Bryant Injured, but O'Neal Powers Lakers to a 2-0 Advantage

By TIM KAWAKAMI

June 10, 2000 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

It was an NBA finals “Survivor” episode on Friday, and the Lakers were the only ones who kept losing crucial elements for existence.

Kobe Bryant . . . gone in the first quarter with a sprained left ankle that left him screaming in pain on the floor for a minute and kept him in the locker room for the rest of the game.

Shaquille O’Neal’s free-throw touch . . . gone, practically all game.

Indiana Coach Larry Bird’s promise not to deploy the feared and frustrating “Hack-a-Shaq” . . . vanished with a flourish, producing O’Neal’s night of 100 free throws, or almost.

Game 2 at Staples Center was every heart-dropping playoff circumstance the Lakers have ever feared, packed into a three-hour miniseries, unraveling before Phil Jackson’s very eyes.

“We knew,” Jackson said, “that we had a lot of things going against us during the course of the game.”

So, with a patched-together lineup, a patient O’Neal free-throw recovery, and equal parts grit, stubbornness and unanticipated performance, the Lakers ducked the Indiana Pacers’ best shot, pulling it out a 111-104 victory to move within two games of an NBA championship.

The best-of-seven series, which the Lakers lead, 2-0, now moves to Indianapolis for Sunday’s Game 3 and Wednesday’s Game 4. If necessary, Game 5 is Friday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Bryant, who had no major damage but whose ankle was swelling and was very painful, is listed as day-to-day for Game 3.

The Laker players said they knew the magnitude of this victory, coming at this time, and under those conditions.

“We knew they had to win this game to stay in this series,” Laker guard Derek Fisher said of the Pacers.

“You go up, 2-0, and then you’re talking about a team beating you four out of five games, and that’s not going to happen, as far as we’re concerned.”

When the Lakers found out that Bryant was definitely out for the rest of the game--and not guaranteed to play in Game 3 or possibly even Game 4--Jackson said he told his players that this was an all-important moment.

“We made that emphasis to the team--this was the game to win,” Jackson said.

Bryant said he was unconcerned about the situation, especially when his teammates joined him in the locker room at halftime and promised him that they would not fall.

“At halftime, some of the guys came around and said that they were going to step up and they were going to make things happen,” Bryant said. “And I believed them.”

But the Pacers, led by Jalen Rose’s 30 points, playing with more passion and more accurate shooting eyes than their Game 1 flop, kept coming at the Lakers, narrowing it to 80-78 early in the third after the Lakers led most of the early going, then again at 86-84 after O’Neal picked up his fifth foul midway through the fourth.

That’s when the series swayed in the balance, and the Lakers grabbed it back.

That’s when each successive time Bird sent O’Neal to the free-throw line, things only got heavier, and when O’Neal finally lifted the Lakers back on his shoulders.

“He’s still the best center who’s ever played the game,” Pacer guard Mark Jackson said. “I’ve seen the best centers, and he truly is a step above any other center who played. He’s just unbelievable.”

O’Neal shot 16 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, 39 attempts overall, the most ever attempted in an NBA game.

“It’s frustrating,” Fisher said. “Not because we don’t believe in him making the shots. But I didn’t think Larry Bird would do it.”

After going one first-half stretch in which he missed eight in a row, O’Neal rallied in the second half, and made 18 overall--and nine of 16 in the fourth quarter.

O’Neal finished with 40 points and 24 rebounds, on the heels of his 43-point, 19-rebound effort in Game 1.

“I thought he played better tonight than he did the other night,” Bird said. “And I thought he was awesome the other night. . . .

“He’s just a dominating player.”

Meanwhile, Ron Harper made his first five shots and generally did an incredible imitation of Bryant, for a 35-year-old, scoring 21 points and collecting six assists in 37 minutes, an echo of his long-ago starring days as a Cleveland Cavalier.

“Ron came in, said he was going to step up,” Bryant said. “He was in Cleveland-mode tonight.”

Glen Rice, finding space in the offense with Bryant out, made five of six three-point tries and also scored 21 points.

“We were fortunate to have Glen Rice step up and hit three-pointers,” Phil Jackson said. “The players that stepped into the vacuum were real big for us today.”

The Pacers started fouling O’Neal intentionally with 2:35 left in the game, and the Lakers ahead, 94-89. By that point, he had already set an NBA finals record by attempting 29 free throws, making 13.

But he made one of two with 2:35 left, with 2:12 and with 2:05 as the Lakers took a 97-92 lead into the final two minutes, when teams are punished much more harshly for away-from-the-ball fouls.

Two more O’Neal one-for-twos later, the Lakers led, 99-94, with 1:27 left.

Then O’Neal made the play of the game--snapping a pass to Robert Horry underneath with the shot clock running down, leading to a Horry reverse layup and free throw.

It was a normal finals game--except for, perhaps, Harper making all five of his field-goal tries in the first quarter--until Bryant’s left ankle twisted when he landed on top of Rose’s left foot after making an 18-foot jumper with 3:26 left in the quarter.

Bryant immediately crumpled to the floor, writhing in agony at the three-point line as play continued.

It wasn’t until after a Rose missed shot, as Bryant eventually hobbled back on defense, and a Harper layup that the Lakers took an intentional foul to stop the clock at the 3:05 mark and get Bryant out of the game.

Bryant was taken to the locker room, and an initial X-ray showed no major damage--a mild sprain--but Bryant would not return to the game.

In the second quarter, with Staples still in a stunned daze, O’Neal continued to dominate inside--scoring 15 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in the half.

“I’ve been in the right place at the right time,” O’Neal said. “I’ve listened, and things are falling into place for me. . . .

“When Kobe went out, we felt that we had to pick it up. So I took it upon myself to get position and take the high-percentage shots.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

THE SERIES

LAKERS vs. INDIANA

Best of seven

* Game 1: Lakers 104, Indiana 87

* Game 2: Lakers 111, Indiana 104

* Sunday at Indiana, 4:30 p.m.

* Wednesday at Indiana, 6 p.m.

* Friday at Indiana, 6 p.m.-x

* June 19 at Staples Center, 6 p.m.-x