Tuesday, June 12, 2001
Tempers rising in NBA Finals
By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service
PHILADELPHIA — Oh, good. Everyone is starting to get on everyone else's nerves in the NBA Finals.
Just in time, too. Crankiness and a little bad blood never hurt in holding interest, as the basketball season heads toward the summer solstice. A pinch of paprika to add to the last few battles.
So where are we, in the fragile cease-fire before Wednesday's Game 4?
Well, the Los Angeles Lakers are growing touchy at how everyone keeps gushing about the spirit and courage of the Philadelphia 76ers. As if the team ahead 2-1 in this series is winning with artificial hearts and pain-free bodies.
The Lakers expected to have their offense tested in this series. But their mettle? By now, their
Tylenol bottle is as empty as anybody else's.
Kobe Bryant: “I don't care how big your heart is. We just want to beat you. I don't care who it is. I don't give a damn.”
And Shaquille O'Neal: “Obviously, they deserve to be here. But you know, my team deserves to be here, too.”
Fisticuffs The Philadelphia 76ers are increasingly testy about how — to their not entirely unbiased eyes — Allen Iverson keeps getting bumped and squeezed like a small guy in the back of a packed elevator, and the officials let it go.
So said Iverson: “We fight too hard to not get any respect.”
And Dikembe Mutombo: “When you get grabbed and you're getting pushed ... at least you want to earn some respect. I think he's deserved some, and he's not getting some.”
O'Neal has 330 pounds worth of annoyance with Mutombo, accusing the Sixer center of acting as if he's been hit by a garbage truck whenever they collide in the lane. Shaq's theory being this lures the gullible whistle-blowers into calling fouls, thereby planting O'Neal's generous backside unrighteously on the bench when there is a game to win, as happened Sunday.
We all know the only actors in this series are supposed to be sitting in the first row back at the Staples Center.
“Obvious he can't stop me,” O'Neal said Sunday night. “So he has to flop and whine.”
And Monday? “I said what I said and I meant what I said.”
Mutombo suggests O'Neal must have been been breathing in too many Mercedes fumes.
“It's so ridiculous,” he said. “I'm not afraid of him.”
And Aaron McKie mentioned, “You know, when you've got stitches in your mouth (as Mutombo has), it just doesn't come from running up and down the floor. Somebody had to hit him in the mouth.”
Bad feelings Things seem to be bubbling up nicely, don't they?
Bad moods are inevitable. The over-under number for hard feelings in any hot NBA series is about three games.
By then, there have been enough elbows, forearms, fateful calls, juicy quotes, and tight finishes to coal up the emotions.
Game 4 is important for Los Angeles, but imperative for Philadelphia. If the Lakers go up 3-1, they won't be caught.
The basketball will likely reflect the stakes, in a series of missed chances. A different bounce here or there, and LA could be up 3-0.
But then, so could Philadelphia.
“This is a long war we are going to be in,” Mutombo said. “Don't be surprised if you see Game 7.”
Meantime, we await round four.
Mike Lopresti writes for Gannett News Service.
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Tempers rising in NBA Finals
