still run the offense. Fourth, the best way to attack the Lakers is to pull Shaq away from the basket, preferably by running high pick-and-rolls that produce jump shots, a strategy used in the Western Conference finals by the Kings with sharpshooting Mike Bibby. But the Nets are not accurate jump shooters, not even Kidd, who would be involved in any pick-and-rolls. Finally, New Jersey coach Byron Scott knows a lot about Lakers basketball -- he was on three L.A. championship teams in the 1980s -- but precious little about coaching in a championship series. He would make a couple of mistakes in the Finals: not playing Richard Jefferson (instead of Keith Van Horn) enough and discovering too late that zone defense and multiteaming is the best way to deal with O'Neal.

Nevertheless, the series was not as relentlessly one-sided as it might seem. Kidd and the always tough Kenyon Martin gave us a few good moments. It's just that Shaq and Kobe & Co. gave us so many more.

Game 1

O'Neal referred to the series opener as "a feel-out game." Well, that was one way to characterize it. "Aesthetic disaster" would have been another. The dramatic nature of the Lakers' seven-game conference finals against the Kings -- "instant classic" was how L.A. point guard Derek Fisher accurately described it -- set a standard that most observers figured would not be met in the Finals. But, jeez, did it have to be this bad?

The Lakers jetted to a 42-19 lead midway through the second period, and while L.A. was at its best executing the triangle offense, nearly everyone knew that the Nets' nervousness had a lot to do with their execrable start. (New Jersey made 6 of 22 shots in the first quarter.) One dissenter was Martin; the power forward claimed after the game that his team did not have a case of Finals heebie-jeebies. Kmart, my man, grab for any alibi you can.

Once the Lakers took their big lead, they went into what Phil Jackson later called "cruise control," allowing the Nets to crawl back in. In the second half New Jersey started using two and three defenders to restrict O'Neal's touches, beat the Lakers to loose balls and came alive offensively through the splendid talents of Kidd, who averaged a triple double in the Eastern Conference final series against the Boston Celtics and would finish this game with another (23 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists). Still, it never seemed as if the Nets could actually win, not even after they got within 84-81 with 4:47 left. O'Neal began hitting some of the shots he had been missing -- "Pound the ball inside, and let Shaq take us home" is how Bryant described the Lakers' strategy -- and Kobe himself seemed to be biding his time, just waiting to come up with a game-clinching play. Sure enough, with 1:11 left Bryant drove toward the basket, drew two defenders and delivered a perfect bounce pass to Rick Fox, whose layup gave L.A. a 95-87 lead and essentially clinched the game.

The play got overlooked in the wake of the most intriguing subplot of the postseason -- O'Neal's sudden proficiency (relatively speaking) at the line. Late in the game Jackson said, "Shaquille, you take the ball out-of-bounds after a make so they don't foul you." Shaq looked him in the eye and said, "Those days are over." He then went out and missed one of two. "Phil jinxed me," Shaq said with a smile.

While acknowledging O'Neal's turnaround, Scott indicated that he would not hesitate to employ a Hack-a-Shaq strategy should the situation call for it. You think? O'Neal shot an incredible 16 free throws in the fourth quarter (he made half of them), and not once did the Nets protest -- after all, they were trying to foul him. Shaq finished with 36 points, including 12 of 21 from the line. Actually, O'Neal's free throw shooting wasn't Scott's major 15-foot concern -- it was the abysmal showing of his own team, which made 15 of its 26 free throws.

"I think that now we have some of those jitters out of the way, this will be a lot better series than people think it will be," said Scott. It could hardly get any worse.

Game 2

O'Neal was sitting in his huge bathroom watching his huge bathroom TV when he caught Kings coach Rick Adelman complaining to a late-night interviewer about O'Neal's alleged proclivity for stepping over the line before his free throw touched the rim. It was at this moment that an already bad situation for the Nets turned positively wretched. Nothing sets O'Neal off like complaints that he breaks the rules, particularly when those complaints come from a member of the Kings, a team that O'Neal considers replete with whiners.

About 20 hours, 40 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists later, the Lakers had a 106-83 victory, a 2-0 series lead and the ever-increasing feeling that their three-peat season would culminate in New Jersey. Give Adelman an assist. "That game is dedicated to him," said O'Neal, resplendent in yellow-checked slacks and oversized shirt and topped by a flashy Cuban-style hat. "I don't believe people still question me after all the tough times and hard work I've been through. Can I go one day without somebody saying something negative about me?"

Well, Shaq, after the game Scott called you "a monster," but he meant it in a good way. "I don't know what to do against Shaq right now," admitted Scott. Perhaps he should have called his counterpart in Sacramento, asked for advice, maybe vented a little about how Adelman had fired up a guy who already seemed to be getting better as the season wore on.

In truth, there was little the Nets could do. Their undersized band of frontline troupers -- Todd MacCulloch, Aaron Williams and Jason Collins -- were dwarfed and even outquicked by the mammoth and agile O'Neal, who had discouraged the Hack-a-Shaq defense by having suddenly turned into the second coming of Rick Barry. Shaq made 12 of 14 free throws, ending many of them with his hand extended into the air, as if to accentuate his grandly accurate release. "That was for Adelman too," said O'Neal.

Should New Jersey throw three guys on him in Game 3 at Continental Airlines Arena? Four? They could consider the strategy at their own peril. Often disparaged early in the postseason, Shaq-mates Fox, Fisher and Robert Horry appeared eminently comfortable against the Nets, ready to pick up the offensive scraps available after Shaq gulped down the main meal -- collectively, they made 11 of 24 shots that included five of 10 from three-point range. But even that wasn't the worst news for the Nets. Kobe had been loitering comfortably at the fringes of the Lakers' offense, content to watch the Shaq Attaq but ready to take over at any time should O'Neal somehow be deterred from what he has called his "mission" to three-peat.

