The Best of the East Meets Up With the Best of the West to See Which Team Is the Real Heavyweight of the NBA

Nothing, and everything, has changed.

Months later, the Pacers look to topple the king of the hill again. They need to do it four times to have it mean anything, but are helped in that three of the first five games are back home again in Indiana and that the Lakers haven’t been defending their own turf very well.

Oh, and there is this:

Someone shrunk the mountain.

This is the same Laker team that had its 16-game winning streak end Jan. 14 at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Still the favorites to win the NBA title. Still starting the same five, including two stars.

It’s also still the team that couldn’t put an opponent away. That’s what has changed. The Lakers no longer are talked of as invincible.

They are 11-6 in the postseason and only 9-6 since the 2-0 start in the first round

against Sacramento. They lost two home games in a row to Portland in the Western Conference finals, then trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter of another before pulling out of the nose-dive to advance. In each of the previous series, they have failed to eliminate an opponent on the first chance, missing two opportunities versus the Kings and Trail Blazers and one against the Suns.

They have back-flipped their way across a razor blade, risking something more than a regular-season winning streak.

“The reality is when you get here, you’ve got to win it,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said. “And we may have learned enough at this point to know how to do it.”

May have.

“We have a little bit of [finals] experience as individuals, but not as a team,” Jackson said. “We have to build on what we did [in Game 7 against Portland] to be better, because we had some offensive and defensive sequences that were misplayed.”

The Lakers were 31-6, best in the league, when they arrived for their first look at beautiful Conseco Fieldhouse, had lost only once in their previous 24 games and not at all since Dec. 8 at Sacramento. The streak was at 38 days and 16 games.

The Lakers were up by five points with nine minutes to play when the Pacers broke through, getting big bench contributions from Austin Croshere and Travis Best and winning the final quarter, 36-25, and the game, 111-102.

“Defensively, I think we’re very disappointed, because normally down the stretch, we stop teams,” Laker forward Glen Rice, who had 11 points in the fourth quarter and a game-high 23, said afterward. “And tonight, against an experienced team such as Indiana . . . they just had our number.”

Said Jackson that night: “I think we had a really good game. “[The Pacers] played about as well as I’ve seen them play this year. . . .

“We didn’t respond well down the stretch. I think we made some mistakes.”

It was Indiana’s 11th consecutive home victory, worth a 24-11 record overall, best in the East. It was also the start to the closest thing the Lakers had to a regular-season slump, with losses in five of their next eight games.

That skid was soon forgotten when the Lakers went from back-to-back losses, at Houston and at San Antonio, to a 19-game winning streak, lasting Feb. 4-March 13, during which they got a rematch with the Pacers.

That came March 3 at Staples Center, consecutive win No. 14. Robert Horry had 14 points on five-of-seven shooting, four assists and four rebounds.

Shaquille O’Neal made only 13 of 28 attempts but still finished with 31 points and 15 rebounds.

The Lakers even got the late test again, after Reggie Miller scored 14 of his 27 points in the third quarter. That set the stage for another decisive fourth quarter. This time, the Pacers got within 80-71, the first time the margin was at single digits since the opening possessions of the second quarter, but O’Neal responded with three consecutive baskets and a free throw, ending another Indiana comeback.

The Pacers were the top team in the Eastern Conference. The Lakers were No. 1 in the West.

Just like now. As if nothing has changed.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

SH LAKERS VS. INDIANA THIS SEASON

January 14, 2000 at Indiana

Indiana 111, Lakers 102

Leading Scorers

Glen Rice: 23

Shaquille O’Neal: 22

Kobe Bryant: 18

*

Reggie Miller: 22

Jalen Rose: 19

Mark Jackson: 15

*

March 3, 2000 at Staples Center

Lakers 107, Indiana 92

Leading Scorers

Shaquille O’Neal: 31

Kobe Bryant: 22

Robert Horry: 14

Reggie Miller: 22

Austin Croshere: 15

Jalen Rose: 13

LAKERS vs. INDIANA

Best-of-seven series

GAME 1

Wednesday at

Staples Center, 6 p.m.

GAME 2

Friday at

Staples Center, 6 p.m.

GAME 3

Sunday at

Indiana, 4:30 p.m.

GAME 4

June 14 at Indiana, 6 p.m.

GAME 5*

June 16 at Indiana, 6 p.m.

GAME 6*

June 19 at

Staples Center, 6 p.m.

GAME 7*

June 21 at

Staples Center, 6 p.m.

*-if necessary.

* All times Pacific.

* All games on Channel 4

Tale of the Tape

*--*

Regular Season Playoffs Lakers Indiana Tale of the Tape Lakers Indiana 67-15 56-26 Overall record 11-6 11-6 36-5/31-10 36-5/20-21 Home/Away records 8-2/3-4 7-2/4-4 100.8 101.3 Average points 98.0 95.1 92.3 96.7 Opponent’s average points 94.2 92.1 .459 .459 Field-goal percentage .458 .436 .696 .811 Free-throw percentage .641 .816 .328 .392 3-point field goal percentage .338 .363

*--*