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May 26, 2000 SportsLine.com wire reports |
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Phil Jackson won titles in Chicago. So did Scottie Pippen. But don't forget Ron Harper Kahn: Blazers blew it, and they know it
. He did, too.
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Harper's 18-foot baseline jumper with 29.9 seconds to play gave Los Angeles the lead for good Friday night as the Lakers pulled out a 93-91 victory over Portland to regain command of the Western Conference finals.
Kobe Bryant blocked Arvydas Sabonis' driving shot just before the buzzer as the Lakers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 4 is Sunday in Portland.
Shaquille O'Neal scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds, and Bryant scored 18 of his 25 in the first half for the Lakers in the first close game of the series.
But it was the last two of Harper's 12 points, on a pass from Bryant, that were the biggest.
"That was a reward for Ron, especially when they've been leaving him open this series," said Jackson, who has the Lakers two victories away from the NBA Finals in his first season as coach.
Pippen, who scored eight of his 12 in the final 4:03, scored inside to tie it at 91 with 1:14 to play.
Each team had a turnover before Harper's open jumper put the Lakers ahead. Going for the tying basket, Pippen's baseline pass was intercepted and the Lakers took it downcourt, but Wallace stole Bryant's pass to give Portland one last shot.
Sabonis complained that he was fouled on his final drive, but replays showed a clean block.
"We found a way to get back in the series by reclaiming the home-court advantage," Jackson said. "Now the pressure's on them in Sunday's ball game to try to maintain because if we put another notch in our belt on Sunday, they're really at death's door, and they know it."
Wallace, who kept playing despite turning his left ankle in the third quarter, scored 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting for Portland. Damon Stoudamire also had 19 after going scoreless in Game 2 for the Blazers, who lost at home for the first time in six playoff games.
Steve Smith scored 14 and Sabonis had 11.
Blown out at home by 29 points in Game 2 Monday night, the Lakers fell behind 15-2 early Friday, were down by as many as 14 in the second quarter and trailed 55-45 in the half.
But Los Angeles, 2-3 on the road in the playoffs, caught the Blazers with a 20-6 run in the third quarter, then took control with a 9-0 spurt in the fourth.
Through the first two quarters, O'Neal was largely ineffective against Portland's double- and triple-team defense. Sabonis outscored him 9-8 in the first half.
But the MVP took over with a 13-point third quarter.
"The coaching staff and the players kind of got on me and said I wasn't working hard enough for the shot," O'Neal said. "The first half I felt they were coming really, really fast and I found it not to our advantage for me to take a lot of shots over two and three guys, so I was just trying to pass it out.
"But they told me to be more aggressive and score, so I was looking to score a little bit more."
O'Neal scored 10 in a 20-6 run that gave Los Angeles its first lead of the game, at 69-67 on Harper's two free throws with 1:44 left in the quarter. Portland briefly regained the lead on baskets by Wallace and Stoudamire.
But O'Neal, purposely fouled with 15.6 seconds left in the third as part of Portland coach Mike Dunleavy's "Hack-a-Shaq" philosophy, made both free throws to put Los Angeles up 72-71 going into the final quarter.
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| Kobe Bryant scores 25 points as the Lakers win Game 3 in Portland. (AP) |
After a 3-pointer by the Blazers' Greg Anthony tied it at 74-74 with 10:45 to play, Bryant hit a 3 to start the Lakers' 9-0 spurt. Derek Fisher scored four and O'Neal two in the run. Fisher's driving layup with 7:29 to play put Los Angeles ahead 83-74.
Down 87-81, the Blazers fought back. Pippen sank one of two free throws, stole the ball from Rick Fox and made a 3-pointer to cut it to 87-85 with 3:35 to go.
Bryant's slick move in the key made it 98-85, then Pippen scored again to cut it to 89-87. Glen Rice, who scored just eight points, made two free throws to boost the lead to 91-87.
Sabonis made two free throws with 1:56 to go to cut the lead to 91-89, then Pippen tied it.
Portland shot 68 percent in the first quarter and 56 percent in the first half, when its depth and balance were on full display.
Bryant kept the Lakers in the game with 14 points in the first quarter, but Stacey Augmon came off the bench to shut Bryant down in the second period. Augmon also scored eight points in the quarter, including an inside basket that gave the Blazers their biggest lead of the half, 47-33 with 5:13 to go.
The two baskets Bryant made in the second quarter came after Augmon left the game.
Notes
- The Lakers outrebounded Portland 10-2 in the fourth quarter.
- For the first time in the series, Bryant opened the game guarding Pippen.
- Pippen threw the ball off Fox and Fox shoved Pippen, leading to technicals against both, with 7:23 left in the game.
- O'Neal was scoreless in the first quarter and took only one shot.
- For once, Blazers owner Paul Allen wasn't the richest man in the building. Sitting next to him was fellow Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The Associated Press News Service
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