2000 NBA Finals

2000 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 4 Indiana Pacers Larry Bird 2
Dates	June 7–19
MVP	Shaquille O'Neal (Los Angeles Lakers)
Television	NBC (U.S.)
Announcers	Bob Costas and Doug Collins
Radio network	ESPN
Announcers	Brent Musburger and Jack Ramsay
Referees
Game 1: Dan Crawford, Jack Nies, Terry Durham Game 2: Joe Crawford, Bennett Salvatore, Eddie F. Rush Game 3: Ron Garretson, Bernie Fryer, Hugh Evans Game 4: Dick Bavetta, Steve Javie, Ronnie Nunn Game 5: Bennett Salvatore, Jack Nies, Dan Crawford Game 6: Hugh Evans, Ron Garretson, Joe Crawford
Hall of Famers	Pacers: Chris Mullin (2011) Reggie Miller (2012) Coaches: Larry Bird (1998, player) Phil Jackson (2007) Tex Winter (2011) Officials: Dick Bavetta (2015)
Eastern Finals	Pacers defeat Knicks, 4–2
Western Finals	Lakers defeat Trail Blazers, 4–3

The 2000 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1999–2000 National Basketball Association season. The Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on the Indiana Pacers of the Eastern Conference for the title, with the Lakers holding home court advantage. The series is played under a best-of-seven format, so the first team to collect four game victories wins the series.

The Lakers won the series 4 games to 2. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the Most Valuable Player of the series. Until 2008, this was the last NBA Finals where both number one seeds from each conference faced off.

Background

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers were one of the most talented teams in the NBA, but despite this, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the 1999 NBA playoffs. Twenty-four days after being swept by the eventual NBA Champion, the Lakers signed Phil Jackson as head coach. Jackson, who coached the 6-time champion Chicago Bulls would build his triangle offense around Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. General Manager Jerry West surrounded Shaq and Kobe with role players such as Glen Rice; Ron Harper, who had experience with Jackson's triangle offense as part of the '96–'98 Chicago Bulls; and A. C. Green, a member of the last two Laker championship teams.

Along with these starters, the Lakers also had a strong bench lineup. Robert Horry has had championship experience with the Houston Rockets, and was a threat at the perimeter as well as a defensive star. Derek Fisher was a point-guard defender skilled at long range shooting. Rick Fox, who was from the Boston Celtics, was the sixth man of the Lakers. With a healthy Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers dominated the regular season, hitting winning streaks of 11, 16, and 19 en route to a 67–15 record, tying the 1992 Chicago Bulls and 1986 Boston Celtics as the fifth best record in NBA regular season history.

The Lakers were expected to make a trip to the Finals, but the road would be a rocky one. In the first round the Lakers took the first two games against the Sacramento Kings, only to drop both games in Sacramento. The Lakers then easily dispatched Sacramento in Game 5 to face the Phoenix Suns. The Lakers clobbered the Suns, winning the series 4–1 with the only defeat by a 20-point margin in Game 4, and would face the Portland Trail Blazers. In Game 1, Rasheed Wallace was ejected because of two technical fouls, and the Lakers took advantage and won. The Trail Blazers stormed back in Game 2, giving the Lakers their worst home loss in the season (106–77). This did not affect the Lakers as they took the next two in Portland, gaining a 3–1 series lead. The Lakers, however, then underestimated the Trail Blazers, who took the next two, forcing a Game 7. After Dick Bavetta made several questionable calls against Arvydas Sabonis, Portland suffered a meltdown as the Lakers rallied back from a 75–60 4th quarter deficit with a 25–4 run en route to the NBA Finals.

Indiana Pacers

In the 1997–1998 NBA season, Chicago Bulls were nearly defeated by the Indiana Pacers in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals, concluding one of the greatest Pacers seasons ever. The 1999 NBA season was a lockout season, where the Pacers would also see their season end at the Eastern Conference Finals, this time to the New York Knicks. The 1999–2000 season would see many changes to the Pacers, including a new arena, Conseco Fieldhouse. Another change is trading their veteran big man, Antonio Davis for the rights to No. 5 overall pick Jonathan Bender. Jalen Rose would be put into the starting line up, winning the NBA Most Improved Player award, while Austin Croshere replaced him as the sixth man.

The Pacers would start the season 7–7, barely in playoff contention, but would eventually finish with an Eastern Conference best 56–26 record. During the season, the Pacers would win 25 straight in their new arena, a franchise record. The Pacers, like the Lakers, would struggle in the playoffs. They needed a "clutch" Travis Best three-point play to dispatch the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. They faced the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, earning a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. The Pacers would face their rival Knicks, in a reversal of fortunes from the previous year, the Pacers would win in a memorable six games series. The Pacers would enter the NBA Finals for the first time, to face the Lakers as well as being the second former ABA team to make the NBA Finals.

