The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 21

LOS ANGELES TIMES NA TUESDAY. JUNE 12.2(X)1 B5 J. A. ADANDE There's No Title Just for Playing Tough character, a lot of guts to go out and compete with everything that's going on out there." And: "We haven't got blown out one time. Every fourth quarter, we're in the game." But they have not put the ball in the basket when it counted, when it's "for the money," as Iverson likes to say.

History doesn't acknowledge effort. There are no banners for heart. The Lakers led the 76ers at halftime in every game of the 1983 Finals. It is officially remembered as a Philadelphia sweep and the city's last pro championship. Brown points out that he's trying to win a championship with guys such as Eric Snow, Raja Bell, Kevin Ollie and Todd MacCulloch on the court.

But don't forget the 76ers once had such known offensive entities as Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes and Toni Kukoc on their team and traded them. Brown and General Manager Billy King made a conscious decision to surround Iverson with a bunch of scrappy players who will work hard on defense and not complain when Iverson takes 40 shots. It's a unique and daring plan, building a team around a G-foot guard. Not exactly the classic NBA blueprint for success. Isiah Thomas' Detroit Pistons are the only championship team that was even close to this model.

Hut this 7Ger unit has clicked. Brown has them executing his plan to nearly maximum effect and they advanced to the NBA Finals. A broken bone in George Lynch's foot has deprived the 76ers of his services for the first three games of this series, but otherwise this is the roster they wanted so they shouldn'tcomplain about it. And it wasn't the celestial duo of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant who beat them in crunch tune. It has been Derek Fisher and Robert Horry.

The 76ers had four chances to tie the score or take the lead in the final minutes of Game 3. Here's what they did: Aaron McKie missed a three-pointer. Snow committed a turnover. Iverscn missed one of two free throws, Ollie let an Iverson pass slip through his hands and Iverson elected to go for a quick layup (that missed) instead of shooting a three-pointer when the 7Gers had your effort and you play with your heart, it's going to keep you in a lot of ballgames." They have the Lakers' respect. They have gained a new appreciation from the national media and fans.

So they can put all of that talk aside now. They're playing for the Larry O'Brien trophy, not for credit. The Lakers were talking tough after Sunday' victory. The synopsis of heir postgame comments could lie. O'Neal: Dikembe Mutombo's a flopping baby.

Bryant: Shut up with your 'heart' chatter. O'Neal even offered an additional challenge Monday: "Play me." Mano a niano, no flopping. They might have talked themselves into a Game 4 loss. The 76ers and their wild fans have even more reason to come at them full throttle Wednesday night. But the Lakers have a reason for their bravado.

They have one championship and are sniffing at another. The TGers have their hearts. However, they have found out that doesn't always equate to victories. J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adandcfrf latimes.com The characterizaion of the 76ers is great but they need a plain, old victory in worst way.

PHILADELPHIA-Perhaps the Philadelphia 76ers are finally realizing that it isn't all about heart and playing tough, that sooner or later the NBA Finals get down to winning games. They felt pretty good about snatching Game 1 from the Lakers at Staples Center, and considered their fourth-quarter charge there in a Game 2 loss to be a moral victory because they scared the Lakers. Well, now they're only two moral victories away from losing this series because they could not take advantage of Shaquille O'Neal fouling out with 2:21 remaining in Game 3 here. Coach Larry Brown talked about how proud he is was of his team after Sunday's game. Allen Iverson said: "We aren't supposed to even be that close, so obviously we're out there doing something right." And: "We're showing a lot of the ball trailing, 94-91, with 21 seconds remaining.

"I look at it like one shot here, one shot there, a few free throws there, one defensive stop, one rebound, it goes the other way," McKie said. "But it didn't happen that way. We dug a hole for ourselves, so we've got to as always find a way to get ourselves out." The Lakers would be fools not to realize that a two-games-to-one lead against the 76ers means about as much as a 10-point lead in any game against them. Like the cheesesteak I just ate for lunch, the 76ers will be around for a while. They're still in the series even though they have been outshot (4Gr and outrebounded (95-88) in the first three games and have had almost no production from starting forwards Tyrone Hill and Jumaine Jones.

"They're a feisty team," O'Neal keeps saying, which is about as much acknowledgment as he'll give an opponent. And he has much respect for Iverson. Bryant said: "I think you have to give Philadelphia a lot of credit. They play hard. They're very competitive.

When you play with LAKER NOTES -CB? 7 HJpl A ll The Attention on Having Heart Growing Tiresome l.llfl I'll" his lineups is a preview of what we may see next season. Small Plan In Mind Paul Westphal, coach of the Pepperdme basketball team and a former NBA all-star and coach of the Phoenix Suns and Seattle SuperSonics, will analyse the NBA Finals for The Times, as told to Steve Henson. THE Xs and O's PAUL WESTPHAL Thrilling Game Can Stand on Its Own In spite of being subjected to "The Weakest Link" at halftime. many horrible calls by the officials, Kobe Bryant commercials, too many NBC talking heads and probably worst of all no Charles Barkley, this game was still fantastic for basketball lovers. The Lakers have so many ways to force double teams or score outright.

In Shaquille O'Neal, they have the most unstoppable player in the league. They have an incredible slasher in Bryant. Whenever they run the pick-and-roll with Kobe and any Laker setting the screen, they're sure to get a good shot. They have three-point shooters who can space the floor to protect those great attackers. Philadelphia has only Allen Iverson, who demands the double team.

So here's the question all basketball people must be asking: How does Philadelphia hang in there? The answer is the 76ers scramble the game. Dikembe Mutombo is a master at flopping when Shaq gives him a little contact. The 76ers constantly try to have more quickness on the floor than t. Lakers so they can pressure full-court and keep the Laker' from picking them apart with their offensive execution. They force Kobe to drive to the basket, where Mutombo is waiting to block the shot or to foul him which often is not called.

