History Is Not on Their Side

The Lakers, who enter the postseason Sunday against Portland as the No. 3-seeded team in the West, have won eight previous NBA championships in Los Angeles, none while seeded lower than second.

In fact, if the Lakers win the title this season, it will be as the lowest seed since 1995, when the Houston Rockets were seeded sixth and beat Shaquille O’Neal’s Orlando Magic in the Finals.

Since 1967, only four teams have won the championship after ending the regular season out of the No. 1 or 2 spots. The Portland Trail Blazers of 1977 and Washington Bullets of 1978 were seeded No. 3, the Boston Celtics of 1969 were No. 4, and Robert Horry’s Rockets were an afterthought in a non-Michael Jordan year.

It could reasonably be argued that the Lakers are not a true No. 3, of course. In the competitive Western Conference, four teams finished with at least 57 victories. The New Jersey Nets, the best team in the Eastern Conference, won 52 games.

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The Lakers will begin their 50th playoff experience, more than any team in NBA history and all but five teams in professional sports--the Montreal Canadiens (73), Toronto Maple Leafs (62), Boston Bruins (60), Chicago Blackhawks (53) and Detroit Red Wings (51).

Entering the playoffs, the Lakers have only two players--Derek Fisher and Devean George--shooting well from the three-point arc.

Fisher, who got hot this time last season, has made 45.8% (22 of 48) of his three-point shots in April. Last postseason, he made 51.5 of his three-point attempts, including 15 of 20 against San Antonio in the conference finals.

George has made 11 of 23 three-point shots since March 31.

While good half-court offenses are at a premium in the coming months, Coach Phil Jackson said Wednesday he is unconcerned, because there is plenty of time for shooters to get into a groove. Or out of one.

“Sometimes this first round will take a couple of weeks,” he said. “Who knows what will happen in that time?”

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The third-best thing that could happen to O’Neal entering the playoffs--after a healthy toe and wrist--is his free throws, which are falling with uncommon deftness. He shot them pretty well since the All-Star game, and was 22 for 29 in the last three games.

While his mechanics don’t appear drastically changed, there is arc to his shot. He concluded the regular season having made 55.5% of his attempts, the second-best percentage of his career. He did not have a coach, but he did spend many hours practicing, particularly when his arthritic toe would not allow him to run in practice.

“He started getting that ball up instead of line-driving it, and it really changed a lot for him,” Jackson said.

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Mitch Richmond, who signed a cut-rate contract in order to experience his first championship, might get the championship but not the experience.

He has played 50 minutes since March 20, 11 of those Wednesday.