Road to the Finals

Main article: 2000 NBA Playoffs

Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference Champion)		Indiana Pacers (Eastern Conference Champion)
# Western Conference Team W L PCT GB 1 z-Los Angeles Lakers 67 15 .817 – 2 y-Utah Jazz 55 27 .671 12 3 x-Portland Trail Blazers 59 23 .720 8 4 x-San Antonio Spurs 53 29 .646 14 5 x-Phoenix Suns 53 29 .646 14 6 x-Minnesota Timberwolves 50 32 .610 17 7 x-Seattle SuperSonics 45 37 .549 22 8 x-Sacramento Kings 44 38 .537 23 9 Dallas Mavericks 40 42 .488 27 10 Denver Nuggets 35 47 .427 32 11 Houston Rockets 34 48 .415 33 12 Vancouver Grizzlies 22 60 .268 45 13 Golden State Warriors 19 63 .232 48 14 Los Angeles Clippers 15 67 .183 52 1st seed in the West, best league record	Regular season		# Eastern Conference Team W L PCT GB 1 c-Indiana Pacers 56 26 .683 – 2 y-Miami Heat 52 30 .634 4 3 x-New York Knicks 50 32 .610 6 4 x-Charlotte Hornets 49 33 .598 7 5 x-Philadelphia 76ers 49 33 .598 7 6 x-Toronto Raptors 45 37 .549 11 7 x-Detroit Pistons 42 40 .512 14 8 x-Milwaukee Bucks 42 40 .512 14 9 Orlando Magic 41 41 .500 15 10 Boston Celtics 35 47 .427 21 11 Cleveland Cavaliers 32 50 .390 24 12 New Jersey Nets 31 51 .378 25 13 Washington Wizards 29 53 .354 27 14 Atlanta Hawks 28 54 .341 28 15 Chicago Bulls 17 65 .207 39 1st seed in the East, 3rd best league record
Defeated the (8) Sacramento Kings, 3–2	First Round		Defeated the (8) Milwaukee Bucks, 3–2
Defeated the (5) Phoenix Suns, 4–1	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (4) Philadelphia 76ers, 4–2
Defeated the (3) Portland Trail Blazers, 4–3	Conference Finals		Defeated the (3) New York Knicks, 4–2

Regular season series

Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:

January 14, 2000

Los Angeles Lakers 102, Indiana Pacers 111

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

March 3, 2000

Indiana Pacers 92, Los Angeles Lakers 107

Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

Starting Lineups

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame ‡

Los Angeles	Position	Indiana
Ron Harper	PG	Mark Jackson
Kobe Bryant	SG	Reggie Miller‡
Glen Rice	SF	Jalen Rose
A.C. Green	PF	Dale Davis
Shaquille O'Neal	C	Rik Smits

Series summary

Game	Date	Home Team	Result	Road Team
Game 1	Wednesday, June 7	Los Angeles Lakers	104–87 (1–0)	Indiana Pacers
Game 2	Friday, June 9	Los Angeles Lakers	111–104 (2–0)	Indiana Pacers
Game 3	Sunday, June 11	Indiana Pacers	100–91 (1–2)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 4	Wednesday, June 14	Indiana Pacers	118–120 OT (1–3)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 5	Friday, June 16	Indiana Pacers	120–87 (2–3)	Los Angeles Lakers
Game 6	Monday, June 19	Los Angeles Lakers	116–111 (4–2)	Indiana Pacers

The Finals were played using a 2–3–2 site format, where the first two and last two games are held at the team with home court advantage. The NBA, after experimenting in the early years, restored this original format for the Finals in 1985. So far, the other playoff series are still running on a 2–2–1–1–1 site format.

This was the second time a Finals game was played on a Monday night since the NBA switched to the Wednesday-Friday-Sunday rotation in 1991. In the previous five series ('92–'94, '96, '98) that needed a Game 6, the game was played on a Sunday. In this series, however, the NBA chose to play the game the Monday night after Father's Day. The previous Finals game played on a Monday night was Game 3 in 1999.

