- 2001 NBA Finals
NBA Finals summary
caption =
year = 2001
runnerup =Philadelphia 76ers
runnerup_coach = Larry Brown
runnerup_games = 1
champion =Los Angeles Lakers
champion_coach =Phil Jackson
champion_games = 4
date=June 6 -June 15
MVP =Shaquille O'Neal
(Los Angeles Lakers)
television = NBC (U.S.)
announcers =Marv Albert andDoug Collins
HOFers = Coaches:
Larry Brown (2002)
Phil Jackson (2007)
radio_network =
radio_announcers =
referees_1 =Dick Bavetta , Ron Garretson,Joe Crawford
referees_2 =Steve Javie ,Bernie Fryer ,Ronnie Nunn
referees_3 =Bennett Salvatore ,Bob Delaney ,Dan Crawford
referees_4 = Hugh Evans, Jack Nies,Eddie F. Rush
referees_5 =Dick Bavetta ,Bernie Fryer ,Joe Crawford
ECF result = 76ers defeat Bucks, 4-3
WCF result = Lakers defeat Spurs, 4-0The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 2000-01 National Basketball Association season. The
Los Angeles Lakers of the Western Conference took on thePhiladelphia 76ers 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 1. Lakers center
Shaquille O'Neal was named the Most Valuable Player of the series.Allen Iverson scored 48 points in his only NBA finals victory, as the Sixers took Game 1 in a stunning upset 107-101 in OT. But the Lakers won the next four despite being outshot and outrebounded in the series. L.A. punished the Sixers with their excellent 3-point shooting which was the key to this series. In Game 3
Robert Horry hit a clutch 3-pointer in the last minute, and in the next two games the Lakers used hot 3-point shooting to build big leads and hold off late Sixer comebacks in Games 4 and 5, pulling away for double digit wins to capture the title.Broadcasters: NBC;
Marv Albert (play-by-play) andDoug Collins (color commentator)eries scoring summary
The following scoring summary is written in a
line score format, except that the quarter numbers are replaced by game numbers.* *denotes a game that required overtime.
2001 NBA Finals Roster
2001 Los Angeles Lakers
Head Coach:
Phil Jackson Shaquille O'Neal Kobe Bryant Derek Fisher Rick Fox Horace Grant Isaiah Rider Ron Harper Brian Shaw Robert Horry Stanislav Medvedenko Tyronn Lue Devean George Greg Foster Mark Madsen 2001 Philadelphia 76ers
Head Coach: Larry Brown
Allen Iverson Dikembe Mutombo Aaron McKie Eric Snow Tyrone Hill
George LynchMatt Geiger Rodney Buford Jumaine Jones Todd MacCulloch Kevin Ollie Roshown Mcleod Raja Bell Pepe Sanchez Anthony Miller Background
The
Los Angeles Lakers entered the2000-01 NBA season as the defending NBA Champions. The club lost a few key stars to free agency, but they managed to sign up key veteran players likeIsaiah Rider andHorace Grant . The Lakers began the season struggling on and off the court, as they were losing key games at the beginning with theShaq-Kobe feud . Injuries also riddled the team as they struggled through the season. But byApril 1 ,2001 , the Lakers last loss was to theNew York Knicks and they never looked back as the team closed out the season on an eight-game winning streak, thus finishing the season 56-26 and closing out as the #2 seed in the West behind theSan Antonio Spurs .The Lakers began the
2001 NBA Playoffs versus the team against whom they battled thick in thinwhat the previous year in the Conference Finals, thePortland Trail Blazers . The Blazers were a team that struggled throughout the season but battled back to claim the 7th seed. ExpertsWho|date=July 2008 believed this series was to become a full five-game series, but it wasn't even close as the Lakers swept the Blazers by double digits in all three games. In the semifinals the Lakers took on theSacramento Kings , a team who had also given the Lakers a tough series last year, but the Lakers took two close games at home and went to Sacramento to finish the Kings off with a 4-0 sweep as well. In the Conference Finals the Lakers went up against the #1 seed San Antonio Spurs, who were expected to take the Lakers to six or seven games. But it was still all too easy for the Lakers as they took games 1 and 2 in San Antonio then blew them out in games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles in another complete sweep as they became the second team in NBA history to sweep the conference playoffs at 11-0, the 1988-1989Los Angeles Lakers being the first.But the Los Angeles Lakers met a snag on their quest to the first NBA Sweep in playoff history as they went up against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia Sixers. The Sixers, seeded #1 in the East, had just come out of two straight seven-game series. During the first game, the tandem of Iverson, Dikembe Mutumbo, and Eric Snow, coming hot off a long Eastern Conference championship road, beat the Lakers in overtime, showcasing their endurance.
