The NBA has entered a period of "competition for the best" in recent seasons, from the 2018-19 season to the 2022-23 season, in 5 years, no team has completed a consecutive championship, and the team in the championship position is different every time.
However, during the period when the Lakers led by the "OK combination" achieved three consecutive championships, they also experienced 3 playoff final battles, and were forced to the last moment of the series by the opponent, and one team was on the list twice! Let's take a look back at how Kobe Bryant and O'Neal fared at the time.
For the first time
Series: 1999-00 season first round
Opponent: King
Since Kobe and O'Neal became teammates in the Lakers in 1996, the team's regular season results were good in the first three seasons, and the regular season record in 1997-98 reached 61-21, which was the first time in eight years that the Purple and Gold Army won more than 60 games in the regular season, but in the playoffs, the Lakers were eliminated by the Jazz twice in the 1996-97 season and the 1997-98 season, winning only one in the two series combined, and in the 1998-99 season, they were swept out by the Spurs in the second round.
In the 1999-00 season, Phil Jackson, who coached Jordan to help the Bulls achieve two triple championships, joined the Lakers, Kobe and O'Neal's side, with the experience of "paying tuition" in the previous playoffs, Kobe Bryant has also practiced by leaps and bounds as he has been in the league for a longer time, and has a better chemistry with O'Neal, O'Neal is at his peak and continues to exert his super dominance, "OK Combination" led the Lakers to the O'Brien Cup, but they encountered strong resistance in the first round.
In the first round of the 2000 playoffs, the Lakers faced the Kings, who had experienced a long period of slump, only once in 12 years to advance to the playoffs, and had the embarrassment of winning less than 30 regular season games for eight consecutive years, but when Adelman took the whip, the team built a lineup with Webb, "White Chocolate" Jason Williams, Peja, and Divac as the main team, and gradually embarked on the road to return to the ranks of the strong teams, they were one of the most flashy offensive teams in the league at that time.
In the 1999-00 season, the Kings' fast-paced offensive basketball attracted countless fans, and they blasted a league-high 105 points per game and 99.3 rounds per game, also leading the league.
In the first round of the playoffs, the two cores of the Lakers, who stood opposite the King, O'Neal averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3 blocks per game in the regular season, while Kobe Bryant averaged 22.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, and was selected to the best team and best defensive team for the first time in his career. Bryant and Divac crossed paths again, and the Purple and Gold's starting center, who swapped with the league's rookies on draft night, has now become an important force for their respective teams to compete in the playoffs.
At the end of the first two games of the series, the Lakers have taken a 2-0 lead in the overall score, G1 O'Neal scored 46 points and 17 rebounds, and although the G2 Kings limited O'Neal to only half of the previous game, Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 32 points and sent the Kings a 24-point defeat.
G3, the Lakers led the game for more than 37 minutes, but eventually lost the game, Webb played strongly, and the quasi-triple-double of 29 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists led the team to pull back a city, this hard-won victory gave the morale of the Kings players a lot of encouragement, and then G4 They almost suppressed the Lakers all over the court, and in the 48 minutes of the game, the Kings were the leading side for 47 minutes and 02 seconds.
The total score of the series came to a 2-2 draw, and the Lakers were forced into a "life-and-death battle" after achieving a total score of 2-0, this time they did not let the victory slip away, Kobe Bryant took the lead in putting a lot of energy on the defensive end, locking Peja, Tony Dirk and other outside players who contributed good performance in the first two games, they shot a total of 16 shots 5 of 5, O'Neal's barrier on the inside made it difficult for Webb on the offensive end, scoring 20 points on 21 shots in the game, and the Lakers finally beat the Kings by 27 points to end the series to complete the promotion.
In this series, O'Neal averaged a team-high 29.4 points and 17.4 rebounds per game, and also averaged 2.6 blocks per game, while Kobe Bryant averaged 27.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
second
Series: 1999-00 Western Conference Finals
Opponent: Trail Blazers
After the first round of the 2000 playoffs against the Kings, the "OK combination" led the Lakers to easily eliminate the Suns with a total score of 4-1 in the second round, and the Suns led by Kidd and "Penny" Hardaway failed to hinder the Lakers too much, and after the end of this series, the Lakers were almost pushed to the "cliff" in front of the Trail Blazers.
Before the 1999-00 season, the Trail Blazers made a number of moves to improve the team's competitiveness, they traded Pippen from the Rockets in a 6-for-1 deal, brought in All-Star quarterback Steve Smith, and signed Schramf, who helped the SuperSonics reach the Finals, to make up for the weakness of the second and third positions.
Through the operation, the Trail Blazers have a sizable lineup, they have the "Roof of the World" Sabonis at the No. 5 position, the forward rotation composed of Rasheed Wallace, Pippen, Bryan Grant, Schramf, Jermaine O'Neal, and the "flying squirrel" Damon Stoudemire on the guard line.
In the playoffs, the Trail Blazers eliminated Garnett's Timberwolves with a total score of 3-1 in the first round, and sent the Jazz led by Karl Malone and Stockton home 4-1 in the second round.
