Game Six of the 2000 NBA Finals: The NBA Finals Revivals
Los Angeles Lakers vs. Indiana Pacers Game Six
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles
Date: June 19, 2000
Starting line-ups:
Indiana Pacers
Reggie Miller
Jalen Rose
Mark Jackson
Dale Davis
Rik Smits
Head Coach — Larry Bird
LA Lakers
Shaquille O’Neal
Kobe Bryant
Glen Rice
A.C. Green
Ron Harper
Head Coach — Phil Jackson
It’s here! The final game of the series. Did you know that Larry Bird’s last game as a player was in a Game 6 in LA. Pretty interesting to see it happen to him again as a coach.
But right away, the version I’m watching from the NBA League Pass has an annoying stamp across the screen for most of the game. It literally says “Lakers win the championship.”
Now, I know you know and I know I know, but you know what? I don’t want to be reminded of the fact that I know at every stage of the game. Know what I mean?
It’s like having the killer of a film revealed in the lower third of a thriller. It just takes away from it. Also, this card actually blocks out key information about the score and the quarter duration. But, hey, you’re not here to hear me fuss about. This is a Game Six that we’re talking about.
Let’s do this!
The commentators say at the top that Kobe Bryant has taken 47 shots in the last 2 games, but hasn’t shot a freethrow. That sounds wild to me. Maybe he needs to have a little confab with Reggie about getting to the line.
Also, in the first few minutes, AC Green and Rik Smits are all over each other. Lots of shoving and physicality.
I think this game will probably be remembered for it’s three-point war. Rice drains a sweet silky smooth three. That’s 10 of 17 3s in this series for the OK (Original Kanye). And Jalen matches on the other side. Much more to follow…
Smits misses two in a row. Then Miller throws a wildly busy three. The Pacers definitely need to slow down. They are starting to look like Kobe in the last game — Strong effort and energy. But their rush is coming up short.
Of course, a minute after I wrote that note, Indiana balanced themselves out. Dale Davis gets two back-to-back dunks, racking up 6 points early in this game. He is helping keep the Pacers alive with offensive rebounds and putbacks. Great to see DD firing up.
Shaq, on the other hand, has been quite quiet so far. That’s when I noticed a bit of a strategy switch: In this game, they have Shaq on Davis and AC Green on Smits. Seems like this is playing to the Pacers advantage so far. Smits, however, is still struggling with his ‘pet shot.’
Another surprisingly absent player so far has been Miller. Except for an impressive steal fastbreak layup, Reggie has kind of gotten lost in the shuffle.
And with 0.06 left in the quarter, they put Croshere in the game. What the heck, Larry? Me want more Austin than that.
But man, the Pacers got everything they wanted from that .06 seconds. Mark Jackson Hail Maryied a three and got nuthin’ but net! Wild.
Overall, it was a very even first quarter. No team managed to build any momentum. Once they’d get a couple in, they’d cool down. Lakers up 26–24.
Early in the second, Miller gets his ninth and tenth points by free throw. He now has a third of his team’s points. It’s pretty amazing. I honestly don’t know how he sneaks the points in. I barely see him. But he does seem to gradually build them up.
Then the Pacers get on a 10–2 run until Philly J calls a LA timeout.
Costas says that the players have noticed that the Staples Center (Which opened in 1999! I did not know that) is a difficult place to shoot in. It’s cavernous. I don’t really understand that. Does the Lakers feel the same way? Must be hard when that’s YOUR Home Arena. Anyway, this doesn’t seem like an issue for the Pacers this time around.
The Laker do manage to cut the momentum in the second. Well, Shaq does anyway. After a slow start, he gets 18 points. He’s also the Lakers cheerleader, waving the crowd to their feet. Another job he excels at. The place is starting to go nuts.
The intensity starts to pick up, late in the second, as Horry crushes Croshere with a flying knee.
This is like something out of Japanese wrestling 🥴
Also, in the second quarter, Kobe finally gets to the line. He takes his first free throw since the first game in the series. That is wild!
And this is when both teams start drilling threes. I didn’t expect this back in 2000. But I suppose it was what this Pacers team was known for. And I guess the Lakers were looking to match’em in this game.
The first half comes to a close with, you guessed it, a three by Kobe. Pacers are up 56–53.
Even though Kobe didn’t feel present in the first half, he and O’Neal combined for 35 of the team’s 55 points.
Now it’s time for the celebrity-attendee roll call: Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt, Staples Center Staple — Dustin Hoffman, Michelle Kwan, Steven Spielberg, Selma Hayek and Ed Norton, Matthew Perry, Will Smith (Looking surprisingly old. I mean, he looks younger in 2021 than he does at Game Six), Whoopie Goldberg and Jack Nicholson.
The third quarter begins!
The Lakers quickly went on a 7–0 run. And with yet another three-pointer from Glenn Rice, the Lakers within 1.
Dale then gets another foul in the third again and delivers his patented, “Aw, Man” face. I love this. He does this every time he commits a foul.