The Lakers then took Game 2. Afterwards, superstar Kobe Bryant was quoted as saying he was coming to Philadelphia to cut their hearts out.Fact|date=July 2008 The Sixers dropped the next three games in Philadelphia, giving the Lakers their second straight championship.
chedule
*Game 1 -
June 6 , Wednesday , 9:00pm et @Los Angeles, Philadelphia 107, Los Angeles 101 (OT): "Philadelphia leads series 1-0"
*Game 2 -June 8 , Friday , 9:00pm et @Los Angeles, Los Angeles 98, Philadelphia 89: "Series tied 1-1"
*Game 3 -June 10 , Sunday , 8:30pm et @Philadelphia, Los Angeles 96, Philadelphia 91: "Los Angeles leads series 2-1"
*Game 4 -June 13 , Wednesday , 8:30pm et @Philadelphia, Los Angeles 100, Philadelphia 86: "Los Angeles leads series 3-1"
*Game 5 -June 15 , Friday , 8:30pm et @Philadelphia, Los Angeles 108, Philadelphia 96: "Los Angeles wins series 4-1"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. As of yet, the other playoff series are still running on a 2-2-1-1-1 site format.Game 1
"Wednesday, June 6, at the
Staples Center The Lakers dominated early, in what looked like to be their fourth series sweep. Scoring 16 straight points, the Lakers took a 21-9 lead over the
Allen Iverson -led 76ers. Despite this major lead, Allen Iverson began dominating at the half of the 2nd quarter scoring 30 first half points. The 76ers turned the game around and even went up by 15 points during the third quarter before the Lakers started a comeback. Shaquille O'Neal was a major factor in the comeback, scoring 18 points in the quarter.The Lakers played fantastic during the 4th quarter, and
Tyronn Lue came off the bench and limited Allen Iverson to merely 3 points and had 3 assists and 2 steals of his own. The game was eventually tied at 94, and whenDikembe Mutombo missed two free throws the game went to overtime.The Lakers dominated for the first half of the overtime, scoring 5 points, but Allen Iverson scored 7 points, and
Raja Bell came off the bench to score a crucial lay-up and Iverson hit a 3-pointer over Tyronne Lue which gave the 76ers a permanent lead. The Lakers hopes to complete the "Fo', fo', fo" was shattered.Trivia
*The Lakers became the third team to win the middle three games in a Finals series while the 2-3-2 format has been used (joining the 1990
Detroit Pistons and 1991Chicago Bulls ). All three teams did so by winning games 3 through 5 on the road. A fourth team, the 2003-2004Detroit Pistons , has since accomplished the feat by winning the middle three at home.
*By winning the Finals MVP award, Shaquille O'Neal joined the list ofKareem Abdul-Jabbar ,Magic Johnson ,Larry Bird ,Michael Jordan ,Hakeem Olajuwon , andTim Duncan as the only players to win the award at least twice. Jordan, Olajuwon and O'Neal are the only three to win the award in back-to-back years.
*Robert Horry and Ron Harper became the second and third players in NBA history to win of back-to-back titles with two different franchises, joiningDennis Rodman .
*The Lakers were the first team to go 15-1 in the postseason, sweeping the Western Conference and then sweeping the 76ers after their Game 1 loss in the Finals.
*This was the second time the Lakers entered a Finals series with an 11-0 record. They also swept thru the Western Conference in 1989 before being swept by theDetroit Pistons .
*This was the last Finals series where the players wore the Finals logo patch on the jersey. Since, the teams have had the Larry O'Brien trophy as the patch on their uniform.ee also
*
2001 NBA Playoffs External links
* [http://www.nba.com/finals2001/ Official website]
* [http://www.nba.com/history/finals/20002001.html NBA History]
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