O’Neal is a three-peat MVP as Lakers finally cut down the Nets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. —  The third championship came as the others did, on the shoulders of Shaquille O’Neal, on the wings of Kobe Bryant, at the end of a season they were sure of, if sometimes they were among the few who were.

Late on Wednesday night, the Lakers stood finally at the end of what they had played for since October, and pulled the joy of their NBA championship not from large green bottles, but from the teammates who sang with them in a locker room soaked in satisfaction.

The Lakers defeated the New Jersey Nets, 113-107, at Continental Airlines Arena, where O’Neal handed his Finals MVP trophy--his third in a row--to his teammates, and held his young daughter, Amirah, instead.

They won the best-of-seven series in four games, the first Finals sweep by the Lakers, the seventh in league history and the first in seven years, since O’Neal and his Orlando Magic were gone in four.

The Lakers have won 14 championships, two fewer than the Boston Celtics, and seem to be gaining momentum. O’Neal is 30. Bryant is 23. They pushed into a cinder-block room crowded by teammates, who chanted, “One, two, three! One, two, three!” And when O’Neal was ready, corks banged off a tile ceiling, and he shouted hysterically when the champagne came.

Bryant, who a year ago slumped in a shower stall by himself, danced among them. Rick Fox held the game ball and a Bahamian flag. Derek Fisher turned his cap backward and shrieked for his third, as though it were his first.

The Lakers would party to dawn, fly mid-morning, and parade on Friday.

“We can see why the third time is the hardest,” Fisher said. “But here we are.

“This started as a foregone conclusion. It didn’t look that way as we went forward. So, for our basketball team, the fact we didn’t give up makes it special. We fought through all of that.”

Often out in front of it, Phil Jackson won his ninth title as a coach in his ninth Finals appearance, tying Celtic legend Red Auerbach for the record. Afterward, Jackson lit a cigar, his own, and surrounded himself with his four children in a small room between locker rooms.

“It’s my belief and my experience that the third victory in the three successive years is always the most unique and the most difficult one to fight your way through,” he said. “This certainly was this year.”

It came in a series billed as “Destiny vs. Dynasty,” and the people of New Jersey were shocked to discover they were up against both.

O’Neal limped terribly through the season, and could face off-season surgery to ease the pain from an arthritic toe. But he strode forcefully into a series he was expected to control, averaged 36.3 points and shot 59.5%. He scored 34 points and took 10 rebounds in Game 4, just enough to run off the Nets, game but for their moments in the middle with O’Neal.

He became the second player to win three consecutive Finals MVP awards. Michael Jordan did it twice last decade, also playing for Jackson, also as the game’s most dominant force.

“It says we’re a great team and everybody stuck to their role, everybody stuck to the script, everybody believed,” O’Neal said. “Nobody ever got down, even, you know, when times were so-called hard.”

Bryant scored 25 points, 11 while making four of six shots in the fourth quarter. Fisher scored 13 points, Robert Horry scored 12 and Devean George scored 11, including a three-pointer with just under eight minutes remaining that gave the Lakers a 92-89 lead they never gave back.

Net forward Kenyon Martin scored 35 points, 13 in a taut fourth quarter. The Nets, however, lacked a consistent inside game, and they lacked O’Neal, or anyone like him.

O’Neal set records for a four-game series for points (145), free throws made (45), free throws attempted (68) and blocks (11). As a result, the Lakers won their record eighth consecutive Finals game.

It all landed them in a huddle at midcourt, surrounded by friends and relatives, drawn by three consecutive NBA titles. Asked to consider the three, Bryant grinned.

“It’s all the same, all the same,” he said. “The first one is, it’s all a novelty and it feels good. The first one will always be the best one. The second one, the adversity we went through throughout the course of the year made that one special.

“And this one, it’s kind of making us step in as one of the great teams. It feels great. Having a seven-game series against Sacramento, being down, 3-2, it challenged us. We responded to it. It makes this one that much more special.”

In a late huddle, when the lead was nine and the clock was under four minutes, Fisher looked straight into Fox’s eyes and from three feet away screamed, “Three-peat!” And Fox nodded.

They flexed and relaxed their fists, and they swayed to the theme from “Rocky,” meant to inspire the Nets, from three games and nine points back.

It would not happen.

Before the opening tip, O’Neal looked into the crowd and found his stepfather, Phil Harrison. They made eye contact, O’Neal pointed and Harrison nodded.

Periodically, O’Neal would peer at Harrison, the man they call “Sarge,” and he’d touch his chest with his right fist.

“Thank God for both of the Phils in my life,” O’Neal said. “Phil Jackson, who always stayed on me. And Phil Harrison, who always stayed on me. I’m just so happy right now. Going to enjoy the moment and take most of the summer off and then make a decision at the end of the summer on what I’m going to do [about his toe].”

The Lakers left with their arms around each other, to a bus that would take them into the night, into their celebrations. Toward ... four?

“They’re plotting, they’re waiting. I’m sure Sacramento’s working out right now,” Bryant said. “We’re not going to let our guards down. We’re going to come back next year ready to play. They’re going to try to take what we have and we’re going to be waiting for them.”

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*--* The Dynasties Teams that have won three or more consecutive titles in the NBA: 8--Boston Celtics (1959-66) 3--Minneapolis Lakers (1952-54) 3--Chicago Bulls (1991-93) 3--Chicago Bulls (1996-98) 3--Los Angeles Lakers ( 2000-02)

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*--* Big Winners Most championships in major sports: 26--New York Yankees (MLB) 23--Montreal Canadiens (NHL) 16--Boston Celtics (NBA) 14--Minneapolis/L.A. Lakers (NBA) 13--Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) 9--Detroit Red Wings (NHL) 9--St. Louis Cardinals (MLB) 9--Philadelphia/Kansas City/ Oakland A’s (MLB) 9--Green Bay Packers (NFL)

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*--* Best on Bench Coaches with multiple NBA titles: 9--Phil Jackson 2--Red Holzman 9--Red Auerbach 2--Tom Heinsohn 5--John Kundla 2--K.C. Jones 4--Pat Riley 2--Chuck Daly 2--Bill Russell 2--Rudy Tomjanovich 2--Alex Hannum

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