Saturday, May 29, 2004
Shaq and Co. have mastered the art of the closeout.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- The Los Angeles Lakers need just one win in their next three games to advance to the NBA Finals.
If recent history is any guide, they'll only need one attempt.
The Lakers have mastered the art of the closeout over the last four postseasons, winning 12 straight games when there's a chance to finish a playoff series.
With a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals, they've got another opportunity in Game 5 tonight in Minnesota.
Their record in closeout games is impressive, but the Lakers realize it won't mean much to a vociferous Target Center crowd intent on helping to keep the Timberwolves' best season alive.
Confidence
"It gives us confidence that we're very good at closing teams out," Kobe Bryant said Friday at the Lakers' training complex in El Segundo. "We're very good at executing, cutting teams up when we have to. ... We take a lot of pride in it. This is the position we want to be in."
The Lakers reached this position with consecutive home victories this week, including a 92-85 win in Game 4 Thursday night. The wins weren't easy or particularly dominating, but they showcased a hard-earned postseason determination that the Timberwolves still can't match.
"We're in a hole, and we've got to bounce back," swingman Wally Szczerbiak said Friday after a film session.
Minnesota hopes to conjure the formula it used to handily win Game 2 -- 89-71, the largest victory margin in this series.
"We were really aggressive, and we made those little plays that got us over the hump," Szczerbiak said. "Hopefully we can do it again."
On a roll
Though the Lakers have won seven of their last eight games, they're not so far removed from an 0-2 series deficit in the second round against San Antonio -- a series that might have been much different if Derek Fisher hadn't made an improbable jumper as time expired to win Game 5.
So despite their workmanlike domination of the conference finals so far, the Lakers still believe they've got much more work to do before they'll be ready to play for their fourth championship in five years.
"We know nothing has really happened yet that we can gloat about," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "That reputation [as a good closeout team] doesn't mean anything. I don't think it's going to be an easy task at all to win up in Minnesota."
Still, Jackson wants to finish things now.
"It's a very difficult situation that Minnesota is in," he said. "We've got to keep them in a box and keep them thinking about going home."
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