That’s 3 for Double D and He’s Benched! (Saving some of dem delicious fouls for a Hack-A-Shaq 4th).
After a very contested shot, Kobe gets fouled but misses out on a three-point play. The off-balance fouled jumper was amazing though. He does make up for it by catching the defensive rebound on the other end and gets it to Shaq for his own three-point play opportunity (He hits his free throw this time)
That is also Smits’ 4th foul (With only 2-points). He’s Benched! And the third ends with the Pacer up 84–79. This is a close game, BayBay!
The fourth opens with another big three from the Lakers. This one is from Fisher.
Rose also has a smart move in this quarter as well. He nearly falls out of bounds with the ball. He can’t seem to find a way out, so he ricochets the ball off of Fox so that Indiana can retain possession, but reset the floor, which is what Jalen was wanted. Smooth!
Not sure if Fox appreciated it though. He delivers a pretty rough foul to Rose on the next possession.
Croshere follows with a three. Horry responds with a three. After a freight train layup from Shaq, Fox hits a three. Horry, what are you going to do about that? Oh, hit another three?! Yep, it’s like that. Up until now, the Lakers are 10/15 from the three-point line. Wild.
Bryant misses a layup, but it is STUFFED back in by Shaq. This looks like the Lakers could be running away with the series now.
If you just look at the stats, I don’t think you’ll appreciate Kobe in this game. Granted, he is struggling to get the ball in. And he certainly is trying with all the shot attempts. But he is also rebounding and making plays. So, yeah, if you look at the stats, it might not be representative.
Smits hits Kobe to get his 5th foul. Benched again! Tough one for the Pacers, as they haven’t really reached the Hackening moment yet.
After a missed dunk by Fisher, Jalen hits a MUST-Three to tie the game with 5-minutes left. A 7–0 run for Indiana was then matched when LA hit 6 straight themselves, carving back the lead.
These last few minutes are getting edge-of-the-seaty. Well, except for the outcome being stamped on the damn screen the whole time.🤨
Well, I typed too soon. With three minutes to go, Indiana deployed the H-A-S (Let’s hope Perkins remembers The Rule!)
Shaq hits one of his two. Miller responds by draining a near three (Hit foot was on the line).
Phil takes Shaq out so they can run the clock to 2-minutes, where the extreme version of Hit-O’Neill will end. Why the hell didn’t they do this in the previous games?! Makes perfect sense.
With 1:38 left in the game, and a crucial moment where Indiana could tie it all up, the arena’s security guards start stringing rope around the court, in preparation for a possible championship ceremony. That’s some cold-blooded sh*t right there. This game is nowhere near being over for Indiana. I hope this is some Phil Jackson mind games.
Look at the security, in their baby blues, in the background, string in hand, ready for an LA party!
Two Croshere free throws later and the Pacers are within one. The security guards? Yep, still setting up for a Lakers win! 😅
After a questionable foul by Davis (I didn’t see much contact), Rice hit two free throws. A big play with 1-minute left is left to Croshere, who misses wildly. I don’t know… That feels like a Miller moment to me.
But Miller does take a crack at it the next time around: A ridiculously long, flailing, transition three with 33 seconds left in the game. No need to rush that. I think he was looking for a foul. But still, bad move.
The security guards start speeding up their work now, as Kobe gets fouled and hits 2 points. Lakers up by 5. Pacers call for a timeout.
They put the ball in. Jackson gets it. Another wild play. No passing. Just Mark racing for a kind of no-look layup and gets nothing but backboard. Davis follows with a dunk at least. That one felt like it should’ve been a three-ball to me.
Lakers ball. They call a timeout. Knowing that Indiana will foul, they toss the ball to Kobe. Indiana bafflingly lets 3-seconds go off the clock before fouling him. Very odd. Each of those three-thousand milliseconds counts, mates!
With Kobe’s first free throw, he pretty much nails the coffin shut on the Pacers. Bryant then hits the second free throw. Lakers up 116–111. Only 2 seconds left. And KB leaves the floor pointing at his finger. Engagement ring, perhaps 🤔
With 2-seconds left, just look at the Pacers:
Inevitability.
The crowd, the Lakers players, the whole arena are all on their feet. And peeps are slowly creeping towards the court. They are itching to inch onto the hardwood for celebratory celebrations.
The ball is tossed in, Miller takes the three. No go. The buzzer sounds! And for the first time since 1988, the Lakers won it. Shaq, Kobe and co are the 2000 NBA Champions.
The crowd erupts and floods the court. Jack Nicholson shakes Bird’s hand. And Shaq is named Finals MVP. And well deserved as well. He got 41 points in this game alone — Averaging 38 points for the series.
And that is it! We will be back next time for a full series retrospective. And then after that, we move on to the NBA Finals 2001. With the Lakers taking on my teen idol Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers 💙
The playlist I listened to while writing this piece was the Neo-Soul Instrumentals on Spotify.
For a more stat-based breakdown of the game, click here to peep the Basketball-Reference.
