RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal picked up where he left off last June, and Kobe Bryant and Ron Harper were terrific as well.
|  | | Kobe Bryant, left, and Shaquille O'Neal made things difficult for Travis Best's Pacers all night. |
If it hadn't been for Isaiah Rider, Tuesday night would have
just about been perfect for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Bryant equaled a season-high with 37 points, O'Neal had 27
points, 14 rebounds, six assists and six blocked shots, and Harper
had a season-high 21 points as the Lakers overpowered the Indiana
Pacers 124-107 in a rematch of the NBA Finals.
"It looked easy, but we worked hard for this win," Bryant said
after the Lakers' fifth straight victory. "We did an excellent job
defensively, especially in the third quarter. This is our fourth
blowout in a row, it's coming."
O'Neal dominated the inside, just as he did in the Finals, when
he averaged 38.0 points and 16.7 rebounds to lead the Lakers past
the Pacers 4-2 for their first championship in 12 years.
O'Neal and Harper both sat out the fourth period, as did Horace
Grant, whose 13 rebounds helped the Lakers to a 52-46 advantage in
that department.
Bryant left for good with 8:11 remaining.
Rider played only the final four minutes of the third quarter, and didn't score. Lakers coach Phil Jackson said afterward that Rider, who had a checkered past when he joined the team before the season, arrived about an hour late for the game.
"It wasn't exactly punishment, I didn't think he was ready," Jackson said in explaining Rider's brief appearance. "He said he got bit by traffic. I understand. When you leave for a game, you leave 2½ hours early. We know being late is a problem for him, we want him to change his behavior."
Rider, who had averaged nearly 23 minutes in the Lakers' first
14 games, had little to say.
"No excuse, nothing, period," he said. "Traffic. Stuff
happens, life goes on. Just last week, another player was stuck in
traffic. It happened, and life moves on."
Austin Croshere led the Pacers with a season-high 18 points.
Jermaine O'Neal had 17 points and 11 rebounds; Travis Best had 16
points, and Reggie Miller and Jalen Rose added 15 points each.
"I don't feel like we were so high for this game that it worked
against us," Rose said. "Basketball's a team game, and in order
for a team to be successful, everybody has to play their part.
That's what we're not getting right now, so we still have a lot of
work to do."
The Lakers, whose 124 points were a season-high, scored 11
straight points to take an 80-60 lead early in the third quarter,
and O'Neal fed Bryant for a layup to make it 89-67 with four
minutes left in the period as the sellout crowd of 18,997 at
Staples Center roared its approval.
It was 97-76 entering the fourth quarter, and five straight
points by Bryant made it 105-78 with 10:05 remaining. Reserves
played most of the rest of the way for both teams.
"I thought we played hard, and had the effort, but we didn't
play smart," Croshere said. "And we needed to play smarter to
win."
About the Finals rematch, Croshere said: "I had a lot of
flashbacks, absolutely. It's hard to come in here with the emotions
that you have from last year and then leave here with the poor
result we had tonight."
The Lakers played a near-perfect first nine minutes, making 13
of 21 shots including 5-of-6 from 3-point range in taking a 32-19
lead. O'Neal had 13 points at that stage.
With Rose leading the way with six points, the Pacers went on a
14-6 run to finish the period to move within five points.
Miller made two free throws with 8:22 left in the second quarter
to tie the game 43-all, but the Lakers outscored the Pacers 26-14
during the remainder of the first half for a 69-57 lead. Bryant
scored 12 points in the second period including the last four of
the half.
Game notes
The win was the seventh straight at home for the Lakers
since they lost to Utah 97-92 in their home opener. ... The Pacers
are 6-2 against Eastern Conference opponents and 0-5 against
Western Conference teams this season. ... Five of the 10 starters
in the last game of the Finals on June 19 are no longer with their
respective teams -- Rik Smits, Mark Jackson and Dale Davis of the
Pacers, and Glen Rice and A.C. Green of the Lakers. In addition,
Isaiah Thomas replaced the retired Larry Bird as Indiana's coach.
... Shaquille O'Neal reached the 15,000-point plateau for his career Monday night in a 98-83 win over the Clippers, doing so in
his 547th game. Only seven players in NBA history have done it
faster. ... Jermaine O'Neal was held out of the starting lineup
because he was late for a team plane Monday. He had started his
team's first 12 games. ... Indiana's Derrick McKey was ejected for committing a flagrant foul on Bryant early in the fourth quarter
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NBA Scoreboard
Indiana Clubhouse
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Stein: Isiah, Isaiah and Penberthy?
RECAPS
Atlanta 102
Washington 75
Boston 87
Cleveland 72
Milwaukee 102
Miami 101
Utah 98
New Jersey 92
Dallas 107
Toronto 93
Minnesota 96
Chicago 76
Sacramento 88
Houston 81
Seattle 105
Portland 93
LA Lakers 124
Indiana 107
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