Playoffs 2000:Lakers' misery is three-fold

Lakers' misery is three-fold
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers kept tossing up 3-pointers in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals Tuesday night.

And they kept missing them, too.

Over and over.

"Sometimes, the ball just doesn't go in," Brian Shaw said.


	Rasheed Wallace, right, was one reason Kobe Bryant was only 4-for-13 from the field Tuesday.

The Lakers were 6-for-27 from long range and 24-of-52 from inside the 3-point arc in losing 96-88 to the Portland Trail Blazers, forcing a sixth game in the best-of-seven series Friday night in Portland.

"I had open looks. The shots that I had just didn't drop," Glen Rice said.

The 27 3-point attempts were the most the Lakers have tried all season -- in 82 regular-season games and 15 more in the playoffs.

"It was a strange game," said Shaw, who played only seven minutes before fouling out with 2:49 to play. "We definitely had our opportunities, we couldn't take advantage of them."

Rice, who scored 21 points in his team's 103-91 victory in Game 4 but was just 1-for-8 with four points in Game 5, said there was no sense of urgency for the Lakers.

"We would have liked to close the series, but unfortunately it didn't happen," he said. "We just have to go up there, put a complete game together."

Of his team's shooting effort from outside, Rice said, "That's not good, but we'll learn from it. It won't happen again."

Rice missed all five of his 3-point attempts.

Shaquille O'Neal, who had 31 points and 21 rebounds, said it was disappointing the Lakers didn't go inside more.

"I think it was an opportunity missed," he said of the Lakers' failure to close out the series. "We just have to play a little smarter."

When asked if the problem was the Lakers' failure to get the ball inside or Portland's defense, O'Neal replied, "A little bit of both. I'm a little upset, we just have to learn from this.

"There's an old basketball saying, 'You live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot.' We shot 27 3s and made only six. I thought that we played pretty good defense, but we didn't put the ball in the basket."

Kobe Bryant had an off night, going 4-for-13, including 1-for-3 from 3-point range. He sprained his right foot early in the game but kept playing and wound up with 17 points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out with 4:45 remaining.

X-rays on Bryant's foot were negative but he will be examined again Wednesday. He said he planned to practice as the Lakers prepare for Game 6.

Never were the Lakers' shooting difficulties more pronounced than in one sequence midway through the fourth quarter, when they missed three straight wide-open 3-pointers after getting two of their 14 offensive rebounds.

The Blazers led 89-79 at that stage, and the Lakers weren't closer than seven points after that.

"We were always looking for that dagger," Horry said in explaining the flurry of 3-pointers. "We didn't look for Shaq enough on the inside. He was getting great position."

Horry was 3-for-11, including 1-for-4 from 3-point range.

"Some days it goes, some days it doesn't," Horry said with a sigh. "Scottie Pippen was very aggressive tonight. When he's that way, we get in foul trouble. We've got to find a way to slow him down."

There were a total of 58 fouls called in the game -- 30 against the Lakers. Shaw said his team never could find a rhythm because of the foul problems.