Lakers Make Change With This Quarter

In Laker folklore, it will go down simply as “The Quarter”. Around Portland, it will be referred to as “The Fold.”

How else can you sum up what happened to the Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Sunday at Staples Center.

After Bonzi Wells made the second of two free throws, Portland held a 75-60 lead with 10:28 remaining in the game. All they had to do was continue to play like they had for three quarters and the Lakers would be starting their summer vacation today.

Instead, Portland played right into the Lakers’ hands. Thanks to a 15-0 run and some timely defensive plays by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, the Trail Blazers are the ones calling their travel agents.

“We realize that we sort of made cowards of ourselves in the fourth quarter,” forward Scottie Pippen said about the Trail Blazer collapse. “We played like we were fatigued and they gained the momentum they needed to pull this game out.”

What happened? A combination of the Lakers stepping up on both ends of the floor and the Trail Blazers feeling the pressure, that’s what.

O’Neal, who had been a sad no-show on offense for three quarters, started the Laker rally with a layup that cut Portland’s lead to 75-62.

Then Bryant took things into his hands when he left the man he was guarding to block a sure basket by Wells in the lane. Moments later, the Lakers found themselves down by only 10 when Brian Shaw made his second three-point basket with 9:39 left.

“I wasn’t nervous, but it wasn’t looking good,” said Shaw, who scored 11 points in 17 minutes.

“But every time we threw the ball into Shaq, they went down and doubled. So, I just tried to take the shots that were there and fortunately for me, they were dropping.”

Once the Lakers cut Portland’s lead to 10, the Trail Blazers became visibly tight on offense. Their main point producer in the series had been power forward Rasheed Wallace and he was unable to score when they needed him most.

Wallace, who missed six of nine shots in the fourth quarter, did not get off good shots against the Lakers’ swarming and desperate defense.

“We missed some shots down the stretch,” a dejected Wallace said after the game. “Can’t do nothing about that, and it’s all said and done with now.”

After Bryant and O’Neal each made one of two free throws, the Lakers trailed, 75-67, with 8:24 remaining. Pippen then turned the ball over to Shaw and the Lakers scrambled on offense until Robert Horry made a three-point shot to cut Portland’s lead to 75-70 with 7:06 left.

The Trail Blazers maintained their five-point lead for another 79 seconds before Bryant made a jump shot to cut the Lakers’ deficit to 75-72. Moments later, Brian Grant had a sure basket blocked by O’Neal and the Lakers’ rally hit a high-mark when Shaw made his final three-pointer to tie the score at 75 with four minutes remaining.

Wallace made a layup to give Portland its final lead, 77-75, at the 2:58 mark. The Lakers then went inside to O’Neal, who drew Arvydas Sabonis’ sixth foul, made two free throws and then followed with a turnaround bank shot over Grant to give the Lakers a 79-77 lead with 2:12 left.

Thanks to a goaltending call against O’Neal on a shot by Wallace, Portland tied the score at 79 with 1:50 remaining. After two free throws by Bryant, the Lakers caught a break when Wallace missed two free throws with 1:25 left. Bryant made them pay with another jump shot over Pippen to stretch the Lakers’ lead to four.

After another Portland miss, Bryant and O’Neal teamed up for a backbreaking alley-oop to give the Lakers an 85-79 lead with 41.9 seconds remaining.

“We can’t bring the quarter back,” Pippen said. “We know we didn’t complete this game. We lost this game in one quarter.”

A quarter that will be remembered around Los Angeles and Portland for years to come.