Chapter 98: The Invaluable 5 Points
Brian, standing tall at 6'5", dished the ball to Shaquille like a pro, setting up the offense smoothly. But man, his defense was a mess, especially against the Jazz's pick-and-roll.
John was on fire, racking up points and assists, stealing the spotlight on the court.
Greg Ostertag, the shooting guard, kept hustling, making Kobe work extra hard on defense.
The 35-year-old vet Greg Ostertag, at 6'4" and 189 pounds, was no joke. They called him "Madman" for a reason. He made the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in '93, was an All-Star in '94, and snagged Sixth Man of the Year in '97.
The Lakers' three-point game was ice cold, leaning on Shaquille and Isaiah for points, letting the Jazz tie it up at 80.
Seven minutes in, Phil swapped Isaiah for Alaric and Brian to run the backcourt. Kobe slid to small forward. The Jazz's perimeter game was weak, so this lineup wouldn't be a defensive nightmare. To handle the pick-and-roll, they packed the paint with a "pseudo-zone defense," and Shaquille turned the paint into a no-fly zone.
Phil figured they had to shut down John and Greg Ostertag, the two guards. Brian had the height to guard forwards. If they could force the Jazz into one-on-ones with the small forward, the pick-and-roll pressure would drop big time.
The game rolled on, and Alaric brought the ball up to the three-point line, passing it to Brian. Using Horace's off-ball screen, Brian shook off the 6'6" Quincy, got the ball, and nailed a mid-range jumper.
82 to 80, Alaric's fifth assist.
Brian kept feeding his teammates, and Quincy got lazy, not chasing him down. That's the veteran move; even if the body's not what it used to be, experience can still get you buckets.
The Jazz attacked, and Quincy tried to muscle past Brian. But he lost his rhythm, dribbled off his foot, and Brian scooped it up. Quincy, desperate to recover, fouled him.
Jerry was yelling at the ref from the sidelines, claiming Brian fouled first, but the ref wasn't having it. Just normal contact.
Quincy was the 19th pick in the '99 draft. He had the build but not the brains, often making dumb offensive choices. Jerry wanted to develop him, but he kept letting folks down.
The Lakers attacked, and Alaric dribbled up without a screen. Facing John, he wanted to make a move but didn't want to get benched by Phil for going rogue, so he passed to Brian. Brian, Kobe, and Shaquille formed a triangle, with Alaric hanging in the middle, ready to shoot or reset.
Shaquille got the ball in the low post, going one-on-one with Greg Ostertag. They were similar in size, and Greg Ostertag held his ground. Alaric always felt uneasy seeing this. There were better ways to play, but the Lakers didn't use them, and Shaquille loved showing off his strength.
Shaquille pushed twice, turned to the middle, bent his knees, and lifted the ball slightly. Greg Ostertag's center of gravity rose. Shaquille took a step forward, jumped, and shot, drawing a foul from Greg Ostertag.
Even with similar sizes, Greg Ostertag struggled to guard Shaquille. At his peak, Shaquille's hops were insane, capable of a 360-degree dunk. Greg Ostertag was a ground-bound player; once Shaquille jumped, he couldn't block him and had to foul.
But Shaquille bricked both free throws, giving the ball back to the Jazz.
Drawing fouls is the most efficient and brutal way to score in basketball. Most players are way better at the free-throw line than shooting. If you get fouled on 10 offensive plays, even if they're all two-point fouls, you get 20 free throw chances. With Shaquille's 50% free throw rate, he could score 10 points, the same as making 5 out of 10 shots, a 50% field goal rate.
If Shaquille could nail free throws at an 80% clip, it’d be like hitting 80% of his two-pointers on 10 tries—crazy efficient.
In Alaric's past life, Shaquille had 10 seasons averaging over 10 free throw attempts per game in the regular season. Over 19 seasons, he averaged 9.3 attempts per game, and his playoff numbers were even scarier—12 seasons averaging over 10 attempts, peaking twice at 15.4 attempts per game, and 17 seasons averaging 11.6 attempts per game.
But Shaquille's career regular-season free throw percentage was a rough 52.7%, and 50.4% in the playoffs, both lower than his field goal percentage. He never averaged over 30 points per season, all because of those free throws. If he had Yao Ming's accuracy, his achievements would be off the charts, maybe even challenging Michael Jordan's ten scoring titles and six championships.
While Shaquille was at the line, Jerry subbed in Bryon for Quincy.
The Jazz attacked, with John running the show. Greg Ostertag set an off-ball screen for Greg Ostertag on the side. John passed to Greg Ostertag, who drew Shaquille's switch, faked, and then dished to the cutting Greg Ostertag.
Greg Ostertag knew he was slow on cuts, so he took one dribble and passed to Karl, who was deep in the paint. Horace fouled, but Karl still made the shot, completing a 2+1.
Karl sank the free throw, making it 82 to 83.
After this foul, the veteran Horace fouled out, and Phil sent in Rick to play power forward.
The Lakers attacked, and after the players spread out, Kobe drove with the ball. John left Alaric to double-team and steal.
Bryon boxed out, and Kobe didn't notice the open lane in the middle. Protecting the ball, he made a move but got picked by John from behind.
John made a long pass to Greg Ostertag, who forced a layup over Brian, scoring two points, making it 82 to 85.
Kobe responded by drawing a foul on Bryon and making both free throws. 84 to 85.
Both teams found their groove, going back and forth, with neither able to stop the other. Alaric didn't get any shooting chances on offense but locked down on defense, keeping John from scoring again.
The Lakers had a slight edge because Shaquille's strong move resulted in a 2+1, taking Greg Ostertag out of the game. The Jazz had to bring in the much lighter Danny Manning.
With 1 minute and 45 seconds left, Shaquille had a clear advantage one-on-one against Danny. After drawing a double-team from Greg Ostertag, he passed to Brian on the perimeter. Brian, in the corner, drew John's help defense and passed to Alaric at the 70-degree angle.
Alaric didn't waste the chance, draining a wide-open three-pointer, putting the Lakers back in the lead at 91 to 89.
This was his 11th point, finally hitting double digits, and it was clutch.
On the next possession, Karl posted up Rick, and Shaquille swooped in to help, successfully stealing the ball. Alaric got the pass from Shaquille and went on a fast break, changing direction to blow past John, who grabbed him.
The Jazz had already committed four fouls in the final quarter, sending Alaric to the free-throw line.
In the final moments, Phil's lineup adjustments paid off. Alaric was the fastest player on the court, while John, who had played 35 minutes, was gassed.
The physical toll on the veteran players was showing.
Alaric quickly made both free throws, not giving John any chance to catch his breath. He noticed John bending over, trying to catch his breath.
93 to 89, Alaric's 13th point.
In the clutch, he scored five straight points, drawing loud cheers from the home crowd. On the way back to defense, Shaquille waited near the three-point line to high-five him in celebration.
Shaquille wasn't selfish; when he saw a teammate with a shot, he'd pass it. Last season, he averaged 3.8 assists per game, impressive for a big man. It's important to note that he was an offensive beast, not a center like Vlade Divac, who primarily facilitated. If he cut down on his strong attacks and focused on passing, averaging five assists per game wouldn't be hard.
The Lakers were close to sealing the win.