INSIGHTS

THE SCENE

Gold, gold, gold and more gold. Thanks to a T-shirt promotion by KCAL, Channel 9, where every fan was given a gold “I Love L.A.!” shirt, Staples Center had a golden feel leading up to the start of the game.

With Game 7 starting later than usual for a Sunday game, Laker fans were in high gear 90 minutes before tip-off as they harassed Portland players during their pregame warmup.

The first big cheer came when Denzel Washington was shown on the video scoreboard wearing his new gold Laker shirt and that was 45 minutes before tipoff. From the jump, Laker fans were at their rowdy best. There were not any empty seats for this game.

But the crowd was taken out of the game early by Portland and except for a couple of brief moments, the Laker fans did not seem to rattle the Trail Blazers.

It was different story in the second half as Laker supporters sensed a possible defeat and rallied for every positive for the home team. In the Lakers’ crucial fourth quarter run, the Laker fans played a major role.

MOMENT OF THE DAY

For almost the entire game, the Trail Blazers had Shaquille O’Neal in an offensive funk with their aggressive trapping defense. But after O’Neal forced Portland center Arvydas Sabonis to the bench with six fouls, he stepped up in a big way against a smaller Brian Grant.

With the Lakers on the move late in the fourth quarter after trailing by as much as 16 points, O’Neal made his best offensive move of the night when he caught the ball on the low post and scored on a bank shot over Grant to give the Lakers a 79-77 lead.

MATCHING UP

Scottie Pippen and Kobe Bryant did not defend each other to open the game but both players had a big impact on the defensive end of the floor. Pippen disrupted the Lakers’ halfcourt offense early by trapping the ball whenever possible. Bryant started off defending Damon Stoudamire but switched over to Steve Smith and he was able to shut him down.

Pippen took over as point forward in the second quarter and also defended Bryant, as he made sure Portland held a lead at halftime.

After a quiet third quarter, Pippen and Bryant often went head-to-head down the stretch with Bryant getting the better with a late jump shot, followed by a Pippen miss and then made an alley-oop pass to O’Neal, who sealed the Lakers’ victory with a dunk.

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TALE OF THE TAPE

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47 Minutes 43 25 Points 12 9-19 Field goals 3-10 1-4 3-pt. field goals 2-6 2 Turnovers 3 0 Steals 2

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