Game #1 @Los Angeles 6/7/00

The Lakers came out strong in the 1st quarter as they shot 15-20 from the floor while Indiana made only 7 of their 20 attempts. Reggie Miller missed all 6 of his shots in the quarter while L.A. used a 16-6 run to take the lead. Shaquille O’Neal scored 10 and Kobe Bryant the other 6 points during that run. Indiana stayed in the game behind Austin Croshere’s strong 2nd period off the bench. Croshere had 9 points and 4 rebounds in the 2nd including the Pacers’ last 5 points of the half. Jalen Rose had cut the lead to 37-31 with a 3-pointer, but Indiana turned it over on their next 3 possessions and L.A. went back up 43-31. Miller continued to struggle as he got only 1 shot in the 2nd period and missed. Mark Jackson led a 3rd quarter rally for the Pacers with 10 points and 3 assists. The Pacers used a 14-5 run to cut the lead to 71-69. Miller finally hit his 1st field goal with 5 minutes left in the 3rd period. The Lakers salted the game away with a 13-2 run midway through the final period. O’Neal had 8 and Rick Fox had 5 during that run that left L.A. with a 96-79 lead. Miller continued to struggle as he did not score in the 4th.

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Game #2 @Los Angeles 6/9/00

Los Angeles suffered a setback when Kobe Bryant left the game in the 2nd quarter with a sprained ankle and did not return. Ron Harper stepped up in Bryant’s absence for L.A with 21 points. After L.A. had built a lead in the 4th, Pacer coach Larry Bird resorted to the “Hack-A-Shaq” offense. Shaquille O’Neal would make just enough foul shots to keep L.A. in front. O’Neal only made 18-39 free throws on the game, but he did make 9-16 in the 4th period. Reggie Miller bounced back with 7-14 shooting through 3 periods but he did not attempt a shot in the 4th until less than 6 minutes remained. Rik Smits continued to be a non-factor as he picked up his 5th foul with 7:09 left in the 3rd period. Miller finally got a look with the Pacers down by 5 with less than 3 minutes to play but he could not knock down an open 3-pointer. The Pacers kept fighting and cut the lead to 99-96 with just over a minute to play. O’Neal took a pass in the middle of the lane, but before Sam Perkins could foul him, O’Neal hit a cutting Robert Horry. Horry drew the foul and converted a reverse layup. He then made the foul shot to give L.A. a 102-96 lead with 58 seconds left in the game.

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Game #3 @Indiana

Kobe Bryant’s injured ankle kept him out of this game and Indiana took advantage to get back in the series. The Pacers ran off an 11-2 spurt in the 1st quarter to take a 23-12 lead. Ron Harper and Mark Jackson were both assessed technical fouls in the 1st period after they tussled with each other. Rik Smits finally came to life as he outscored and outrebounded Shaquille O’Neal in the opening period (Smits: 6 pts and 3 reb. O’Neal 5 pts and 1 reb). Austin Croshere again had a big 2nd period; this time he scored 8 points in the 2nd as the Pacers shot 61% from the floor in the period. The Lakers tried to answer at the beginning of the 2nd half when they started the half on a 10-4 run. Indiana then scored 12 straight points to lead 69-52. The Lakers made a desperate, late run and moved within 94-91 on a Ron Harper trey with 0:14 on the clock. Reggie Miller would make 6 straight foul shots in those final 14 seconds to preserve the Pacer win. O’Neal could not his foul shots in the 4th this game as he was 1-7 from the line.

