Summary

Going for their third straight championship, the Los Angeles Lakers weren't even the best team in the Pacific Division. They finished second to the Sacramento Kings, who led the league with 61 wins to 58 for Los Angeles.

The San Antonio Spurs also won 58 games and right behind them were the Dallas Mavericks with 57. The New Jersey Nets led the Eastern Conference with only 52 victories, while the Detroit Pistons managed 50.

But Shaquille O'Neal, troubled by a variety of small injuries during the regular season, was healthy for the playoffs. Even then, the Lakers faced a real challenge from Sacramento in the Western finals after winning seven of their first eight playoff games to get there.

Sacramento was on the verge of taking a 3-1 lead, with a 99-97 lead in Game 4 at Los Angeles when Robert Horry hit a 3-pointer to win the game. The Kings won Game 5 by a point at home, the Lakers evened the series once more, and Game 7 went to overtime, with Los Angeles finally winning it, 112-106.

The championship was almost a foregone conclusion. The Nets, led by guard Jason Kidd, had to go two overtimes to beat the Indiana Pacers in a five-game series, then eliminated the Charlotte Hornets in five games and the Boston Celtics in six.

But they had no one in the front court to stop O'Neal. Three New Jersey centers fouled O'Neal 47 times in the four games and O'Neal made 45 of his 68 free-throw attempts. He averaged 36.3 points and 12.3 rebounds to win his third straight finals MVP award.

It was a remarkable accomplishment for Phil Jackson. For the ninth time, he had taken a team to the finals and, for the ninth time, he came out a winner, tying Red Auerbach for most championships won. The Lakers were the fifth team to win three straight titles and Jackson coached three of them.

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