BY THE NUMBERS

14-1 Lakers’ record in 2001 playoffs.

15-8 Lakers’ 2000 playoff record in winning NBA championship.

7-0 Lakers’ record on the road in the 2001 playoffs.

4-6 Lakers’ record on the road in the 2000 playoffs.

4 Teams that won four

consecutive games in NBA Finals after losing Game 1--Minneapolis Lakers in 1953, Los Angeles Lakers in 1972, New York Knicks in 1973 and Chicago Bulls in 1991.

2 Teams that have won each of the middle three games of the Finals since the 2-3-2 format was adopted in 1985--Detroit Pistons in 1990 and Chicago Bulls in 1991.

0 Teams that have gone unbeaten on the road in the playoffs in winning NBA championship.

6-6 Three-point shots made and attempted by Robert Horry in last two playoff games.

10-38 Three-point shots made and attempted by Horry in first 13 playoff games this year.

SCORING MACHINES

The top 10 scoring averages in the NBA Finals before this year. Allen Iverson is averaging 35.3 points a game in this year’s Finals:

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Pts Player, Team Year 41.0 Michael Jordan, Chic. 1993 40.8 Rick Barry, S.F. 1967 40.6 Elgin Baylor, Lakers 1962 38.0 Shaquille O’Neal, Lakers 2000 37.9 Jerry West, Lakers 1969 35.8 Michael Jordan, Chic. 1992 33.9 Jerry West, Lakers 1966 33.8 Elgin Baylor, Lakers 1963 33.8 Jerry West, Lakers 1965 33.5 Michael Jordan, Chic. 1998

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EAST vs. WEST

In 1965, after Elgin Baylor was lost for the playoffs because of a knee injury suffered in the opening minutes of the first game, Jerry West had to take on added scoring responsibility for Lakers. West led the Lakers to the Finals, where they lost in five games to the Boston Celtics, and averaged 40.6 points in 11 playoff games. Allen Iverson has performed in a fashion similar to West in accounting for 35.2% of Philadelphia’s points in this year’s playoffs. A comparison of West’s and Iverson’s statistics:

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Category West Iverson 1965 2001 Games 11 21 *Minutes 42.7 46.2 *FG Made-Att. 14.1-33.0 11.6-30.0 FG Pct. .442 .386 *FT Made-Att. 12.5-14.0 7.4-9.5 FT Pct. .890 .775 *Pts Playoffs 40.6 32.7 *Pts Reg. Sea. 31.0 31.1 Pts Diff. +9.6 +1.6 Playoff High 53 54 *Assists 5.3 6.3 *Rebounds 5.2 4.8

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* per game average

DOWNWARD TREND

Time that the 76ers have led in each game of the Finals:

Game 1 29:08

Game 2 12:29

Game 3 3:41

Game 4 3:26