Lakers feel like old selves after huge fourth-quarter rally

Saturday December 07, 2002

By BETH HARRIS
AP Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) Don't dismiss the Los Angeles Lakers quite yet. After pulling off the second-biggest fourth-quarter comeback in NBA history, the three-time champions are feeling pretty good about themselves again.

The Lakers are still at the bottom of the Pacific Division with the Warriors and the Clippers, but they showed some resolve rallying from 27 points down in the final period to overtake the Dallas Mavericks. It was the best comeback in 25 years.

``What it does is give us confidence that we still got it,'' said Kobe Bryant, who scored 21 of his 27 points in the fourth despite playing with a pulled groin. ``Now it's a matter of moving on to the next game and forgetting about this one.''

It's unlikely that any of the sellout crowd of 18,997 will forget a fourth-quarter comeback Friday night that beat Dallas 105-103. It fell just one point shy of the NBA record comeback set by the Milwaukee Bucks against Atlanta on Nov. 25, 1977.

``It was nice to have a team believe that they have the ability to overcome insurmountable odds, and it certainly looked insurmountable,'' coach Phil Jackson said.

The Lakers outscored the Mavs 44-15 in the fourth, when they shot 16-for-18 from the field and made eight of 11 free throws.

``Give the Lakers a lot of credit for coming back and outscoring us like nobody else has done,'' Dallas coach Don Nelson said. ``They got the momentum, and being the world champs that they are, they seized the moment, took advantage of it and ended up beating us. It was a great effort by a great team in the fourth.''

The comeback from a 28-point halftime deficit was the second-largest second-half rally in league history, trailing only Utah's comeback from a 34-point deficit against Denver on Nov. 29, 1996, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

The Staples Center crowd booed the Lakers off the floor at halftime, then saw things get even worse when the Lakers fell behind by 30 in the third.

``You think about what can we do that's better than what we've been doing,'' forward Rick Fox said. ``It definitely proved (that if we) play defense the rest will come, as opposed to worrying about the offense. We've won three championships playing defense. We will outscore teams if we defend them.''

The upset could be what the Lakers need to begin turning around a season in which they are 8-13.

``The first 20 games have been really bad. It really couldn't get any worse,'' said Shaquille O'Neal, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds Friday. ``Confidence is not our problem. Our problem is complacency. We just need to go out and do it. Everyone needs to do their part.''

The victory came at the end of a week in which Bryant and O'Neal questioned the desire and ability of the team's role players. The team met privately Thursday to talk things out.

``Hopefully this will give us a good confidence boost and some of our other players will come in and really play well,'' Bryant said. ``Our bench played well. Hopefully it will carry over to the next game.''

The Lakers host Utah on Sunday, having lost to the Jazz on Wednesday night in Salt Lake City.

``We've been accused of not being the most talented team beyond Shaq and Kobe, but in our system with offense and defense, we've been rather effective as a group,'' Fox said. ``Phil went really deep and kept putting guys out there and found the right combination to get us rolling in the fourth.''

Bryant pulled his groin in the third quarter, but urged trainer Gary Vitti not to tell Jackson so he could continue to play.

``I don't know what it's going to mean for our next game,'' Jackson said. ``He was hobbled and yet played through it. I was really concerned.''

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)