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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- A star became a superstar, a kid became a man.
Kobe Bryant is legit, and he proved it on the NBA's biggest stage.
SUMMING IT ALL UP
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Quote of the Night
"Kobe took over. He's just a fabulous player. Man, I'm glad he's back. Now we have to win one more."
-- Shaquille O'Neal on Kobe Bryant.
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O'Neal |
ESPN.com's Report Card
When both teams shoot 50 percent or better, you know it's not a normal night. And this wasn't. It will be remembered as probably the best game of the series when it ends, and one of the best in years. You remember a few of Michael's games in the Finals, right? You'll remember Kobe and how he won this one as well. Don't forget the kid is a mere 21. There were quite a few heroes in this one, and we gave out a few high grades. Click here for our comprehensive Report Card for Game 4 as we break down everyone's game.
Why the Lakers won
In a game that had many, many lead changes when it counted, three players made the difference for the winners. Shaq dominated the fourth quarter, with 14 points, and got the team to overtime by hitting his shots and making his freebies. Robert Horry played big defense (there was some defense actually played in this throwback game) and hit big shots to open overtime. He also helped force Reggie Miller to miss the final shot. And Kobe Bryant had the kind of performance that can define a career, playing on a bum ankle and almost willing his way to a win. He took the big shots. The ball was in his hands. And when Brian Shaw missed with seven seconds left in overtime, Kobe was there to tip in the follow. Game, set and match. Almost time to celebrate.
Why the Pacers lost
There's no real reason why they lost this game. They got a big performance from their leader as Miller had 35 points and got a decent look on the last shot. He just missed it. Not much else you can say. He's no goat. They got quite possibly Rik Smits' best game in months. They had their chances to win. It just didn't happen, because the first Kobe Bryant (rather than saying the next Michael Jordan) won it for Los Angeles. To be official, yes, the Pacers lost. But really the Lakers won it.
Number of the Game
Kobe scored eight points in overtime, one point short of the Finals record held by three fellas, John Havlicek, Bill Laimbeer and Danny Ainge. But do any of those performances still stand out today as memorable? You can get back to us on that one. We know the answer. |
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Final Word: Dr. Jack Ramsay
"I think it was an all-time great game -- not just in recent years, but over the history of the NBA. Two teams going at each other hard from the beginning. Each team having its occasion of runs where they seem to dominate the game and maybe have a chance to break it open. The other team coming back, making huge shots. Shaquille O'Neal and Reggie Miller posting big numbers and then down the stretch, Kobe Bryant was simply dynamite.
"Kobe didn't drive to the basket but twice until it got to crunch time, and he seemed satisfied not just to take jump shots within his range and under good control but setting up his teammates -- he played a total game. Now remember, good defense from start to finish is part of his game as well. He played 47 minutes, and as the game progressed he made the big, big plays. He scored six of his last seven attempts after Shaq fouled out, and that athletic rebound putback is typical Kobe Bryant -- a dynamite performance by Kobe."
So what do you think?
Was this one of the greatest Finals games you've ever seen? If it wasn't, it has to rank up there, right? All those lead changes, big shots, terrific individual performances and five extra minutes as well. Tell us what you think of Game 4 of the NBA Finals by clicking here.
Final word from Indy
How do you get up for Game 5 if you are the Pacers? They have to know that winning three straight from the Lakers -- including two on the road -- is going to be nearly impossible. Do the Pacers come out on Friday night on fire and ready to send the series back to Los Angeles, or mentally is this loss too much to overcome? Think about it: Indiana did almost nothing to lose this one. Most players played well. Can they play this perfect of a game three more times?
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In a performance that validated all his hype, Bryant -- bum ankle and all -- came to his team's rescue after Shaquille O'Neal fouled out in overtime. Bryant made three of the most clutch shots of his young career to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 120-118 victory over the Indiana Pacers and a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals.
"This is the game you dream about as you're growing up," Bryant said. "You lose yourself in the moment. You're consumed by the game."
This was sweeter than any dream. This was reality, and Bryant owned it by making great plays at big moments, especially in the extra period, and showing an uncanny calmness for a 21-year-old -- all while playing on a "throbbing" ankle that had kept him out of most of Game 2 and all of Game 3.
Two of the shots were straightaway jumpers to restore three-point leads; the last was a reverse layup putback of a miss by Brian Shaw with 5.9 seconds left.
"Kobe smelled it at the end of the game," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said, "and lifted us."
The Pacers had a chance to win it after that, but Reggie Miller -- after scoring 35 points -- couldn't get an open 3-pointer to drop from the right elbow of the 3-point line. Robert Horry got the slightest piece of the ball, and Miller had to change his
trajectory as Horry ran toward him.
Of all the stuff that has made Bryant a star -- the slam dunk title, the numerous commercial endorsements, the matinee idol's presence -- the only thing missing was a heroic basketball story to make it all matter.
And this was the night for it to happen as Bryant scored 28 points in 47 minutes to give the Lakers the victory in what was easily the best game of the series.
"In our mind, this was the championship, so we came out with effort," Bryant said. "We wanted to keep it close and then make a run.
"We'd score, they'd come back and score. We'd score, they'd score. You could get mad because our defense was lacking, but at the same time it was fun. This is the type of thing you watch growing up -- the ultimate, the NBA Finals," Bryant said.
O'Neal added 36 points and 21 rebounds, making 10 of 17 free throws, and Horry scored 17 off the bench for Los Angeles, which shot 52 percent from the field.
