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June 9, 2000 SportsLine.com wire reports |
LOS ANGELES -- This was Hack-a-Shaq in hyperdrive, Hack-a-Shaq hysteria,
a fusillade of free throws unlike anything ever seen in 54 years of NBA
basketball.
Pacers can't capitalize on Bryant's injury Bryant out of Game 2 after injuring ankle Audio: Lakers coach Phil Jackson says it wasn't an easy win for LA Audio: Jackson says Shaq is similar to Wilt Chamberlain Audio: Jackson discusses Shaq's Game 2 performance Audio: Pacers coach Larry Bird discusses Shaq's Game 2 performance Audio: Bird discusses the Hack-a-Shaq gameplan Audio: Bird says the Pacers blew a great chance
was pushed and pulled, grabbed and slapped, tackled and
toppled. It didn't matter whether he had the ball or not.
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When it was all over, he had attempted an astounding 39 foul shots to knock Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy and Bob Pettit out of the record books, making 18 of them as part another incredible statistical performance.
Behind O'Neal's 40 points, 24 rebounds and 46 percent free throw shooting, the Los Angeles Lakers overcame an injury to Kobe Bryant to defeat the foul-happy Indiana Pacers 111-104 Friday night for a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
"I'm not a fan of Hack-a-Shaq," Indiana's Reggie Miller said. "I like to play straight-up, old-style basketball. But it almost worked for us tonight."
In the entire history of the league, no player had ever taken so many free throws in a single game. Chamberlain set the overall record of 34 in 1962, Cousy set the postseason record of 32 in 1953, Pettit set the finals record of 24 in 1958.
Shaq left them all in the dust, making just enough of them to allow the Lakers to maintain a slim lead down the stretch.
Game 3 is Sunday, and the Pacers will be hard-pressed to come up with a crazier strategy to turn this series around and try to become just the third team in league history to come back from such a deficit in the finals.
If committing 38 fouls couldn't do the trick, even with Bryant sitting out the final 3½ quarters with a sprained ankle, maybe nothing will.
"Whatever it takes to win a ballgame, that's what we're going to do," Indiana coach Larry Bird said. "If it takes a four-hour game, that's what we're going to do. We're down 2-0, and we have to find a way to win one."
Glen Rice and Ron Harper both stepped up in Bryant's absence, scoring 21 points each. Harper was aggressive with the ball, driving repeatedly to the hoop, while Rice found his shooting touch and made five 3-pointers after scoring just three points in Game 1.
Jalen Rose scored 30 to lead Indiana, Austin Croshere added 24 and Reggie Miller had 21 -- just two coming in the fourth quarter.
Sam Perkins and Dale Davis fouled out from hacking Shaq, while Rik Smits committed five fouls and Miller, Mark Jackson and Croshere had four each. Of the 10 Pacers who played, each fouled O'Neal at least once.
Of O'Neal's 39 foul shots, 16 came in the fourth quarter when the Pacers employed the strategy of sending the 7-footer -- a 49 percent foul shooter in the playoffs -- to the line repeatedly.
O'Neal, coming off a 43-point, 19-rebound performance in Game 1, never made two out of two in the fourth -- but he never went 0-for-2 either.
And although the Pacers drew within three points several times, they never completely caught up.
The Hack-a-Shaq strategy heated up in the final three minutes. Every time the Lakers inbounded, the Pacers fouled him. He took 12 free throws in a span of 1:46, making half of them.
"I was trying to get myself to calm down. I was looking over at my father. He told me to take my time, follow through and shoot," O'Neal said.
His success rate was good enough to help the Lakers overcome what could have been a devastating loss. Bryant went down in obvious pain just 7½ minutes into the game when his foot landed on Rose's foot after Bryant shot a jumper.
He tried to get up, stumbled down and then repeated the process again. Hopping around on his uninjured foot and not knowing in which direction to turn, he looked like the human equivalent of a thoroughbred horse pulling up lame with a leg fracture.
The Staples Center crowd went silent as Bryant limped off the court and to the locker room, where he underwent X-rays that came up negative. He was later seen walking down a hallway near the locker room, unable to put any weight on the injured foot. The Lakers listed him as day-to-day.
"It's a good thing we have a cushion, having gone up 2-0, so it's not a do-or-die thing if the doctors don't think I should play Sunday," Bryant said.
The Lakers started pulling away early in the fourth after Indiana got within two with 8:25 left. Harper drove for a bank shot, Derek Fisher hit a wide-open 3-pointer as the Lakers swung the ball out of a double-team and O'Neal went 1-for-2 from the line.
That made it 86-78, but Indiana came back as O'Neal was whistled for his fifth foul -- a highly questionable call that appeared to be a clean block of Travis Best's shot. Best made both shots to start a 6-0 run that made it 86-84.
Rice answered with a 3-pointer, O'Neal scored the Lakers' next two baskets and the stage was set for Indiana to start fouling.
That they did, but to no avail -- just like the Portland Trail Blazers found out in the Western Conference finals when they sent O'Neal to the line 25 times in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
"When the game is two to six points, I can understand it," Miller said of the strategy. "Down 15 like the Portland series, I don't understand it. But if he's shooting free throws like he was tonight, then I could see it."
Despite Bryant's injury and O'Neal's 5-for-17 shooting from the foul line, the Lakers still held a 52-49 halftime lead as O'Neal scored 15, Rice 13 and Harper 11.
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| Pacers guard Mark Jackson chases a loose ball as the Lakers' A.C. Green looks on.(AP) |
Miller served notice early that he was eager to shoot himself out of his slump, making his first attempt -- an 18-footer -- on the Pacers' first possession. Breaking from their usual habit of trying to get Smits involved early on offense, the Pacers looked to go to Miller or Rose nearly every time downcourt.
Rose finished the first quarter with 10 points, Miller had eight and O'Neal had just six. Los Angeles stayed ahead early in the second quarter, but the Pacers stayed within striking distance and finally regained the lead when Rose followed an airball by O'Neal by pushing the ball into the lane for a short turnaround that made it 38-37 with 6:32 left.
The Lakers held a 52-49 halftime lead, and the score was tied 60-60 with 7:09 left in the third quarter when Smits picked up his fifth foul. Undaunted, the Pacers pulled ahead, Miller gaining confidence as he hit a wide-open 3-pointer and a two-handed jam -- both on fast breaks.
Indiana's lead didn't last long, though, and the Lakers took a 73-69 lead into the fourth.
Notes
- Cousy of the Boston Celtics shot 32 free throws against Syracuse in a quadruple-overtime playoff game March 21, 1953. There were 128 total free-throw attempts in that game -- 32 more than Indiana and L.A. combined for.
- Bob Pettit of the St. Louis Hawks held the NBA Finals record of 24 free throws against Boston on April 9, 1958.
- Actress Pamela Anderson was among the courtside celebrities, sporting a temporary "Man of Steel" tattoo just like O'Neal's on her right arm. Tracy McGrady of the Toronto Raptors sat directly behind her wearing a black doo-rag and a red NBA Entertainment credential.
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