Playoffs 2000:Lakers miss first chance to reach finals

Lakers miss first chance to reach finals
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Ron Harper suggested the Portland Trail Blazers should be given the credit.

Shaquille O'Neal said the Los Angeles Lakers strayed from their strength.

And coach Phil Jackson called the outcome no surprise, considering the way his team played.

O'Neal had 31 points and 21 rebounds, but the Lakers made only six of a season-high 27 attempts from 3-point range Tuesday night in losing 96-88 to the Blazers in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals.

"I don't think that we should be ashamed at all," said Harper, who played exceptionally well in the Lakers' two games at Portland over the weekend, both victories. "They came in here with a good game plan, and had a nice game. They played hard and did the things they had to do.

"It's OK, we're fine. We know what we have to do."

O'Neal saw it differently, saying the Lakers failed to cash in on an opportunity to close out the best-of-seven series, which continues Friday night in Portland.

"There's an old basketball saying, 'You live by the jump shot, you die by the jump shot,' " he said. "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. We 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. It's disappointing, we tried to put them away with all 3s."

The Lakers, who lead the series 3-2, made a respectable 24-of-52 shots from inside the 3-point arc, with O'Neal 12-for-20.

"We were always looking for the dagger," said Robert Horry, who made only 3-of-11 shots, including 1-of-4 from 3-point range. "We didn't look for Shaq enough on the inside. He was getting great position."

One sequence midway through the fourth quarter personified the Lakers' shooting problems. With the Blazers leading 89-79, Los Angeles missed three straight 3-pointers after getting two of its 14 offensive rebounds.

"Tonight was not a surprise; we did not shoot the ball well, and we shot far too many 3-point shots," Jackson said. "We ended up staying on the perimeter a lot, trying to get the ball into Shaq, but not finding a way. You have to credit Portland for some of that."

Glen Rice expressed surprise when told the Lakers attempted so many 3-pointers.

"The ball just wouldn't go in the basket for us," he said. "Their defense was good, you can't take anything away from them, but if you really look at the game, we had a lot of wide-open shots. I know I had open looks, the ball just wouldn't drop."

Rice, who scored 21 points in the Lakers' 103-91 victory in Game 4, was held to four points Tuesday night, making just 1 of 8 shots and missing all five of his 3-point attempts.

Harper and fellow guards Kobe Bryant and Brian Shaw all battled foul problems. Bryant made only 4 of 13 shots in scoring 17 points before fouling out with 4:45 remaining, and Shaw was limited to seven minutes of playing time before fouling out.

"It was peculiar," Shaw said. "There was a lot of bumping and holding going on at both ends, but they seemed to be whistled a little quicker on our end. We got a lot of guys in foul trouble early in the game, that disturbed our rhythm."

There were 58 fouls called, 30 on the Lakers.

"It was a strange game," Shaw said. "We definitely had our opportunities, we couldn't take advantage of them. Sometimes, the ball just doesn't go in."

Bryant sprained his right foot in the first quarter, but kept playing. X-rays after the game were negative, and he was scheduled to be examined again Wednesday.