2001 NBA Finals: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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Line 14: | date = June 6–15 | MVP = [[Shaquille O'Neal]]<br />(Los Angeles Lakers) | HOFers = '''Lakers:'''<br />[[Kobe Bryant]] (2020)<br /> | ECF result = [[2000–01 Philadelphia 76ers season|76ers]] defeated [[2000–01 Milwaukee Bucks season|Bucks]], 4–3 | WCF result = [[2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers season|Lakers]] defeated [[2000–01 San Antonio Spurs season|Spurs]], 4–0 }} [[File:Shaquille O'Neal Buckley Air Base.jpg|thumb|[[Shaquille O'Neal]] is the first [[Los Angeles Lakers]] player to win two consecutive [[NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award|NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Awards]] (2001).]] The '''2001 NBA Finals''' was the [[NBA Finals|championship round]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA)'s [[2000–01 NBA season|2000–01 season]], and the conclusion of the [[2001 NBA playoffs|season's playoffs]]. The [[2000 NBA Finals|defending NBA champion]] and [[Western Conference (NBA)|Western Conference]] champion [[2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers season|Los Angeles Lakers]] took on the [[Eastern Conference (NBA)|Eastern Conference]] champion [[2000–01 Philadelphia 76ers season|Philadelphia 76ers]] for the championship, with the Lakers holding [[home team|home-court advantage]] via the better record against the opposite conference tiebreaker<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=NBA Playoffs 2001 - Season-ending loss cost Sixers homecourt edge |url=https://www.espn.com/nba/playoffs2001/2001/0604/1209455.html |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=www.espn.com}}</ref> in a [[Playoff format#Best-of-seven playoff|best-of-seven format]]. After losing the first game at home, the Lakers won the next four games to clinch their second consecutive title and 13th overall. By the end of the series, the 2000–01 Lakers held the record for the best postseason record with 15–1. It was later surpassed after the NBA extended the first round series to a best-of-seven series by the [[2016–17 Golden State Warriors season|2016–17 Golden State Warriors.]] Lakers [[Center (basketball)|center]] [[Shaquille O'Neal]]
==Background== Line 29 ⟶ 28: The Lakers began the [[2001 NBA Playoffs]] versus the team against whom they played the previous year in the [[Western Conference (NBA)|Western Conference]] finals, the [[Portland Trail Blazers]]. The Trail Blazers were a team that struggled throughout the season but battled back to claim the 7th seed. The series wasn't close, as the Lakers swept the Trail Blazers by double digits in all three games. In the semifinals the Lakers took on the [[Sacramento Kings]], a team who had also given the Lakers a tough series the previous season, but the Lakers took two close games at home and went to Sacramento to finish the Kings off with a 4–0 sweep as well. In the conference finals the Lakers went up against the number 1 seed San Antonio Spurs, who were expected to be more competitive than the Lakers' previous opponents. But the Lakers took games 1 and 2 in San Antonio, and then blew them out in games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles in another complete sweep as they became the second team in NBA history to sweep the conference playoffs at 11–0, the 1988-1989 [[Los Angeles Lakers]] being the first. But the Lakers met a snag on their quest to the first NBA sweep in playoff history as they went up against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, seeded number 1 in the [[Eastern Conference (NBA)|Eastern Conference]], had just come out of two straight seven-game series against the [[Toronto Raptors]] and [[Milwaukee Bucks]]. The Lakers then took Game 2. Afterwards, Kobe Bryant was quoted as saying he was coming to Philadelphia to cut their hearts out.<ref>{{cite web|url= ===Road to the Finals=== Line 196 ⟶ 195: }} Kobe Bryant started off the game with 12 points in the first quarter, while Shaq scored 12 points in the second quarter. Despite their points, the 76ers kept a close lead as Larry Brown ran over 10 plays searching for the right quartet, and the fact that all the Lakers besides Bryant and O'Neal were shooting only at 27%. The Sixers were down by 13 in the fourth quarter, and were making a comeback due to Shaq sitting out with 5 fouls, which helped the 76ers to score 7 straight. Even though the 76ers were within 3 points of the Lakers, the 6 of 16 foul shooting in the fourth quarter put them behind permanently. O'Neal finished with 28 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists, and eight blocks, coming close to a [[quadruple double]]. Before the game, Lakers coach [[Phil Jackson]] had growled at O'Neal, "Don't be afraid to block a shot!" after O'Neal failed to block a shot in Game 1.