Lakers, on the brink of elimination, have to overcome personality conflicts, and the Pistons, tonight.
By wire services
Published June 15, 2004
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - The triangle offense cannot be mastered in one day. The heart necessary to hustle and fight cannot be transplanted within 48 hours. Karl Malone's sprained right knee will not heal, Shaquille O'Neal will not become quicker to defend the pick and roll and Gary Payton's legs will not shake off 10 years of wear and tear before tonight's game against the Pistons. So with no strategic adjustments to be made, Lakers coach Phil Jackson did not hold practice Monday.
His team was one loss from becoming the answer to a trivia question - Who lost to Detroit in perhaps the greatest upset in NBA history? - and Jackson did not run a layup drill or even a film session. The Lakers had a brief meeting at the Palace, then went their separate ways.
The inactivity and dispersal were fitting. The Lakers' insistence on going their own way seems to be a major reason they are facing a 3-1 deficit entering Game 5 of the Finals.
Kobe Bryant, whose late 3-pointer saved the Lakers in Game 2, has chucked jumpers from wild angles against Detroit's oppressive defense. In the past two games, he shot 32 percent.
O'Neal wants less innovation from Bryant and more basic entry passes to the post. Payton, frustrated by his performance, seems to be counting down the minutes to his dreadful experience ends in Los Angeles. (Several Lakers face potential free agency at the end of the season, including Jackson, Bryant, Malone and Payton).
In the moment of truth, discord abounds for Los Angeles, which has not upset the Pistons, who are a victory from winning their first championship in 14 years.
"You'd have to be blind not to see it," Detroit's Darvin Ham said. "They focus on who's getting shots and who's doing this and whose team it is."
As the season comes to a close, there are several groups in the Lakers locker room. One of them includes the long-feuding O'Neal and Bryant, who were part of a five-man crew confronting Jackson in a locker room bathroom Friday to lobby for a lineup change. The five Lakers who have been with Jackson since his arrival five years ago - O'Neal, Bryant, Rick Fox, Derek Fisher and Devean George - asked Jackson to begin playing them together.
They believe the team's inability to execute the triangle offense had been their main undoing against Detroit. They suggested they should be summoned to save the season, and that Malone, who is too hobbled to contribute much, and Payton, who does not like the triangle and is relatively inexperienced playing it, should have their minutes reduced. Those five hope, with nothing to lose, Jackson heeds their advice in Game 5.
The Lakers have another daunting opponent besides the Pistons: history. Twenty-seven teams have trailed 3-1 in the Finals and all 27 have lost. "This team is just stubborn enough to think we can win," Malone said. "I don't really care about history."
Bryant said the Pistons have history against them, too, because no team in the Finals has swept the three middle games of a best-of-seven series.
"It's simple, and if you don't stick to simplicity you die a horrible death," O'Neal said of the need for the team to pull together and put aside its differences.
O'Neal scored 36 in Game 4 but Bryant rarely looked his way, launching off-balance shots in traffic and jumpers with a hand in his face. Asked if Bryant's confidence can be a detriment, O'Neal said, "That's sort of a trick question, and I don't got a trick answer."
A Lakers loss tonight would be monumental. Many christened them as champions after Malone and Payton signed in the summer. Then, after a subpar season, they were christened again after beating the defending champion Spurs in the second round.
But while most observers genuflected, even amid the Lakers' dissension, at least one Piston knew something was awry.
"I saw it with Houston when they got Barkley, Clyde, Scottie and all those guys," Ham said, referring to Houston's unsuccessful attempt to team Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and Hakeem Olajuwon in 1998. "Talent can't beat chemistry. I'm sorry. Chemistry will win all the time."
NBA FINALS
GAME 5: Lakers at Pistons, 9 tonight, Palace of Auburn Hills (Mich.), Ch.28. Pistons lead series 3-1.INSIDE: The Lakers' Karl Malone will not be charged for Game 3's run-in with a fan. 6C