At the beginning of the series, the Lakers took the lead, G2 Rasheed Wallace scored a game-high 29 points to lead the team to equalize the overall score, and the Lakers won the next two games, the series total score came to 3-1, and the Purple and Gold Army was only one step away from the finals, but after that, the Trail Blazers' counterattack shattered the Lakers' dream of advancing in five games.
The Trail Blazers have Avitas Sabonis with a large enough tonnage to defend O'Neal, and the forward group led by Rasheed Wallace interferes from the side, they make it difficult for O'Neal to get into the game in the game, Pippen knows Phil Jackson's triangle offense, which also gives the Trail Blazers the possibility of breaking the game to win, G5 and G6 Trail Blazers have two consecutive cities, and the series will enter a tie-break.
The arrival of the tie-break also means that the series has entered a decisive moment, both sides have given everything they have, the Trail Blazers have deeply implemented the defensive strategy against O'Neal, so that the Lakers, who were accustomed to O'Neal's main offense to lay the advantage for the team, encountered a lot of trouble at the beginning, Rasheed Wallace and Pippen contributed a good performance in the first half, scoring 13 points and 9 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists respectively, allowing the Trail Blazers to maintain a 3-point lead into the second half.
- The Trail Blazers are even more flowering, winning the Lakers by 10 points in a single quarter, although O'Neal did not score 1 point in the whole quarter, 1 minute and 32 seconds in the final quarter, the Trail Blazers' lead over the Lakers has come to 15 points, and the advantage is not small, but Kobe Bryant used sharp breakthroughs to tear apart the opponent's defense for the team, and the defensive end was also fully committed to helping the team limit Pippen's play, and with the decline in physical fitness, the defensive quality of the Trail Blazers gradually went downhill, and it was difficult to stop O'Neal from turning the river and the sea on the inside.
- When there were only 45.5 seconds left in the game, Kobe Bryant shook Pippen at the top of the arc and threw the ball into the air before blocking himself, helping O'Neal to complete the "OK" connection, at this time the Lakers were ahead by 5 points, and the Trail Blazers were gone, O'Neal's main opposing defender Avitas Sabonis had been fouled more than two minutes ago and was sent off, and Pippen also ate his sixth foul with 25 seconds left in regular time, and the game ended with the Lakers winning by 5 points.
In this round of the Western Conference Finals, O'Neal averaged 25.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.9 blocks per game, and Kobe Bryant contributed 20.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and averaged 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game to lead the team.
The third time
Series: 2001-02 Western Conference Finals
Opponent: King
After the 2000 playoffs to win the championship, the "OK combination" is more mature, and the strength of the Lakers they led is also more terrifying, and in the 2001 playoffs, they won the championship with a record of 15 wins and 1 loss, setting a record for the best NBA playoff record at that time, which was not broken by the Warriors until 2017.
In the 2001-02 regular season, the Lakers started the season with a 16-1 record, and finally achieved a 58-24 record, entering the playoffs as the third in the West, they swept the Trail Blazers in the first round, and easily eliminated the Spurs with a total score of 4-1 in the second round.
After two seasons after the last playoff series with the Lakers to the "battle of life and death", the Kings' lineup has been upgraded, Webb, Peja and others are also more mature, as many as 7 players on the team scored double-doubles, the team's regular season net efficiency is +7.9 The league is the first, the Kings are the only team that season to win more than 60 games in the regular season, and in the playoffs, they used to eliminate the Jazz and Mavericks respectively to advance to the Western Conference finals, and meet the Lakers at the top of the West.
Almost everyone on the Kings' side was able to dominate the ball, and even after losing the first game against the 56-point "OK Combo", the Kings were still able to regain their form and play a smooth offense, and they won two games in a row to take a 2-1 overall lead after the third game of the series, and the strong play continued in the early stages of G4.
In the first quarter of the game, the Kings beat the Lakers a 40-20, after which the Lakers fought to catch up, but with about 1 second left in the game, the Kings still led by two points, and they were close to victory.
In the last 8.2 seconds of the game, Webber assisted Bibby to throw a mid-range shot, and as Kobe Bryant's shot was wide in the next round, Peja protected the rebound, and the King narrowly won by 1 point and took the lead in getting the match point.
G6 was already a "win or out" situation for the Lakers, but fortunately they did not disappoint the fans, winning 106-102 against the Kings, but the game was full of controversy, mainly in the penalty judgment, the Lakers made 27 free throws in the final quarter, and the Kings only made 9 free throws on their side, and in the end the Kings had to replace the team's "third center" to face O'Neal.
The series went to the tie-break, and it was a big deal, the Kings and Lakers had nothing to reserve, the game was in regular time, the scores of the two sides were tight, and the fierce battle was until the last minute, Peja had a chance to end the game, but with 11.7 seconds left in regular time, the famous shooter who shot 40.1% from three-point range in his regular season career and 37.6% from three-point range in his playoff career shot three points but shot three without sticking, missing the opportunity to regain the lead for the team, and finally the Lakers and Kings tied in regular time.
In overtime, Webb hit just one of five shots, and the Kings scored just six points in total, while the Lakers scored 12 points and walked away with the victory, and the series ended in controversy.
O'Neal and Kobe Bryant averaged 30.3 points, 13.6 rebounds, 2.4 blocks and 27.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks per game respectively It has also left a deep imprint on the memories of many fans.