<ref>{{cite news|last=Heisler |first=Mark |title=Phil Jackson's tenure produced the most success and fun we've ever seen |date=May 11, 2011 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url= ===Game 3=== Line 213 ⟶ 212: * No. 43 Dan Crawford |series=Los Angeles leads the series, 2–1 }}For the second consecutive game, the Lakers led for more than 30 minutes of game time (LA led for 37:54 to the Sixers' 3:40 in Game 3) but still found themselves clinging to a one-possession lead late. Philadelphia trimmed a nine-point Laker lead with just over seven minutes to play to one point three separate times in the final two minutes, having fouled out LA starters Shaquille O'Neal (30 points, 12 rebounds) and Derek Fisher in the process, but they were never able to tie or take the lead despite holding multiple possessions with a chance to do so down the stretch. Allen Iverson finished with a game-high 35 points; he made one of two free throws to trim the lead to one at 86–85 just outside of two minutes to play. After Rick Fox also split a pair of foul shots for LA, Iverson turned the ball over on the Sixers' ensuing possession, and Kobe Bryant answered with running floater to stretch the lead back to four. After Kevin Ollie converted a three-point play off a put-back basket to once again pull within one, Brian Shaw found Robert Horry for a crucial wide-open corner three – one of many clutch playoff shots from Horry in a career that became known for them – to give the Lakers a 92–88 lead with 47 seconds remaining.
The 76ers would respond again; after maintaining possession on two three-point misses that deflected out of bounds, Iverson was fouled by Tyronn Lue on a third three-point attempt of the possession, making all three shots to once again bring the Sixers within one point with 27 seconds remaining. But after Horry made two free throws, Bryant and the Lakers forced Iverson into a contested driving layup that he missed, and Horry rebounded with under 10 seconds to play before adding two more free throws to secure the victory and a 2–1 series lead. Bryant led the Lakers with 32 points having played the entire game, while the Sixers shot just 2 for 12 from three-point range. ===Game 4=== Line 305 ⟶ 306: ==Broadcasting== The 2001 NBA Finals was aired in the United States on [[NBA on NBC|NBC]] (including [[KNBC-TV]] in Los Angeles and [[WCAU]] in Philadelphia), with [[Marv Albert]] and [[Doug Collins (basketball)|Doug Collins]] on play-by-play and color commentary respectively. Albert, who last worked the Finals for [[NBC Sports]] in {{nbafy|1997}}, had been rehired by the network in 1999, two years after a [[sex scandal]] led to his dismissal. Albert also began working for [[NBA on TNT|TNT]] during this period, a role he continued until 2021. Collins departed NBC following the series to serve as head coach of the [[Washington Wizards]]. [[Ahmad Rashad]] served as the studio host in place of [[Hannah Storm]], who took a maternity leave during the finals. [[Kevin Johnson (basketball)|Kevin Johnson]] and [[P. J. Carlesimo]] served as studio analysts, while [[Lewis Johnson (commentator)|Lewis Johnson]] and [[Jim Gray (sportscaster)|Jim Gray]] served as sideline reporters. ==Aftermath== Line 314 ⟶ 315: Also for the Lakers, their 15–1 postseason record was the best in NBA history. This record would later be broken throughout the [[2017 NBA playoffs]] by the [[2016–17 Golden State Warriors season|Golden State Warriors]], who had a 16–1 record en route to their 2017 NBA Championship.<ref name="BR"/> By this point, the first round series became a best-of-seven series, which began in [[2003 NBA playoffs|2003]]. {{As of|2018|05|alt=As of [[ [[Larry Brown (basketball)|Larry Brown]] later coached [[list of Detroit Pistons seasons|the Detroit Pistons]] to their third championship in the [[2004 NBA Finals]], defeating the Lakers 4–1.
==References== Line 337 ⟶ 335: {{NBA on ESPN Radio}} [[Category: [[Category:2000–01 NBA season|Finals]] [[Category:Los Angeles Lakers games|NBA Finals]] |