Game 1

NBC

June 7

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 10, 2001)

Indiana Pacers 87, Los Angeles Lakers 104
Scoring by quarter: 18–33, 25–22, 28–22, 16–27
Pts: Mark Jackson 18 Rebs: Dale Davis 8 Asts: Mark Jackson 7		Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 43 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 19 Asts: Bryant, Harper 5 each
Los Angeles leads the series, 1–0

Staples Center, Los Angeles, California Attendance: 18,997 Referees: No. 43 Dan Crawford No. 35 Jack Nies No. 31 Terry Durham

The Lakers dominated from the start. The Lakers shot 15–20 in the first period while the Pacers shot only 7–20. Reggie Miller would miss all of his shots in the first quarter to give the Lakers a 15-point lead. Austin Croshere came off the bench to keep the Pacers alive in the 2nd quarter, scoring 9 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in the quarter. Although the Pacers attempted a comeback in the 2nd quarter, they were still down by 12. In the 3rd quarter, it would be Mark Jackson who led the Pacers to a comeback, cutting the Lakers lead by 2. Reggie Miller also hit his first field goal in the 3rd quarter, though it would be his last. The Lakers handled the Pacers in the final quarter, with a 13–2 run winning by 17 points. Shaquille O'neal scored 43 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

Game 2

NBC

June 9

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 10, 2001)

Indiana Pacers 104, Los Angeles Lakers 111
Scoring by quarter: 28–28, 21–24, 20–21, 35–38
Pts: Jalen Rose 30 Rebs: Dale Davis 10 Asts: Mark Jackson 8		Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 40 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 24 Asts: Brian Shaw 7
Los Angeles leads the series, 2–0

Staples Center, Los Angeles, California Attendance: 18,997 Referees: No. 17 Joe Crawford No. 15 Bennett Salvatore No. 32 Ed F. Rush

Los Angeles and Indiana were evenly matched for the first quarter, both scoring 28. But Los Angeles suffered a major setback when Kobe Bryant left the game in the 2nd quarter due to a sprained ankle and did not return. Jalen Rose later admitted that he intentionally stuck out his foot when Kobe shot a jumpshot so as to trip him when he landed. Ron Harper went in for Bryant and scored 21 points for the game. Desperate to try to gain the lead, Larry Bird resorted to the "Hack-a-Shaq" strategy. Shaq shot 39 free throws, making only 18, an NBA record for most free throws attempted. Despite this low percentage, Shaq made 9 of 16 in the 4th quarter to keep a Lakers lead. The Pacers cut the lead to 99–96 and were looking to foul Shaq, but when Shaq got the ball he passed to Robert Horry who converted not only the layup, but the foul shot as well giving them a 102–96 lead en route to a 111–104 Laker victory.

Game 3

NBC

June 11

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 4, 2001)

Los Angeles Lakers 91, Indiana Pacers 100
Scoring by quarter: 15–23, 27–30, 24–26, 25–21
Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 33 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 13 Asts: Derek Fisher 10		Pts: Reggie Miller 33 Rebs: Dale Davis 12 Asts: Mark Jackson 6
Los Angeles leads the series, 2–1

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 18,345 Referees: No. 10 Ron Garretson No. 7 Bernie Fryer No. 25 Hugh Evans

Due to Kobe Bryant's ankle injury, Indiana was able to get back into the series. Kobe's absence was felt as the Pacers had an 11–2 run in the first quarter to take an 8-point lead. Austin Croshere once again had another huge 2nd quarter, scoring 8 points as the Pacers scored 61%. The Lakers tried to make a run to get back into the game, but once they did Indiana answered with 12 straight points and led by 17. The Lakers were desperate and attempted another run to get within 3 points but Reggie Miller nailed all his free throws at the end of the game to give Indiana a 9-point win.

Game 4

NBC

June 14

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 4, 2001)

Los Angeles Lakers 120, Indiana Pacers 118 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 23–33, 28–21, 29–23, 24–27, Overtime: 16–14
Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 36 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 21 Asts: Kobe Bryant 5		Pts: Reggie Miller 35 Rebs: Dale Davis 8 Asts: Mark Jackson 8
Los Angeles leads the series, 3–1

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 18,345 Referees: No. 27 Dick Bavetta No. 29 Steve Javie No. 34 Ronnie Nunn

The Pacers took a quick 9–2 lead due to Rik Smits hitting his first four shots. Kobe Bryant attempted to play with his sore ankle, but only managed to score 6 points in the first half. Even though Bryant and O'Neal were in foul trouble in the first half (each picking up number 3 with 5 minutes remaining in the second quarter), Indiana could not take advantage and did not extend their lead. This would be a problem as Kobe Bryant scored 10 points and the Lakers took a 62–60 lead due to a Glen Rice three-pointer. The game remained close going into the fourth quarter, when O'Neal and Reggie Miller scored 14 and 13 points respectively, sending the game into overtime. Midway through overtime, O'Neal committed his sixth foul but 21-year-old Bryant delivered three clutch shots, as the Lakers were able to overcome back-up center John Salley's inability to effectively defend Smits. Smits and Miller scored all 14 of Indiana's OT points, but it was not enough to overcome as Miller missed a last-second three-pointer, and L.A. was able to pull one out in Indianapolis.