"We let one get away, so we came in with a conscious effort to get this one, and we did," O'Neal said.
Miller scored 19 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime, Rik Smits added 24 and Jalen Rose had 14 for the Pacers.
O'Neal had a chance to win it in regulation but missed an 8-foot jump hook at the buzzer after Travis Best had shot an airball on Indiana's final possession of the fourth quarter.
|  | | Reggie Miller finally had a big fourth quarter, and did well in overtime, but couldn't hit the final shot. |
It went into overtime tied at 104-104, and the Lakers scored six of the next eight points.
Miller then hit a fallaway 3-pointer, O'Neal had a layup, and O'Neal then went over Smits' back to pick up his sixth foul with 2:33 left.
Jackson stood with his mouth agape, staring at referee Steve Javie, who called the sixth foul, and the Pacers immediately got the ball to Smits for a jump hook.
Bryant calmly answered with a 23-footer to give the Lakers a 114-111 lead.
"I just relaxed like I was playing in the back yard," Bryant said.
Smits rolled in another jump hook and again Bryant answered with a long jumper. Miller made two from the line and Glen Rice tossed up a short airball at the other end -- an airball that landed right in the hands of Shaw for an easy one that made it 118-115.
Smits made two from the line with 28.1 seconds left, and Bryant rebounded Shaw's miss and converted it with 5.9 seconds left.
"That was big-time tonight," Rice said "That had to be the biggest performance since I've been watching and playing with him, of his career. He stepped up like a veteran. That just goes to show how much he's matured."
The Pacers scored one more point on a foul shot after the Lakers committed a foul before the ball was inbounded, but Miller's last-gasp attempt hit the front of the rim and bounced over the backboard as the final buzzer sounded.
Now the Pacers must try to become the first team ever to recover from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals. Game 5 is Friday night.
"We've got a little bit of pulse left in the heart," Miller said.
In the fourth quarter, Sam Perkins hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 35 seconds left, and Horry threw a horrible entry pass to
Rice, missing him by five feet, to give the ball back to Indiana with 17.4 seconds left. Jackson gazed angrily at Horry as he walked back to the bench for a timeout.
The Pacers then ran a pick-and-roll and got Best isolated one-on-one against O'Neal, and Best had a clear look at a fadeaway from 14 feet. It hit nothing but air, however.
"I thought he was going to go by him," Horry said, "but he did what you should never try to do -- try to shoot over Shaq."
That gave the Lakers the ball back with 2.3 seconds left for the last shot -- an 8-foot hook shot by O'Neal that was no good and sent the game into overtime -- the first overtime in an NBA Finals since Game 1 of the Chicago-Utah series in 1998.
Smits came out strong and hit his first four shots of the game as Indiana started 8-for-10. With Davis and Perkins providing excellent
defense on O'Neal, the Pacers steadily pulled ahead and took a 33-23 lead into the second quarter.
O'Neal picked up his third foul with 4:58 left in the second quarter, and Jackson took a risk by leaving him in. It paid off, too, as O'Neal had two dunks and a short jumper to account for the Lakers' next three baskets as they cut the deficit to three.
Bryant picked up his fourth foul just one minute into the third quarter, and again Jackson decided to take a risk and leave him in. Again the move paid off as Bryant hit the Lakers' next three shots.
A 3-pointer by Rice gave Los Angeles its first lead of the night, 62-60 with 7:59 left in the third, and Bryant drove around Miller for a dunk that gave Los Angeles a 73-70 lead. The Lakers stayed ahead for the rest of the quarter with Bryant scoring 10 in the third, and carried an 80-77 lead into the fourth.
Perkins hit a 3-pointer to give Indiana an 89-84 lead with 7:44 left, and O'Neal picked up his fifth foul with 7:32 left.
There were five lead changes and one tie over the next four minutes as the Lakers repeatedly went to O'Neal and Bryant while
the Pacers looked to Miller and Best for offense.
Miller made his fifth consecutive shot of the fourth quarter, a 3-pointer with 3:17 left for a 101-99 lead, but that would be Indiana's last basket until Perkins' 3 with 35 seconds left.
Game notes
After making 25 straight free throws in this series, Miller finally missed one late in the second quarter. ... The Pacers have been complaining that O'Neal routinely commits 3-second violations, criticism which Jackson called "typical Indiana stuff." Are the Pacers whiners, coach Larry Bird was asked? "Well, sometimes.
Yeah, we like to whine. But we like to win, also," Bird said. The first whistle of the game was for a 3-second violation on O'Neal.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Indiana Clubhouse
Complete coverage of NBA Finals
Frozen moment: Kobe makes Finals lore
X factor: Shaq leaves, Lakers get started
Reggie scored late, but not the final shot
RECAPS
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Reggie Miller goes for the game-winning shot in OT.
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Kobe Bryant puts in the Brian Shaw miss to give the Lakers the lead for good.
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Austin Croshere slams it home after some nifty Indiana passing.
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Kobe Bryant gets a little creative with a dish to Shaq.
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ESPN Radio's Dr. Jack Ramsay gives his analysis of the Lakers OT win over Indiana.
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Kobe Bryant talks to ESPN's Dan Patrick about his return in Game 4.
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ESPN's Dan Patrick interviews Derek Fisher after the Lakers OT win.
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 According to Phil Jackson, the Pacers officially have their backs to the wall.
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Shaq and Kobe are a one-two punch.
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Kobe Bryant feels his performance tonight will boost the Lakers confidence.
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Reggie Miller gives the Lakers credit.
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