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Game #4 @Indiana

Rik Smits again started strong as he hit 4 straight shots in the game’s first 4 minutes as Indiana opened a 9-2 lead. Kobe Bryant played on his sore ankle but was ineffective in the 1st half as he scored only 6 points. After the Pacers shot 55% in the 1st period, L.A. began to climb back into the game in the 2nd period. A 9-2 Laker run closed the gap to 39-36 with 8:12 left in the opening half. However, both O’Neal and Bryant would pick up their 3rd fouls in the last 5 minutes of the half. Indiana could not capitalize on their absence and extend their lead. Bryant heated up in the 3rd period with 10 points as L.A. took the lead, 62-60 on a Glen Rice 3-pointer and a Ron Harper layup. It was their 1st lead since Game 2. Bryant would play most of the 3rd period with 4 fouls and O’Neal played the final 2 minutes of the 3rd with 4 fouls as well. O’Neal scored only 5 points but had 9 rebounds in the period. Reggie Miller lit it up in the 4th with 13 points including 3-3 from behind the arc. A Sam Perkins bomb tied the game with 0:35 left. O’Neal scored 14 points in the 4th to help send the game into overtime. In the OT, Robert Horry scored the first 4 points but Smits and Miller would combine for all 14 Indiana points. O’Neal fouled out trying to guard Smits with 2:33 left in OT and L.A. up by 3 points. Smits then hit over John Salley (in to replace O’Neal) to cut it to 1 point. Bryant hit 2 foul shots to push the lead back to 3 points. Phil Jackson had called off the triangle at this point and was letting Bryant operate from a spread offense. Smits hit a hook over Salley to cut it back to 1. Bryant then hit a pull-up jumper over Miller to make it a 3-point game again. Miller answered with 2 free throws and Indiana had a chance when Smits blocked Bryant’s shot. Brian Shaw was in the right place for L.A. and grabbed the loose ball and laid it in. Smits hit 2 foul shots for Indiana to bring it back before Brian Shaw had to put up a runner as the shot clock wound down. Shaw’s shot was short by Bryant grabbed the ball and put in a reverse tip-in. Miller missed a 3-pointer and Horry grabbed the rebound as L.A. escaped. 

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Game #5 @Indiana

Reggie Miller came out smoking in Larry Bird’s final home game as Pacer coach by hitting 5 straight shots in the opening quarter including a 4-point play. Jalen Rose also made 3 straight triples in the 1st as well as the Pacers built an 11-point lead. Indiana made 15 of 20 shots in the opening period. The Pacers would push the lead to 20 in the 2nd period. For the 1st half, Indiana shot 61% from the floor as Rose scored 20 points. The Lakers would never cut the lead into single digits during the entire 2nd half. A mini-rally cut the lead in the 3rd, but Indiana immediately pushed it back to 86-67. Other than Shaquille O’Neal, the rest of the Lakers’ team made only 19 of 63 shots. It was the 2nd worst Finals loss in Laker history, behind only the 148-114 Memorial Day Massacre in Boston in 1985.

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Game #6 @Los Angeles 6/19/00

Dale Davis had 9 points and 8 rebounds in the 1st period as Indiana looked to try and force a Game 7. Mark Jackson gave the Pacers the lead as he stole the ball and sank a 40-footer at the 1st quarter buzzer. Smits, however, continued to struggle at the Forum as he made only 1 of 7 shots in the opening period. He would take only 1 more shot the rest of the way. Austin Croshere continued to provide a spark with 10 points and 3 boards in the 2nd period. A 9-2 Pacer run gave them a 42-32 lead with 7:57 left in the 1st half. Shaquille O’Neal brought L.A. back with 15 points in the quarter as L.A. cut it to 3 points at the half. Finally heating up in his hometown, Reggie Miller hit for 10 points in the 3rd including 2 free throws that made it 82-79 with 0:45 left in the 3rd. Jalen Rose followed that with a turnaround jumper that gave the Pacers a 5-point lead entering the 4th period. Mark Jackson had 7 points and 4 assists in the 3rd period after Travis Best had to leave with a separated shoulder. Croshere hit a trey that gave Indiana a 90-86 lead as they tried to hold on. The Lakers answered with 8 straight points to take a 94-90 lead. Robert Horry, a veteran of 4 NBA Finals, came up with 8 clutch points in the final period. His drive to the hoop gave L.A. the lead for good, 105-103, at the 5-minute mark. Indiana employed the Hack-A-Shaq with 3:02 left and O’Neal made only 1 of 4 foul shots and a Croshere hoop made it 110-109 L.A. with 1:32 remaining. Davis blocked Glen Rice, but Croshere was called for a loose ball foul on Rice. Rice sank both foul shots to make it 112-109. Miller missed and Bryant followed with 2 foul shots of his own to give L.A. a 5-point lead. Davis cut it back to 3, but Bryant sank 2 more clutch free throws to provide the final margin.

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