LOS ANGELES, 27 December 2004 — The brick wall came tumbling down yesterday. But that didn’t stop the Miami Heat from beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Shaq vs. Kobe I.
With Shaquille O’Neal watching from the bench after fouling out late in the fourth quarter, Dwyane Wade and Eddie Jones scored four points each in overtime and the Heat beat the Lakers 104-102 to extend their winning streak to 11 games, equaling a franchise record.
O’Neal had an explanation for his early exit.
“No layups, no dunks,” he said.
For everybody?
“Basically everybody, especially him,” O’Neal replied.
O’Neal was referring to Kobe Bryant — a former teammate he has refused to identify by name for quite some time now.
The Heat (22-7) survived despite a season-high 42 points by Bryant. But the Lakers’ star was held scoreless in overtime, missing three shots including a 3-pointer at the buzzer that could have won the game.
O’Neal fouled out after getting 24 points and 11 rebounds in his first game against the Lakers since being traded to the Heat last summer. O’Neal tied the game by dunking off a missed shot with three minutes left, but picked up his sixth foul 45 seconds later when Bryant drove toward the basket.
Bryant drew O’Neal’s fifth foul in similar fashion with 4:04 to play.
Pistons 98 Pacers 93: In Indianapolis, in the first meeting between Indiana and Detroit since their brawl five weeks earlier, nobody charged into the stands, nobody tossed any beer and nobody threw any punches.
Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace, who taunted Indiana fans with expletives when these teams met in last season’s Eastern Conference finals, sank a 3-pointer with 90 seconds left to end the Pacers’ final hopes.
The game went off without any violence and with barely even a harsh word exchanged by the rivals, whose previous meeting degenerated into one of the worst melees in the history of US professional sports.