Game 3

The New Jersey franchise is so devoid of tradition that in order to pump up the crowd before this obvious must-win, it invited three former New York Knicks, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe and Dave DeBusschere, to sit courtside. There is a connection, of course: That trio famously won a championship along with Willis Reed, now the Nets' senior vice president. Then again, Phil Jackson won a title with them, too, and has a close relationship with Bradley, on whose presidential campaign he worked two years ago. Net gain? Zero.

Martin seemed to sense this: As he walked onto the court before the opening tip, he waved his arms wildly, trying to lift the crowd onto its feet and into a frenzy. The gesture seemed forced and, ultimately, was ineffectual, considering the way the Nets started the game.

When New Jersey chose to stick with its strategy of basically playing O'Neal straight up, the big man got off 11 points in the first quarter. But that wasn't the worst news for the Nets. In score-book terms, here was the worst news: 8:47 FISHER 24' JUMP SHOT; 6:00 FISHER 3 PT 26' JUMP SHOT; 5:35 FISHER 3 PT 24' JUMP SHOT. That represented eight points for Fisher in the first seven minutes, and everyone knows that if L.A.'s supporting cast gets revved up, the Nets have virtually no chance, given that they are not going to stop O'Neal and Bryant, who had 21 and 14 points, respectively, by halftime. As was the case in Games 1 and 2, the Lakers, who held a 52-46 lead at the break, didn't seem to be playing at full bore, but it was enough to thwart New Jersey.

Then for the first time in the series the Nets mounted a threat. They put up a college-style matchup zone that limited Shaq's touches. They closed out on the other potential scorers. They ran their fast break. They got stellar play from someone other than Kidd -- namely Martin, who would finish with 26 points. And they took a 94-87 lead with 6:44 left. It didn't feel like a fluke.

To Bryant, however, it apparently did.

The only adjective that adequately describes his play over the final six minutes is not in the dictionary: Jordanesque. In between two mid-range runners, Bryant also hit a seemingly impossible shot from just inside the arc and a leaner between Kidd and Kerry Kittles. The latter shot was truly amazing, given the tenacity of the defense being played on him and the fact that he almost lost the ball and had to regain control in mid-move. Later, Kobe (a game-high 36 points on 14-of-23 shooting from the floor) showed up at the postgame press conference in a Wayne Gretzky jersey; in this game he was indeed the Great One. Curiously, neither the Nets nor the fans seemed shocked by the comeback. It was as if they had expected it.

Certainly the Lakers had. After the game O'Neal gave props to Kidd (30 points, 10 assists) and even praised the Nets as a team "that won't go away." Meanwhile, a new slogan began circulating in the L.A. locker room -- uno mas.

Game 4

Inspired by the zone they played late in Game 3, the Nets approached this do-or-die showdown with a college-style defense -- a classic 1-2-2 or 2-3 zone that collapsed on Shaq almost every time he got the ball. A less mobile, less canny center (see O'Neal, Shaquille, circa 1995) would have been bothered by it, but O'Neal came out from under the basket, received the ball higher and showed a wide variety of moves in scoring 18 first-half points that helped stake the Lakers to a 58-57 lead.

But executing on offense wasn't L.A.'s problem; defending (or not defending) against Martin was. An up-and-down performer throughout the series, Martin was mostly up in Game 4, posting up Horry, an excellent interior defender, and hitting shots that kept the Nets in the game. So effective was Martin that Kidd used most of his considerable talents to get the ball inside to him, taking only three shots in the first half.

The game continued the pattern established in the first three games: The Nets never seemed in control or entirely confident yet always managed to stage one big rally, disappointing though it ultimately proved to be. New Jersey's Game 4 spurt was led by the scoring of Martin (who finished with a game-high 35 points), the all-around play of Kidd (13 points, 12 assists) and the off-the-bench spark of Lucious Harris (11 fourth-quarter points). But the Lakers seemed to take control whenever they wanted, teasing their opponents with hints of vulnerability, then reseizing the initiative behind O'Neal, Bryant or a less likely source. In this game it was backup Devean George, who contributed 11 points and six rebounds in 20 key minutes (after having put up just 15 points in the Finals' first three games). When the Nets took an 87-84 lead two minutes into the final period, it was as if a button had been pushed in the purple-and-gold control room. From that moment on L.A. outscored New Jersey 29-20, getting points from six players, including little-used veteran Mitch Richmond, for whom the Lakers ran a clearout with 18.6 seconds left, so he could get his only, well-deserved, Finals bucket.

After the game Martin, without naming names, blasted a couple of teammates for not playing hard. (One, clearly, was Van Horn, who scored only seven points and has been criticized all season for playing soft.) Predictably, all was sweetness and light in the locker room of the champions, who became the seventh NBA team to win a title in four straight. O'Neal was particularly gracious toward Jackson, singling him out as the major reason that he had developed into a player who could win three straight Finals MVP awards. (Jordan is the only other player to do that.) "I realize if it wasn't for Phil and his system," said O'Neal, "I wouldn't have any championship rings, never mind three." Almost as impressive as O'Neal was Bryant, who never chafed at his supporting role in this series and played his best when he was most needed, which is when O'Neal was on the bench. Bryant wore a vintage Jordan Bulls jersey to Game 4, and while he still might not measure up to His Airness, he's getting closer.

So here's a troubling question for the rest of the league: Does anyone have a plan for stopping the dominance of O'Neal, the versatility of Bryant and the gamesmanship of Jackson next season? We thought not.

Issue date: June 26, 2002