MATCHUPS

STARTERS

* Shaquille O’Neal is an All-NBA first-teamer and Kobe Bryant should have been, in the same backcourt with Allen Iverson. Bryant has averaged 31.6 points and 6.2 assists in 11 playoff games. O’Neal was stifled somewhat against San Antonio’s twin towers but still is averaging 29.3 points and 15.3 rebounds--and shooting 54.7%. Derek Fisher (15.1 points, 51% on three-pointers) is playing his best basketball. The Lakers are 26-5 since he recovered from the stress fracture in his foot. Iverson picked the last one to have his best game of the Eastern Conference finals. The regular-season MVP is having the same impact in the playoffs, scoring--32.1 points a game--passing and dragging along a team of overachievers. Dikembe Mutombo, the trading-deadline addition, gives the 76ers a fighting chance against O’Neal.

* EDGE: Lakers.

BENCH

* Phil Jackson has tightened his rotation to seven--the starters plus Robert Horry and Brian Shaw. Horry was a terrific defensive alternative to Horace Grant against power forwards Rasheed Wallace, Chris Webber and Tim Duncan, but the NBA Finals present no such dominating forward. The freedom could allow Horry to find his touch after shooting 26.5% from the arc in the first three rounds. Shaw is shooting 40.4% in the playoffs. Larry Brown counters with Eric Snow, Raja Bell and, in the post, Todd MacCulloch and, possibly, Matt Geiger. Snow is limping, but still averaged more than 28 minutes in the conference finals.

* EDGE: 76ers.

OFFENSE

* San Antonio brought, by all accounts, the league’s best defense into the Western Conference finals. The Lakers averaged 103.5 points in four games, and won by an average of 22.3 points. Bryant is finding his game in great leaps. He averaged 33.3 points against the Spurs, taking jump shots when open and the lane when it was left unoccupied. Still, the offense goes first to O’Neal, who should not be hampered by a mild sprain of his left ankle. For the 76ers, of course, it’s all about Iverson, who shot 34.4%--33.3% on three-pointers--in the conference finals and still averaged 30.5 points. Aaron McKie, reliable as a starter or reserve, is averaging 16.4 points in the playoffs and Mutombo 13.1 for the 76ers, who averaged 91.9 points in the first three rounds. In 18 games, the 76ers have shot 162 more free throws than their opponents.

* EDGE: Lakers.

DEFENSE

* Mutombo was defensive player of the year, but he never had to guard O’Neal, who takes single-teaming personally. Mutombo blocked 2.7 shots a game in the regular season, and improved that to 3.4 in the playoffs. Iverson and Bryant have had explosive games. Bryant scored 36 points against Iverson on Dec. 5 at Staples Center. Then in February, Iverson scored 40 against Bryant at Philadelphia. Jackson considers the 76ers a defensive team first, particularly with Mutombo in the middle. They gave up 90.4 points a game in the regular season and 89.9 against the Bucks, a good offensive team, in the conference finals. The Lakers, much improved on defense, are giving up 89.2 points in the playoffs, eight fewer than during the regular season.

* EDGE: 76ers.

COACHING

* Never having reached the NBA Finals, Brown nonetheless is on a roll. First, in the regular season, he was voted NBA coach of the year, primarily for his “Finding Forrester” thing with Iverson. Then, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals, he stayed with all of his front-liners in a blowout, got no one hurt, and actually got everyone feeling good enough about himself to ride momentum into Game 7. Then, he stumbled into Raja Bell in the men’s room before Game 7, played him six minutes and watched him score a career-high 10 points, some of them with Iverson in foul trouble. Jackson, on the other hand, put up with all sorts of hell in the regular season, didn’t have to coach a Game 6 in any series, and then mentioned Raja Bell in a halftime interview during Game 7.

* EDGE: Lakers.

KEY TO THE SERIES

* Bryant versus Iverson. And, Iverson versus Bryant. Even if they aren’t always matched against each other, and Fisher’s return will give Bryant a breather, the series will turn on the decisions Iverson and Bryant make. They both score and create opportunities. In the playoffs, Iverson is averaging 32.1 points and 6.8 assists and Bryant is averaging 31.6 points and 6.2 assists. Bryant, though, has O’Neal. In the Lakers’ 11-0 playoff run, Bryant has made remarkable use of his teammates, notably O’Neal. Grateful perimeter shooters--Fisher and Shaw, in particular--have made their three-pointers. Iverson doesn’t have the same options, which is why he’ll take more shots.

THE PICK: LAKERS, 4-1