O’Neal Sets Pace, Squashes Pacers

This was the beginning of the end, the first part of the last round of Shaquille O’Neal’s greatest, grandest journey.

The Lakers took a giant step toward their first championship in a dozen seasons, lining up behind O’Neal and blasting the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the NBA finals at Staples Center, 104-87.

Yes, maybe the big-bang conclusion was near. Possibly, three or four games away.

This was the Lakers’ predictable, indefensible Game 1 Shaq gambit, and the Pacers--like the Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers before them--were smashed and silenced, with nowhere to go and nothing to do but wait for another day.

Given surprising room to roam and air to breathe--and little of the hard double- and triple-teaming that he suffered through against Portland--O’Neal scored 43 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and blocked three shots, and almost single-handedly knocked over the Pacers, who neither hacked nor harried the league’s most valuable player.

O’Neal, who recorded his first victory in an NBA final, his Orlando team having lost, 4-0, in his last appearance, also smacked away Indiana’s best chance in this game, blocking Reggie Miller’s driving layup with less than 40 seconds left in the third quarter, with the Lakers holding a 73-69 lead.

Indiana, meanwhile, suffered through Miller’s game-long shooting malaise--he missed his first eight shots, made one, then missed seven more and finished his one-for-16 performance with seven points.

IN QUOTES

“Reggie’s carried us a long way. In the playoffs, he’s been awesome. He has one bad shooting night, there’s no one giving up on him.”

LARRY BIRD,

Pacer coach

THE SERIES

Lakers lead, 1-0