Game 5

NBC

June 16

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 4, 2001)

Los Angeles Lakers 87, Indiana Pacers 120
Scoring by quarter: 28–39, 17–25, 22–22, 20–34
Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 35 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 11 Asts: Ron Harper 5		Pts: Jalen Rose 32 Rebs: Austin Croshere 9 Asts: Mark Jackson 7
Los Angeles leads the series, 3–2

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana Attendance: 18,345 Referees: No. 15 Bennett Salvatore No. 35 Jack Nies No. 43 Dan Crawford

Reggie Miller and the Pacers dominated the game from the start in what would be Larry Bird's last game as a coach in Indiana. Reggie Miller came out and made 5 straight shots including a 4-point play. The Pacers hit their first 6 three point shots in the game. The Pacers would have a 20-point lead in the 2nd quarter, and eventually won by 33 – it was the worst Lakers NBA Finals loss since the 148–114 loss to Boston in the 1985 NBA Finals, known as the "Memorial Day Massacre."

Game 6

NBC

June 19

Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived February 10, 2001)

Indiana Pacers 111, Los Angeles Lakers 116
Scoring by quarter: 26–24, 30–29, 28–26, 27–37
Pts: Jalen Rose 29 Rebs: Dale Davis 14 Asts: Mark Jackson 11		Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 41 Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 12 Asts: Ron Harper 9
Los Angeles wins the series, 4–2

Staples Center, Los Angeles, California Attendance: 18,997 Referees: No. 25 Hugh Evans No. 10 Ron Garretson No. 17 Joe Crawford

With their loss in Game 5, the Lakers record in close-out games dropped to 3–6 in the 2000 NBA Playoffs (the other losses coming in Games 3 and 4 in the first round against Sacramento, Game 4 in the series against Phoenix, and Games 5 and 6 versus Portland). As a result, the series returned to California.

After the two teams traded blows in the first quarter, Mark Jackson concluded the period with a turn-around half-court shot at the buzzer to give the Pacers a 26–24 advantage. They would not relinquish their lead until the fourth quarter.

In the first half, the Pacers would lead by as many as twelve points. However, the Lakers chipped away and entered intermission trailing 56–53. Indiana, however, added two more points to their lead, and entered the final period in a position to force a decisive seventh game.

In the fourth quarter, the momentum shifted. The Lakers got four timely three-pointers from Derek Fisher, Robert Horry, and Rick Fox. The turning point occurred on a play where Brian Shaw stole the ball from Jalen Rose, leading to a fast break where Shaquille O'Neal hit an off-balance shot to give the Lakers the lead. The Pacers never led after this.

The Lakers would build a seven-point lead, but the Pacers fought back to tie the score at 103. After a timeout, the Lakers scored six unanswered points to regain control. The Pacers made one final valiant effort, but it fell short and the Lakers clinched their first championship in twelve years. Shaquille O'Neal led all scorers with 41 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds. He was awarded the Finals MVP.

Aftermath

This was the first NBA championship for the Lakers since 1988. It was also the first major professional sports championship for the city of Los Angeles since the Dodgers won that year's World Series. This championship came in the Lakers' first year in their new arena, Staples Center.

The Lakers went on to score a 'three-peat' when they won the NBA championship in 2001 and 2002, making them the first team to open a new arena with three straight NBA championships. However, the Lakers were unable to score home-court advantage throughout the playoffs in the latter two, yielding them to the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings, respectively. In addition, the Lakers were able to beat both of them in the Conference Finals. They won the championship over the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, respectively.

The series would be the Pacers' only finals appearance to date. The Pacers would rebuild in the subsequent season. Retiring center Rik Smits was replaced by future NBA All-Star Jermaine O'Neal, acquired from Portland in the deal for Dale Davis. Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin both left as free-agents, and Larry Bird resigned as head coach. Bird would resurface as President of Basketball Operations in 2003. The Pacers continued to make the post-season until 2006, the year after Reggie Miller retired.

See also

• 2000 NBA Playoffs

External links

• NBA History
• Official Website on NBA.com at the Wayback Machine (archived August 15, 2000)
• 2000 NBA Finals on YouTube
• NBA Basketball Stat Reference