2001 NBA Finals

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2001 NBA Finals
TeamCoachWins
Los Angeles Lakers Phil Jackson 4
Philadelphia 76ers Larry Brown 1
DatesJune 6–15
MVPShaquille O'Neal
(Los Angeles Lakers)
Hall of FamersLakers:
Kobe Bryant (2020)
Shaquille O'Neal (2016)
76ers:
Allen Iverson (2016)
Dikembe Mutombo (2015)
Coaches:
Larry Brown (2002)
Phil Jackson (2007)
Officials:
Dick Bavetta (2015)
Hugh Evans (2022)
Eastern Finals76ers defeated Bucks, 4–3
Western FinalsLakers defeated Spurs, 4–0
← 2000 NBA Finals 2002 →

The 2001 NBA Finals was the championship round of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2000–01 season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. The defending NBA champion and Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers took on the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia 76ers for the championship, with the Lakers holding home-court advantage in a best-of-seven format. After losing the first game at home, the Lakers won the next four games to clinch their second consecutive title and 13th overall. By the end of the series, the 2000–01 Lakers held the record for the best postseason record with 15–1. It was later surpassed after the NBA extended the first round series to a best-of-seven series by the 2016–17 Golden State Warriors. Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal was named the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) for the second consecutive year, after averaging 33.0 points, 15.8 rebounds and 3.4 blocks per game.[1]

Background[edit]

The Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2000–01 NBA season as the defending NBA champions. The club lost a few players to free agency, but they signed veteran players like Isaiah Rider and Horace Grant. The Lakers began the season struggling on and off the court, as they were losing games at the beginning with the Shaq–Kobe feud. Injuries also riddled the team as they struggled through the season. But by April 1, 2001, the Lakers last loss was to the New York Knicks and they never looked back as the team closed out the season on an eight-game winning streak, thus finishing the season 56-26 and closing out as the number 2 seed in the West behind the San Antonio Spurs.

The Lakers began the 2001 NBA Playoffs versus the team against whom they played the previous year in the Western Conference finals, the Portland Trail Blazers. The Trail Blazers were a team that struggled throughout the season but battled back to claim the 7th seed. The series wasn't close, as the Lakers swept the Trail Blazers by double digits in all three games. In the semifinals the Lakers took on the Sacramento Kings, a team who had also given the Lakers a tough series the previous season, but the Lakers took two close games at home and went to Sacramento to finish the Kings off with a 4–0 sweep as well. In the conference finals the Lakers went up against the number 1 seed San Antonio Spurs, who were expected to be more competitive than the Lakers' previous opponents. But the Lakers took games 1 and 2 in San Antonio, and then blew them out in games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles in another complete sweep as they became the second team in NBA history to sweep the conference playoffs at 11–0, the 1988-1989 Los Angeles Lakers being the first.

But the Lakers met a snag on their quest to the first NBA sweep in playoff history as they went up against Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers, seeded number 1 in the Eastern Conference, had just come out of two straight seven-game series against the Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks. During the first game, the trio of Iverson, Dikembe Mutombo and Eric Snow, coming hot off a long Eastern Conference championship road, beat the Lakers in overtime, showcasing their endurance.

The Lakers then took Game 2. Afterwards, Kobe Bryant was quoted as saying he was coming to Philadelphia to cut their hearts out.[2] The Sixers dropped all three games in Philadelphia, giving the Lakers their second straight championship.

Road to the Finals[edit]

Los Angeles Lakers (Western Conference champion) Philadelphia 76ers (Eastern Conference champion)
# Team W L PCT GB
1 z-San Antonio Spurs 58 24 .707
2 y-Los Angeles Lakers 56 26 .683 2
3 x-Sacramento Kings 55 27 .671 3
4 x-Utah Jazz 53 29 .646 5
5 x-Dallas Mavericks 53 29 .646 5
6 x-Phoenix Suns 51 31 .622 7
7 x-Portland Trail Blazers 50 32 .610 8
8 x-Minnesota Timberwolves 47 35 .573 11
9 Houston Rockets 45 37 .549 13
10 Seattle SuperSonics 44 38 .537 14
11 Denver Nuggets 40 42 .488 18
12 Los Angeles Clippers 31 51 .378 27
13 Vancouver Grizzlies 23 59 .280 35
14 Golden State Warriors 17 65 .207 41
2nd seed in the West, 2nd-best league record
Regular season
# Team W L PCT GB
1 c-Philadelphia 76ers 56 26 .683
2 y-Milwaukee Bucks 52 30 .634 4
3 x-Miami Heat 50 32 .610 6
4 x-New York Knicks 48 34 .585 8
5 x-Toronto Raptors 47 35 .573 9
6 x-Charlotte Hornets 46 36 .561 10
7 x-Orlando Magic 43 39 .524 13
8 x-Indiana Pacers 41 41 .500 15
9 Boston Celtics 36 46 .439 20
10 Detroit Pistons 32 50 .390 24
11 Cleveland Cavaliers 30 52 .366 26
12 New Jersey Nets 26 56 .317 30
13 Atlanta Hawks 25 57 .305 31
14 Washington Wizards 19 63 .232 37
15 Chicago Bulls 15 67 .183 42
1st seed in the East, 3rd-best league record
Defeated the (7) Portland Trail Blazers, 3–0 First Round Defeated the (8) Indiana Pacers, 3–1
Defeated the (3) Sacramento Kings, 4–0 Conference Semifinals Defeated the (5) Toronto Raptors, 4–3
Defeated the (1) San Antonio Spurs, 4–0 Conference Finals Defeated the (2) Milwaukee Bucks, 4–3

