Lakers Overcome Deficit to Win West

The past tugged at the Lakers, and the Trail Blazers tugged harder.

The Lakers looked weighed down and desperate, and tripped toward failure again.

Then, at the moment of truth, as darkness threatened, Kobe Bryant ran faster, Brian Shaw shot truer and Shaquille O’Neal jumped higher than anyone could have dreamed, including the Lakers themselves.

The Lakers saw the light ahead of them. They did not fall.

And in one quarter, they almost blew up Staples Center.

In the fourth quarter of the seventh game of the third playoff series of the first season of Phil Jackson’s Laker coaching lifetime, the Lakers overcame a 15-point deficit, reeled in the Trail Blazers, and won a trip to the NBA finals with a staggering 89-84 victory.

It was the biggest Game 7 fourth-quarter comeback in NBA history.

The first three quarters, after which Portland led, 71-58, were the summation of every responsibility the Lakers had failed to live up to, and every significant victory they had failed to record during the last three seasons.

O’Neal couldn’t get the ball. The other Lakers couldn’t get it into the basket. The Trail Blazers were whizzing into the lane, and throwing in three-point baskets. Jackson was calling timeouts to yell at his players.

After giving up a basket and two free throws to pump the Portland lead to 75-60 with 10:28 to play, the Lakers stopped Portland 10 consecutive times, began making shots of their own and soon panic turned to hope, surprise and finally euphoria.

The Lakers tied the score for the first time in the fourth quarter at 75-75 on Shaw’s second three-pointer of the quarter, with four minutes left, capping a 15-0 rocket-burst.

IN QUOTES

“‘It was definitely a borderline wrestling match at times. . . . That’s the only way we found a way to win. We just got gritty with it.”

RICK FOX,

Laker forward

THE SERIES

Lakers win, 4-3