X factor: Rice heats up in a hurry
By Kevin Jackson
ESPN.com
LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers' vaunted triangle offense had been reduced to more of a straight line.
|  | | Glen Rice picked up the scoring slack without Kobe by getting 21 points. |
Sure, Kobe Bryant was still slashing to the hoop and making spectacular plays. And Shaquille O'Neal opened the series by turning in one of the most dominating NBA Finals performances in recent memory.
But Glen Rice? Well, the third member of the so-called "Big Three" played small in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers. Very small.
In the first Finals games of his career, Rice made only one of eight shots and scored a whopping three points -- all while basically being a liability on the defensive end.
So you can imagine the thoughts of the L.A. faithful when Bryant went down with an ankle injury late in the first quarter of Game 2 on Friday night.
Who would become the second option when the Pacers threw the kitchen sink at Shaq? Would the triangle be reduced to a single focal point -- albeit a very large point? Would Rice play himself even further out of a big free-agent payday this summer?
But as he watched Bryant head to the locker room, Rice had some other thoughts. He started thinking about all those plays the Lakers run for Bryant and all those shots that someone would need to pick up.
And, reverting back to his days in Charlotte as one of the league's most dangerous scorers, Rice hit five 3-pointers and scored 21 points to help Shaq keep Indiana at bay in the Lakers' 111-104 victory.
"A lot of people see me as the third option," said Rice, who was indeed the Lakers' third-leading scorer during the regular season at 15.9 points per game.
"Without Kobe, there seemed to be more things happening for me out there. When we swing the ball around like we did tonight, it's going to create open looks for people."
Teammate Rick Fox said Rice clearly has had to put some of offense on the back burner while playing alongside O'Neal and Bryant.
"Being a third fiddle in a sense, you kind of catch the leftovers," Fox said. "We don't run plays for Glen the way he's had them run for him during his whole career.
"Tonight, he saw the opportunity, and he seized it. He knocked down some huge 3-pointers and that seemed to always keep them at least six or seven points back."
Rice, who once averaged 26.8 points per game in a season for the Hornets, saved his biggest shot for just when it appeared Indiana might take the lead late in the game.
O'Neal had just returned to the game after briefly sitting out with five fouls and the Pacers had cut their deficit to 86-84 with five minutes left. That's when Rice got a wide-open look on the right side of the 3-point arch and buried a triple that gave L.A. a five-point edge. Indiana never got within three points after that.
"With Kobe gone out with an injury, it just gave Glen a lot more touches, a lot more opportunities and he stepped it up big for us tonight," O'Neal said.
So maybe there's nothing wrong with Glen Rice. Maybe all he needs is shots, and when he doesn't get them he starts forcing things.
"Glen Rice, being 6-8, 6-9, can shoot right over (the defense)," Bryant said. "It's money in the bank. He was feeling good. Once he comes in and gets going, he's tough to guard. Then, he creates off the dribble and gets to the line, he just had it rolling."
And if Bryant is unable to go Sunday in Game 3 in Indianapolis, the Lakers definitely will need Rice to keep cooking.
Kevin Jackson is a senior editor at ESPN.com. |
