Thursday, June 14 Lakers' bench dispels two-player team theory By Wayne Drehs ESPN.com PHILADELPHIA -- As he walked off the floor following Sunday's Game 3 victory over the 76ers, Lakers forward Kobe Bryant was nastily heckled by a group of Philadelphia fans. Kobe Bryant, left, knows what Ron Harper and the rest of the Lakers reserves bring to the table. He initially walked away, but then stopped, turned around, and offered a dig of his own: "We're going to cut your hearts out on Wednesday." He wasn't exaggerating. And while everyone is quick to credit the slicing, dicing drives of Bryant and the low-post artistry of Shaquille O'Neal as the reasons the Lakers sit with a comfy 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series, the Los Angeles bench has been just as impressive. On Wednesday, the group tallied 28 points and 12 rebounds and was the driving force in second- and fourth-quarter rallies that put the game away. So much for the argument that the Lakers are Shaq, Kobe and nobody else. "I think our bench gets motivated by all the talk that we don't have a bench," Bryant said. "They came in tonight and just did an excellent job for us." Wednesday's game was the perfect example. After trailing by as many as 22 in the second half, the Sixers went on a 22-7 fourth-quarter run, only to watch the likes of Tyronn Lue, Brian Shaw and Robert Horry put the game out of reach with an 11-0 spurt of their own. During the run, Lue, Shaw and Horry each hit from beyond the 3-point arc, sending a chunk of the frenzied First Union Center fans home. Call them stadium-clearing jumpers. "It was a great feeling to stop the momentum," Lue said. "They were on a role, the crowd was back into it, then boom! We hit the three big 3s." While it was the unit of O'Neal, Horry, Harper, Shaw and Lue that put away the Sixers in the fourth quarter, it was a similar group that broke the game open in the second quarter. That lineup, featuring starters O'Neal and Bryant with Ron Harper, Horry and Lue, keyed a 16-5 second-quarter run that gave the Lakers a 17-point lead. Harper was the key contributor during that spurt, scoring all eight of his points on a goaltending call, a baseline 3-pointer, and a three-point play. Harper's 16 minutes of play were more than he had seen in the series' first three games combined. "I ain't played in like 17 ballgames, so they were like, 'Who is this guy?' Harper said after the game. "They probably thought I was a fan. But I guess now they know." For the game, the Laker subs outscored Philly's reserves 28-20. Of the ten Lakers to play in the game, nine of them scored at least five points. "Basically, all the guys on the bench feel like they should be starting," Horry said, laughing. "So we just go out there, do our thing and try to contribute." Indeed, Horry, Harper and Shaw are all veterans who have started and made critical contributions to their teams in the past. That experience was evident not only Wednesday night, but in Sunday's Game 3, as well. In that contest, Horry, who entered the game for a fouled-out Shaquille O'Neal, hit a clutch 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to give L.A. an insurmountable four-point lead. Horry credits the success of L.A.'s reserves to simplicity. "The thing about the bench is that we don't do anything too extraordinary," Horry said. "We just keep it simple. Look at the guys on our bench, nobody, besides maybe Ty (Lue) is a flashy guy that can cross you over. So we just stay within our known roles." Getting contributions from overlooked reserves is nothing new for Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who used a similar formula to lead the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships. In Chicago, Jackson leaned on players like John Paxson, Steve Kerr, Bobby Hanson and Cliff Levingston to supplement the play of Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Harper played on three of those Chicago teams and said the most critical component of playing on a bench for Jackson is being ready at all times. "You never know when Phil is going to call your name," Harper said. "You can never get a real feel for what he's going to do. So you have to go to practice everyday, work on what he tells you and be ready at any time. Tonight, he said my name and I had to go out there and do it." And thanks to the ability of Harper, Horry and Co. to do just that, the Lakers find themselves one win away from repeating as NBA champions. "We know that Kobe and Shaq are going to get their 70," Shaw said. "So between the other 10 of us, if we can get 30, we're going to be in good shape. The pressure is on them." Wayne Drehs is a staff writer for ESPN.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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