| Tuesday, May 30
By Mitch Lawrence
Special to ESPN.com |
|
|  | | Kobe and the Lakers never panicked when Portland took Game 2. |
LOS ANGELES -- These aren't growing pains. More like growing gains.
The Lakers are growing up in these NBA playoffs, right before our very
eyes.
Two weekends ago in Phoenix, they went up 3-0 with a chance to sweep out
the Suns. Instead, they failed to show up. Fast-forward to last weekend
in Portland. Faced with the prospect of their first deficit in a series for the 2000
playoffs, they won Game 3 down the stretch by doing everything a team
has to do if it intends on winning a championship.
"The old Lakers -- from last year or two or three years
ago -- they might have panicked," L.A. reserve John Salley said. "This
team now, no."
But the Lakers still had to prove it. They had come back in the
regular-season to win road games after trailing by double digits.
"But that's just not playoff basketball being played," Phil Jackson
said. "On the road, we hadn't shown that kind of muster. The playoffs,
it's a little bit different. I learned, and they learned, something
about themselves and it's real important."
Then Sunday, they took another important step in the maturing process.
They had already regained the homecourt edge, so they could have easily
gone into Game 4 thinking they got what they came to Portland for.
Instead, with Shaquille O'Neal hitting all his foul shots for only the
second time all season, they drilled the Blazers to take a commanding
3-1 lead with Game 5 Tuesday night in Staples Center.
Now, the Lakers face another challenge. The great teams always end a
playoff series as quickly as they can. The idea is to prevent the
opponent from getting any hope.
"The Bulls had a mean thing, where, if we had a team that we knew did
not have a chance, we would eat them up," ex-Bull Ron Harper said.
Twice in the 2000 playoffs the Lakers have had teams on the brink of
elimination. But both times, they let the Kings and Suns hang around. So
we'll see Tuesday if they mature some more.
"We've got to go home and close them out," Harper said. "The last time
we had a big home game against this team, we really stunk the place up.
If we keep playing good and do what we have to do, that shows how far
we've come. We have to learn and guys have to keep learning."
It's called learning how to win.
Rim Shots I
Latest out of Orlando has Magic deciding to put all their
free-agent energies into landing Eddie Jones July 1. It's not that Doc
Rivers has totally given up on Tim Duncan or Grant Hill. But the Magic
feel they can definitely get the Hornets' shooting guard and want to get
the deal done before Jones ends up elsewhere. Which, they fear could
happen, if they are busy trying to get Duncan and Hill. Both are
long-shots at this point.
He's no Jordan: Before Latrell Sprewell
starred in the Knicks' Game 3 win over Indiana, he had missed 27 of 31
fourth-quarter shots since Game 2 of the Toronto series.
Forget the money problems, Mike Jarvis just wasn't the
right fit for the Wizards, and Michael Jordan knew that a full three
days before talks officially broke off. Although Darrell Walker wants
the job on full-time basis, Jordan feels Walker is better suited for
talent evaluation and being point man on possible future trades. Look
for Wiz to start offering Juwan Howard around, with Miami being the
latest possibility.
Rim Shots II
Ain't America Great: When Don Nelson stops coaching the
Mavs in another three, Sidney Moncrief will succeed Nellie. Armed with
his new $20-million deal from free-spender Mark Cuban, Nelson has
already taken care of his favorite former player, who recently joined
the world's largest coaching staff in Dallas.
Currently, there are 11
assistants, with more on the way. Nellie's new deal allows him to skip
practices (Del Harris will be in charge of workouts) and to just coach
games. Nelson gets around $15 mil over the next three seasons, for
"coaching" and GM work. Then he gets another $5 mil for doing only GM
work in the three following seasons. Then, after his six years are complete,
he'll be compensated for consulting for five more years. And here we
always thought that Nellie got his first retirement package from Ernie
Grunfeld and the Knicks.
Looking ahead: Detroit would love for Chris
Webber to leave Sacramento after his contract expires in 2001 and come
back to play for his hometown team. One of the Pistons' selling points will
be that Webber won't ever have to worry about going through the Lakers
to advance in playoffs. For that plan to work, the Pistons had better
still have Grant Hill around.
Rim Shots III
Speaking of the G-man, if Hill is leaving Detroit, he's
sure going about it in a strange way. Hill continues to go into Pistons
offices several times a week to visit with team execs, watch teammates
work out, etc. During one visit, he even scooped up teammate Michael
Curry and a Pistons equipment man to accompany him to Cleveland, where
he needed his injured ankle examined. Pistons officials would like to
take Hill's presence as a sign he's returning. But they also remember
Allan Houston's separate postseason interviews with team officials and
Doug Collins in 1996, when he said in each: "I really want to stay
here." Famous last words.
Before hitting the game-winner in the Lakers'
critical Game 3 win in Portland, Ron Harper asked for the ball, since
Scottie Pippen was giving him the usual attention. Zero. "He hadn't
guarded me in the first two games," Harper said. "My teammates are
always yelling at me, 'Shoot the ball, shoot the ball.' But I always
say, 'Why you want me shooting it?'" Later that night, at Portland
restaurant, Harper ran into Pippen. "How come you made that shot?"
Pippen asked his old Chicago teammate. "You're not supposed to make
it."
Naturally, Lakers exec Jerry West was nowhere to be found
over the weekend when Western Conference finals moved to Portland. West
is a notorious worry-wart who can barely stand to watch games in the
Staples Center. "The only time I remember Jerry going on the road was
when we played in Chicago in '91," said Mike Dunleavy, who was West's
coach that season. "But I don't even think he came to the games to watch
us play." The only reason West was in Chicago that year was that he was
attending the league's annual pre-draft camp.
If the St. John's coaching
job had opened, P.J. Carlesimo would NOT have gone after the post. With
NCAA gumshoes sniffing around, it's not the right time to take that job.
But don't rule the ex-Warriors coach out if and when Mike Jarvis leaves
in the future.
If Larry Bird stays on in Indiana as GM, assistant
Rick Carlisle will replace him on the sidelines. But for Bird to stay,
current GM David Kahn will have to leave for New Jersey's opening or elsewhere.
Before Sidney Lowe got the Grizzlies job, Carlisle had his name floated
for that opening by the Grizzlies new consultant, Chuck Daly. Daly was
Carlisle's boss when Chuck coached the Nets. Daly also told Grizzlies
president Dick Versace to bring in a coach, although Versace had thoughts of
getting back into the coaching business. Several GMs see Versace taking
over in a few years, when the Grizzlies finally get good.
Raptors are
looking at Pacers' Mark Jackson as possible cure for their point guard woes.
Don't ask me why.
Mitch Lawrence, who covers the NBA for the New York Daily News, writes a regular NBA column for ESPN.com. |  |
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