Regular season series[edit]

Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team:

2001 NBA Finals rosters[edit]

Los Angeles Lakers[edit]

2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
G/F 8 Bryant, Kobe 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 220 lb (100 kg) Lower Merion HS (PA)
G 2 Fisher, Derek 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Little Rock
F/C 40 Foster, Greg 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 240 lb (109 kg) UTEP
F 17 Fox, Rick 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 235 lb (107 kg) North Carolina
F 3 George, Devean 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Augsburg
F/C 54 Grant, Horace 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Clemson
G 4 Harper, Ron 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Miami (OH)
F 5 Horry, Robert 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Alabama
G 10 Lue, Tyronn 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Nebraska
F 35 Madsen, Mark 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Stanford
F 14 Medvedenko, Slava (IN) 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 253 lb (115 kg) Ukraine
C 34 O'Neal, Shaquille 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 338 lb (153 kg) LSU
G 12 Penberthy, Mike (IN) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Master's
G/F 7 Rider, Isaiah (IN) 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) UNLV
G 20 Shaw, Brian 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) UC Santa Barbara
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: February 21, 2001

Philadelphia 76ers[edit]

2000–01 Philadelphia 76ers roster
Players Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB From
G 19 Bell, Raja 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 204 lb (93 kg) FIU
G/F 23 Buford, Rodney 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 189 lb (86 kg) Creighton
G Claxton, Speedy Injured 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) 166 lb (75 kg) Hofstra
C 52 Geiger, Matt 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 243 lb (110 kg) Georgia Tech
F/C 40 Hill, Tyrone 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Xavier
G 3 Iverson, Allen 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 165 lb (75 kg) Georgetown
F 33 Jones, Jumaine 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Georgia
F 9 Lynch, George 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) North Carolina
C 50 MacCulloch, Todd 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 280 lb (127 kg) Washington
G 8 McKie, Aaron 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 209 lb (95 kg) Temple
F 7 McLeod, Roshown 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 221 lb (100 kg) Duke
C 55 Mutombo, Dikembe 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Georgetown
G 5 Ollie, Kevin 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Connecticut
G 4 Sánchez, Pepe 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Temple
G 20 Snow, Eric 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Michigan State
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (DP) Unsigned draft pick
  • (FA) Free agent
  • (S) Suspended
  • Injured Injured

Roster
Last transaction: {{{access-date}}}

Series summary[edit]

Game Date Road team Result Home team
Game 1 June 6 Philadelphia 76ers 107–101 (OT) (1–0) Los Angeles Lakers
Game 2 June 8 Philadelphia 76ers 89–98 (1–1) Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3 June 10 Los Angeles Lakers 96–91 (2–1) Philadelphia 76ers
Game 4 June 13 Los Angeles Lakers 100–86 (3–1) Philadelphia 76ers
Game 5 June 15 Los Angeles Lakers 108–96 (4–1) Philadelphia 76ers

Game 1[edit]

June 6
9:30 pm ET
Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived May 9, 2009)
Philadelphia 76ers 107, Los Angeles Lakers 101 (OT)
Scoring by quarter: 22–23, 34–27, 23–27, 15–17Overtime: 13–7
Pts: Allen Iverson 48
Rebs: Dikembe Mutombo 16
Asts: Aaron McKie 9
Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 44
Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 20
Asts: Bryant, Fox, O'Neal 5 each
Philadelphia leads the series, 1–0
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 18,997
Referees:
  • No. 27 Dick Bavetta
  • No. 10 Ron Garretson
  • No. 17 Joe Crawford

The Lakers dominated early, in what looked like to be their fourth series sweep. Scoring 16 straight points, the Lakers took a 21–9 lead over the Allen Iverson-led 76ers. Despite this major lead, Iverson began dominating at the half of the 2nd quarter scoring 30 first half points. The 76ers turned the game around and even went up by 15 points during the third quarter before the Lakers started a comeback. Shaquille O'Neal was a major factor in the comeback, scoring 18 points in the quarter.

