Lakers Stage Pep Rally

By Tim Brown

Dec. 7, 2002 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

On a night they played to show who was who in a league -- and a town -- beginning to wonder, the Lakers defended what they’re still reasonably sure is theirs.

Their three championships, maybe. Their dignity, without question.

From 30 points behind, and by scoring 44 points in the fourth quarter, the Lakers defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 105-103, Friday night at Staples Center.

At the end of the largest comeback in Laker history, after Kobe Bryant’s 14-foot jumper with 8.4 seconds left broke a 103-103 tie, and then after Michael Finley’s shot near the buzzer bounded away, Bryant shook his fists joyously for the crowd that booed them all off the floor at halftime, when they trailed, 64-36.

“Sometimes things happen for you when you play hard,” he said. “And it did.”

Bryant, docile for three quarters and standing on a sore groin, had scored 21 points on eight-of-eight shooting in the fourth quarter, and 27 points in all. The Lakers had made 16 of 18 shots, had found the commitment in their legs and minds to defend the Mavericks, and then were swept up in a moment no one saw coming.

The Lakers began the fourth quarter 27 points back, their hair blown back by the Mavericks, who hardly missed on their way to an 88-61 lead.

“I just told them not to look at the score because it won’t do any good,” Coach Phil Jackson said.

Barely six minutes later, the Maverick lead was eight. The jumpers that fell for them in the first three quarters now were a half-step out of their range.

Swept away by the momentum they generated, by the re-gathering of the crowd behind them, the Lakers were within three points with three minutes left.

From the perspective of the floor, of the Laker bench, time stopped. It was only the Lakers, in a vacuum, working unknowingly toward overcoming the second-largest deficit to begin the fourth quarter in NBA history. The Milwaukee Bucks came back to beat the Atlanta Hawks from 28 points 25 years ago.

“The clock crawled,” Rick Fox recalled. “It was like a time warp. I kept turning to guys, saying, ‘Can you believe the clock? Look at the clock. It’s not moving.’ ”

They tied the score, 100-100, on Brian Shaw’s three-pointer with 1:28 remaining. They took their first lead, 101-100, 10 seconds later, on Robert Horry’s free throw.

Nick Van Exel made a three-pointer to give the Mavericks the lead back, but Shaw made another clutch basket from the corner to tie it, setting up Bryant’s heroics.

Shaw was three for three in the final quarter. Devean George was two for two. Shaquille O’Neal was three for three.

“We just kept playing, kept fighting, kept shooting,” O’Neal said.

The Mavericks, who haven’t won a game in Los Angeles against the Lakers in 24 games over 12 years, had collapsed, utterly. They scored 15 points in the fourth quarter, and then traipsed from the floor as purple and gold streamers fell over their shoulders.

“We choked,” Van Exel said. “Just flat-out choked.”

But the Lakers wouldn’t remember it that way.

Standing uncomfortably at 7-13 while the Mavericks had run out to 17-1, the Lakers found their game, and their spirit.

O’Neal scored 26 points. The bench scored 34, 14 in the last quarter.

“It’s nice to have a team that believes it has the ability to overcome insurmountable odds,” Jackson said. “I think tonight was looking like an insurmountable odd.”

They are again after another title, and taking their time about it, but this might have been a start, after more than a dozen missteps.

“It’s all about believing in yourself,” Jackson said. “This is a team that’s played under the duress of ridicule. It’s a big win.”

The Mavericks’ run was 33-6 at the end of the first half. Boos poured from the top deck as the Lakers ducked into the tunnel at halftime.

They had been outscored, 35-12, in the second quarter. They had given up 15 points in the final five possessions of the half, even after Jackson had begged them to finish quarters with greater resolve.

Three weeks before, the Lakers lost by 26 points in Dallas, a game they agreed was humbling at best. Now, they were down 28 with still half-a-game to play.

“It was really hard for them in the locker room,” Jackson said. “They had their heads in their hands. I had to get them rooted and ready.”

They scored 69 points in the second half. They pushed through all manners of ugliness, through three Mavericks -- Van Exel, Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki -- with at least 21 points, through 15 three-pointers in 25 attempts for the Mavericks, through an arena that began to empty even as they started their comeback.

Don Nelson had ordered the Mavericks into a zone defense, which surrounded O’Neal and limited Bryant’s penetration. That meant jump shots for the Lakers, no hands in their faces, and they missed most of them.

But, in the first quarter, O’Neal might have set the mood for their refusal to quit when he refused to come out of the game.

Samaki Walker stood at the scorer’s table. The horn sounded. Walker started in.

But O’Neal refused to come out.

Jackson waved at him. O’Neal waved back. “No. I ain’t coming.”

Jackson laughed. But O’Neal was serious.

“He’s the first player I’ve ever had do that to me,” Jackson said.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

By the Numbers

Consecutive Laker victories over the

Mavericks in Los Angeles

The Mavericks’ biggest lead Friday, at

66-36