Before the Lakers hosted the Mavericks on Dec. 6, 2002, we had two key facts: Dallas was 17-1, boasting the fourth-best start in NBA history; and the Lakers had won 23 straight home games against Dallas, a ridiculous form of domination in the Kobe/Shaq tenure.
Who knew that, after three quarters of playing subpar basketball, the Lakers would execute the second-biggest fourth quarter comeback in NBA history*?
*MIL over ATL in 1977.
Before the Lakers hosted the Mavericks on Dec. 6, 2002, we had two key facts: Dallas was 17-1, boasting the fourth-best start in NBA history; and the Lakers had won 23 straight home games against Dallas, a ridiculous form of domination in the Kobe/Shaq tenure.
Who knew that, after three quarters of playing subpar basketball, the Lakers would execute the second-biggest fourth quarter comeback in NBA history*?
*MIL over ATL in 1977.
You see, Shaq was just starting to round into form, having missed the start of the season coming off LAL’s back-to-back-to-back championships due to toe surgery he’d had on Sept. 11 – which of course had its own narrative. He was playing just his 9th game, and against a smallish Mavs squad that on paper had no answer for him.
The Lakers, without Shaq and with the championship hangover, had started just 3 for 9, and were 7-13 overall.
Starting for the Lakers: Fisher, Kobe, Fox, Stanislav Medvedenko and Shaq; Dallas: Steve Nash, Michael Finley, Dirk Nowitzki, Raef LaFrentz and Adrian Griffin (with Nick Van Exel off the bench).
We started this quarter down by 27.
We ended it with a classic Kobe game-winner.#BestOfLakersMavs pic.twitter.com/smgn1MHBEA— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 15, 2020
