NEW YORK, 17 April 2004 — The bickering Los Angeles Lakers head into this weekend’s NBA playoffs a team in turmoil, clouded in controversy.
In other words, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and company looked primed to make a serious run at their fourth championship in five years.
Things are seldom tranquil around the Lakers dressing room but this year has been particularly turbulent with Bryant’s sexual assault trial providing an ugly backdrop to a productive season.
However, in the past the Blue and Gold have been able to put their differences aside when it mattered and focus on the job at hand. That sense of purpose will be put to the supreme test as the Lakers prepare to meet Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets in an intriguing Western Conference first round clash. As the postseason opens Bryant, once again, stands at the center of yet another storm.
Criticized by his teammates for shooting too much, a pouting Bryant responded by taking only one shot in the first half of a pivotal game with the Sacramento Kings last Sunday.
Bryant emerged from the controversy with a sparkling 37 points and a clutch three-point jumper at the end of double overtime that lifted the Lakers to 105-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers in the regular season finale on Wednesday.
That victory gave the Lakers the Pacific division title and second seed in the West.
Scandal aside, the Lakers-Rockets will feature a classic match-up between the NBA’s two big men, O’Neal and Yao, who has slowly established himself as a dominating force in his second season in the league.
The other West match-ups will have the top-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves taking on the Denver Nuggets, the Sacramento Kings meeting the Dallas Mavericks and the defending NBA champions San Antonio Spurs against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Having crashed out of the postseason in the first round each of the last seven years much more will be expected from the Timberwolves and their MVP candidate Kevin Garnett this time around against the vastly improved Nuggets.
Denver will be delighted just to have reached the playoffs after they more than doubled their win total this season behind the play of super rookie Carmelo Anthony.
Once again, the Spurs have found top gear when it matters.
Behind the always steady play of two-time MVP Tim Duncan and the slick ball-handling skills of Frenchman Tony Parker the Spurs are riding an 11-game unbeaten run into the postseason.
But San Antonio will be wary of the surprise Grizzlies, who under the guidance of Hall of Fame manager Jerry West won 50 games this season, three of those victories coming from their four meetings with the Spurs.
