EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Shaquille O'Neal remembers the night in 1995 when Houston fans banged brooms against his team bus following the last series sweep in the NBA Finals. Seven years later, O'Neal considers it one of the four lowest moments of his life.

        O'Neal can bring his own broom to Game4 and smack it all over New Jersey if the Los Angeles Lakers finish this series tonight. The Lakers have a 3-0 lead over the Nets in the best-of-seven series, and a Los Angeles win today would mark just the seventh sweep in Finals history.

        “I don't like to use that word, because it's kind of bad luck,” O'Neal said of the term sweep. “I'm not the one to count my chickens before they hatch.”

        O'Neal was a member of the Orlando Magic when he made his first trip to the NBA Finals, which the Rockets won in a four-game sweep. Until O'Neal won his first of consecutive titles two years ago, that disaster was a defining point of his career.

        It left a permanent mark on a man who says he has cried only four times in his life — the first time his father hit him, when both of his grandmothers died, and the 1995 Finals.

        “It was a hard feeling. I said to myself, "If I ever have the opportunity to make it to the Finals again, I won't let my teammates down.' I have to make my presence known. We just have to win,” he said.

        As much as the Lakers want to end the series, the Nets want desperately to avoid ending their season at home. New Jersey knows no team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit to win the Finals.

        “Dignity and pride — this team has been playing with that all season,” guard Kerry Kittles said. “Everybody in this locker room has pride in each other and themselves. We don't want to get swept.”

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