Lakers win series, 4-2

• Game 1: Lakers 104, Pacers 87
• Game 2: Lakers 111, Pacers 104
• Game 3: Pacers 100, Lakers 91
• Game 4: Lakers 120, Pacers 118
• Game 5: Pacers 120, Lakers 87
• Game 6: Lakers 116, Pacers 111

Give the nickname lover one more: The Big Winner. Shaquille O'Neal averaged 38 points and 16 rebounds in the 2000 Finals and was the biggest reason the Lakers are back on top of the NBA universe for the first time since 1988. "He was just too much for us," said Indiana coach Larry Bird.

O'Neal was named the Finals MVP and became just the third player in NBA history to win that award along with the regular season and All-Star MVP awards (Michael Jordan, twice, and Willis Reed) in the same season. He scored a game-high 41 points in the decisive Game 6 (19-of-32) and had 12 rebounds. "We're gonna get one next year, too," O'Neal said moments after he won his first NBA title Monday at Staples Center.

The Lakers' won an NBA-best 67 games during the regular season with the high-scoring output of the Big Three (O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Glen Rice), and the trio were the big deal in this one scoring 83 of the team's 116 points. Bryant was just 8-27 from the floor for 26 points, but continuously disrupted the Pacers' defense with slashes to the rim. He added four assists and 10 rebounds. Rice made all three of his 3-point attempts and made 5-for-7 field goals while scoring 16 points. "I told the guys to kick it out to me and I'll bury some 3s," Rice said. "This is the best feeling in the world."

Robert Horry didn't have a standout series but he had a huge impact in this one, scoring all eight of his points at a crucial point of the fourth quarter that helped the Lakers overtake a Pacers lead. Horry came into the game shooting 1-for-12 from 3-point range, but drained two from the baseline in a one-minute span and added a floater in the lane that gave the Lakers the lead for good at 105-103.

The Lakers didn't excel at closeout games this postseason with a record of 4-6 in games when they could have ended a series. But the Lakers were solid at home, posting an 11-2 record (only two losses to Portland) and they were 4-1 at the Staples Center in the win-and-move-on matches.

Reggie Miller (25) and Jalen Rose (29) went 20-20 again, but this time it didn't matter as Miller was firing blanks from the 3-point line (2-for-10). He had a chance to tie the game with 30 seconds left but his deep 3-pointer clanged off the rim. It was the second time in the series (the buzzer shot in Game 4) that Miller took the big shot and didn't make it count.

The Pacers' 3-point shot was on once again in Game 6 (12-for-25), the third consecutive game they nailed double-digit long bombs. Austin Croshere, a summertime free agent who earned some big-time bucks with his stellar Finals play, sank 3-of-5 triples and scored 16 points.

In all six games the team that won the board battle won the game. The Lakers outrebounded the Pacers, 44-41, in Game 6 and 13-9 on the offensive end where they turned the extra possessions into easy points many times. O'Neal had back-to-back dunk putbacks that fueled a Laker run midway through the final period. The last one off a Brian Shaw miss put L.A. up 101-94.

It was the Laker franchise's 12th title and Phil Jackson's seventh -- only Boston's Red Auerbach has won more as an NBA coach (nine). Jackson also became the second coach in NBA history to win NBA titles with two different franchises. "What a way to start a millennium," Jackson said. Alex Hannum with St. Louis (1958) and Philadelphia (1967) was the other to notch titles with different teams.

Bird reiterated that he would step away from the Pacers and that Game 6 was the last game of his coaching career. He becomes the sixth coach to walk away from coaching directly after making a Finals appearance.

Miller set an NBA Finals record for free-throw accuracy in a six-game series by sinking 45 of 46 attempts (97.8 percent), beating the 96.8 percent of Boston's Bill Sharman in 1958.

O'Neal added his name to the record books, too. He joined a group of six players to score 30 or more in each game of the Finals (Larry Bird, 1984, Hakeem Olajuwon, 1994, Bob Pettit, 1960, Elgin Baylor 1962, Jerry West 1962, '69-70 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1974). ... The Lakers center also set the mark for most free throw attempts (93) in a six-game set, bettering George Mikan's record of 86 in 1950 for Minneapolis.