The Lakers played fantastically during the 4th quarter, and Tyronn Lue came off the bench and limited Iverson to merely 3 points and had 3 assists and 2 steals of his own. The game was eventually tied at 94, and when Dikembe Mutombo missed two free throws and Eric Snow's desperation three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim, the game went to overtime.

The Lakers scored the first 5 points in the first half of overtime. Raja Bell then hit a tough layup to answer, followed by Iverson scoring 7 straight points, including a three pointer to give them the lead. Iverson followed up with a step back 2-pointer over Lue which is famously known as he stepped over Lue after hitting the shot. The 76ers finished with a 6-point win to take the first game of the series.

Game 2[edit]

June 8
9:30 pm ET
Recap at the Wayback Machine (archived April 1, 2009)
Philadelphia 76ers 89, Los Angeles Lakers 98
Scoring by quarter: 24–25, 23–24, 20–28, 22–21
Pts: Allen Iverson 23
Rebs: Dikembe Mutombo 13
Asts: Aaron McKie 6
Pts: Kobe Bryant 31
Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 20
Asts: Shaquille O'Neal 9
Series tied, 1–1
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 18,997
Referees:
  • No. 29 Steve Javie
  • No. 7 Bernie Fryer
  • No. 34 Ronnie Nunn

Kobe Bryant started off the game with 12 points in the first quarter, while Shaq scored 12 points in the second quarter. Despite their points, the 76ers kept a close lead as Larry Brown ran over 10 plays searching for the right quartet, and the fact that all the Lakers besides Bryant and O'Neal were shooting only at 27%. The Sixers were down by 13 in the fourth quarter, and were making a comeback due to Shaq sitting out with 5 fouls, which helped the 76ers to score 7 straight. Even though the 76ers were within 3 points of the Lakers, the 6 of 16 foul shooting in the fourth quarter put them behind permanently. O'Neal finished with 28 points, 20 rebounds, nine assists, and eight blocks, coming close to a quadruple double. Before the game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson had growled at O'Neal, "Don't be afraid to block a shot!" after O'Neal failed to block a shot in Game 1.[3]

Game 3[edit]

June 10
8:00 pm ET
"Recap". NBA.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Los Angeles Lakers 96, Philadelphia 76ers 91
Scoring by quarter: 25–25, 30–20, 18–21, 23–25
Pts: Kobe Bryant 32
Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 12
Asts: Bryant, Horry,
O'Neal, Shaw 3 each
Pts: Allen Iverson 35
Rebs: Iverson, Mutombo 12 each
Asts: Aaron McKie 8
Los Angeles leads the series, 2–1
First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,900
Referees:
  • No. 15 Bennett Salvatore
  • No. 26 Bob Delaney
  • No. 43 Dan Crawford

Game 4[edit]

June 13
9:30 pm ET
"Recap". NBA.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Los Angeles Lakers 100, Philadelphia 76ers 86
Scoring by quarter: 22–14, 29–23, 26–22, 23–27
Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 34
Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 14
Asts: Kobe Bryant 9
Pts: Allen Iverson 35
Rebs: Dikembe Mutombo 9
Asts: Iverson, Snow 4 each
Los Angeles leads the series, 3–1
First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,896
Referees:
  • No. 25 Hugh Evans
  • No. 35 Jack Nies
  • No. 32 Eddie F. Rush

Game 5[edit]

June 15
9:30 pm ET
"Recap". NBA.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2009. Retrieved July 2, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
Los Angeles Lakers 108, Philadelphia 76ers 96
Scoring by quarter: 24–27, 28–21, 31–20, 25–28
Pts: Shaquille O'Neal 29
Rebs: Shaquille O'Neal 13
Asts: Bryant, Fox 6 each
Pts: Allen Iverson 37
Rebs: Tyrone Hill 13
Asts: Eric Snow 12
Los Angeles wins the NBA Finals, 4–1
First Union Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 20,890
Referees:
  • No. 27 Dick Bavetta
  • No. 7 Bernie Fryer
  • No. 17 Joe Crawford

