| 5-20-2000. This wasn't just "Hack-a-Shaq." This was "Hack-, hack-, hack-a-Shaq and keep on hacking." And it didn't work. Shaquille O'Neal was 12-for-25 at the foul line in the fourth quarter to shatter the playoff record for most attempts in a quarter Saturday as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers 109-94 in the opener of the Western Conference finals. O'Neal, fouled virtually every time the Lakers had the ball in a four-minute stretch that began with 5 1/2 minutes to go, finished with 41 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and five blocked shots. "It hasn't worked all year, and it ain't gonna work," O'Neal said. O'Neal, who had not scored more than 23 in any of his four games against Portland in the regular season, was 13-for-27 at the foul line, 12-for-24 in the final 5 1/2 minutes, just enough success to spoil the Blazers' strategy. "Shaq stepped up and made the shots, which made everything look kind of stupid," Portland's Scottie Pippen said. "When you're down, you try anything. It's a gamble when you do what we did today." The old record was 14 by Michael Jordan against Detroit on May 21, 1991. Portland coach Mike Dunleavy defended the tactic. "Well, he's a 40 percent free-throw shooter, and he was 13-for-27 today, so that's under 50 percent," Dunleavy said. "Obviously, if we get down in the game, I don't think it's a bad strategy. Had we scored better, we would have put ourselves in a position to win the game." Although the crowd booed and the game ... |
