The 2000 NBA Finals got off to a good start for the Los Angeles Lakers with an easy Game 1 win over the Indiana Pacers, but in Game 2, Kobe Bryant suffered a sprained ankle (caused intentionally by the Pacers’ Jalen Rose).
Bryant missed most of that contest and the following one as a result, and going into Game 4, L.A. only held a 2-1 series lead over a clearly inferior team.
Luckily, Bryant’s injury improved just enough that he was cleared to play in Game 4 in Indiana.
Early on, he had trouble moving around, and for a minute it looked like perhaps he couldn’t be functional. But his ankle loosened up, and he started to get into his usual rhythm.
Both teams were engaged in a terrific contest with good execution on both ends and sharp shooting by both teams.
Shaquille O’Neal made mincemeat of the Pacers’ big men with 36 points, 21 rebounds and two blocked shots, while Reggie Miller shot arrows through the Lakers with 35 points and six 3-pointers.
The game went into overtime, and with 2:33 remaining, O’Neal committed his sixth and final foul. It looked like the Pacers were about to even the series, but Bryant went to O’Neal, his supposed enemy on the team, and told him he had his back.
After Indiana’s Rik Smits scored, L.A. led by just one. The Lakers spread the floor and Bryant went to work at the top of the key, guarded by Miller. He promptly hit a long jumper that was just short of being a 3-pointer.
On the Lakers’ next possession, Bryant hit another jumper from almost the same spot. Bob Costas, broadcasting the game for NBC, exclaimed, “How good is this kid?”
With 28 seconds left, L.A. had the ball up by just one. Indiana kept the ball out of Bryant’s hands, forcing guard Brian Shaw to take the shot, which he missed.
But Bryant boxed out, grabbed the offensive rebound, and in one motion scored on a putback with five seconds left.
Miller’s 3-point attempt was off, and the Lakers were one win away from an NBA championship.
Bryant finished with 28 points, five assists and two blocked shots. It was the game that proved he could come through in the clutch under extreme pressure, and some 20 years later, it still stands as his signature Finals moment.
The Pacers were pretty much finished, as the Lakers would close out the world title in Game 6.