Player statistics[edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Kobe Bryant 5 5 46.8 .415 .333 .842 7.8 5.8 1.4 1.4 24.6
Derek Fisher 5 5 31.6 .436 .526 .833 1.2 2.0 1.6 0.2 9.8
Rick Fox 5 5 32.8 .441 .467 .923 4.6 3.8 1.2 0.4 9.8
Horace Grant 5 5 24.6 .294 .000 .750 5.6 0.6 0.4 1.4 5.2
Ron Harper 3 0 8.3 .625 .333 .667 1.7 1.0 0.3 0.3 4.3
Robert Horry 5 0 25.4 .560 .615 1.000 5.0 1.2 0.8 1.4 8.4
Tyronn Lue 5 0 14.6 .583 .667 .000 0.8 1.4 1.4 0.2 3.6
Mark Madsen 2 0 1.5 .000 .000 .000 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0
Shaquille O'Neal 5 5 45.0 .573 .000 .513 15.8 4.8 0.4 3.4 33.0
Brian Shaw 5 0 18.6 .300 .300 .600 3.2 2.8 0.8 0.0 3.6
Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers statistics
Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
Raja Bell 5 0 15.8 .308 .000 .500 1.8 0.8 2.0 0.0 2.6
Rodney Buford 3 0 4.3 .167 .000 .000 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7
Matt Geiger 5 0 10.8 .667 .000 1.000 1.0 0.4 0.2 0.0 5.2
Tyrone Hill 5 5 28.2 .394 .000 .778 6.6 0.4 0.0 1.2 6.6
Allen Iverson 5 5 47.4 .407 .282 .729 5.6 3.8 1.8 0.2 35.6
Jumaine Jones 5 4 12.4 .400 .500 .000 2.0 0.2 0.2 0.4 2.0
George Lynch 2 0 7.0 .333 .000 .000 2.5 0.5 1.0 0.0 1.0
Todd MacCulloch 5 0 6.2 .417 .000 .750 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6
Aaron McKie 5 5 41.4 .313 .444 .667 5.4 6.0 1.2 0.6 8.0
Dikembe Mutombo 5 5 41.6 .600 .000 .692 12.2 0.4 0.4 2.2 16.8
Kevin Ollie 5 0 3.0 .333 .000 1.000 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0 1.0
Eric Snow 5 1 32.8 .407 .000 .731 4.4 6.0 1.6 0.2 12.6

Broadcasting[edit]

The 2001 NBA Finals was aired in the United States on NBC, with Marv Albert and Doug Collins on play-by-play and color commentary respectively. Albert, who last worked the Finals for NBC Sports in 1997, had been rehired by the network in 1999, two years after a sex scandal led to his dismissal. Albert also began working for TNT during this period, a role he continued until 2021. Collins departed NBC following the series to serve as head coach of the Washington Wizards.

Ahmad Rashad served as the studio host in place of Hannah Storm, who took a maternity leave during the finals. Kevin Johnson and P. J. Carlesimo served as studio analysts, while Lewis Johnson and Jim Gray served as sideline reporters.

Aftermath[edit]

The Lakers won their third straight championship in a four-game sweep of the New Jersey Nets the following year.

Also for the Lakers, their 15–1 postseason record was the best in NBA history. This record would later be broken throughout the 2017 NBA playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, who had a 16–1 record en route to their 2017 NBA Championship.[1] By this point, the first round series became a best-of-seven series, which began in 2003.

As of the 2022–23 season, the series remains the 76ers’ last NBA Finals appearance. The Sixers would win only 43 games in the 2001-02 NBA season, as injuries were the story of their season. Nevertheless, they made the playoffs as the sixth seed, but were defeated by the Boston Celtics in five games. The Celtics themselves came within two games of returning to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1987, but were ousted by the upstart Nets, who made the NBA Finals for the first time, denying a possible Celtics-Lakers final. As for the Sixers, they would never challenge for the title again in the Allen Iverson era, with the team reaching the playoffs only twice for the next four years, winning only one series.

Larry Brown later coached the Detroit Pistons to their third championship in the 2004 NBA Finals, defeating the Lakers 4–1.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Ranking the 10 Best NBA Playoff Runs Ever". Bleacher Report. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  2. ^ "Kobe visits former school to say hi, 'smell the gym'". ESPN.com. Associated Press. March 9, 2007.
  3. ^ Heisler, Mark (May 11, 2011). "Phil Jackson's tenure produced the most success and fun we've ever seen". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011.

External links[edit]