That's not to say the 76ers have benefited from the officiating more than the Lakers have. The game at this intensity is almost impossible to get right. The 76ers believe O'Neal wantonly clears out the lane and that if Fisher and Tyronn Lue were any closer to Iverson, it would be illegal in some states. It only serves to make the game more intriguing, because you're never quite sure what's going to happen when the whistle blows. Offensively, the 76ers wanted to attack early or attack late.

If they could get a quick shot in the open floor off a turnover, they would, otherwise the plan was to milk the shot clock and keep the Lakers on defense as long as possible. The Lakers' defense has been outstanding, or they'd be trailing this series. Especially Robert Horry. I thought he was the most valuable player Sunday at both ends of the floor. Because of his versatility and size, the Lakers can use him as a wild card, and he's the one player Philadelphia has had the hardest time matching up against.

He can switch off onto any player defensively, and offensively, he's able to hit the three-pointer or slash to the basket. Not to mention his playoff composure. Sometimes, games come down to which team can make shots. Shaq was decent at the foul line, which was a great advantage for the Lakers. Iverson was only decent at the foul line, which was fatal for the 76ers.

Aaron McKie had an 0)en three and missed: Horry had a wide-open three and hit it. Although it might seem the 76ers got a break when O'Neal fouled out, they didn't. I thought it was interesting that when O'Neal fouled out. Laker Coach Phil Jackson forced Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown to remove Mutombo. Mutombo was the NBAs defensive player of the year and he had no one to guard because Jackson put a quicker, more versatile team on the floor than the 76ers could match.

I still feel Iverson will have to averagt 45 points the rest of the way just to make this thing go seven. "I've shot around and did some running, but it is much different than playing in a game," Lynch said. "I'm trying to stay off of it as much I can so I can save it for the game. To the decision has already been made. I'm going to try and play.

It's just a situation of how much can I do." With Brown searching for matchups against the Lakers, he did not dismiss using Lynch on Wednesday. "If he does play, I won't start him," Brown said. "He'll either spell small forward Jumaine JonesJ or power forward Tyrone Hill. "But we have missed George. He's probably as good a rebounder small forward as anyone in the league at that position.

For the most part, we've held our own rebounding but we need to out-rebound them because it is so difficult for us to score." Hill is listed as the 76ers' starting power forward but he hasn't shown much power against the Lakers. Over the first three games, he has scored only eight points and also hasn't done much rebounding, grabbing only two in Sunday's Game 3 loss and 13 in the series. "I don't know what to tell him," PHILADELPHIA Media sessions at the NBA Finals have shaken out to measuring the height, weight and depth of determination of individual Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, their so-called "hearts," which the home team apparently has in abundance. The Lakers are slightly exasperated by the references, though more from the questions than from the people's choice of who gets to wear the big-heart crown. The relevance ranks somewhere near the pounds per square inch of air pumped into the basketballs, but on come the inquiries nevertheless.

"I don't know how you can compare the fight." Rick Fox said, patiently. Asked to rate the 76ers' drive with those of past playoff opponents, he sighed. "Honestly. I think all those teams put up valid fights." he said. "What time they broke, cashed in, recognized their chances are slim, have come at different times.

Philadelphia is a team that is in the midst of playing for a championship, so their fight is still pretty big. San Antonio's fight was pretty big up until Game 4. Portland was the same until the last quarter of Game 3. No one actually sees themselves as losing until it's pretty evident. Right now.

this team should have no reason to think that they've lost the series. They've had opportunities to win, and therefore their fight is big, and so's ours." The question of the day, as posed to Dikembe Mutombo: "Dikembe, what's the closest you've ever come to losing your ping on what? Blocking shots or blocking somebody'' "How am 1 going to flop if I've got a couple of stitches in my mouth? Did I put that on Or did I go to our team doctor and say. Why don't you cut me and put a couple of stitches in and I'll tell the people I've got stitches my "That sounds so stupid by him. corning and saying the things he's saying. And I hope he doesn't mean that.

But if he does, let's take it up on the court. "This is a war and you have to understand that we're in the middle of the war and so many things are going to be said and so much blood's going to be shed. We have seen so much blood." Mutombo has surprised a few with his offensive game the new drop step, the old Bob Cousy hook, the standby face-up jumper. He has averaged 17.3 points in the series, more than all but Iverson. O'Neal and Bryant.

He also has been unable to stop Shaq's not that angry. Though Robert Horry recently said he would not exercise the opt-out clause on his contract, making hmi Laker property for the next two seasons, he has not formally notified the club. He has about three weeks to change his mind, though no one expects that. "I think it's clear he's one of the better players on our team," Laker General Manager Mitch Kupchak said. "I don't know where we'll be without him last night.

What he's done for us this year and during the playoffs, he's such an integral part of the team. Our hope is he's happy with us and he'd be here for the remainder of his contract." The Lakers don't have a pick in the June 27 draft, and don't appear likely to trade in. but could benefit from the overflow created by the large number of underclassmen and high school players who declared for the draft. "Who wouldn't want a top five or six pick0" Kupchak said. "But that's not how it works.

To get a pick like that, you have to give up something extremely valuable. I don't know if that makes sense." Brian Shaw returned to Oakland on Monday morning to be with his wife. Nikki. who is expecting a child any day. Shaw probably will miss today's practice, but is exnected to return in time for Game 4, a 9 p.m.

EDT start Wednesday. Tim Brmcn Play Me; O'Neal from averaging 34 points and making of his shots, simply because O'Neal is too strong and mobile for Mutombo when. O'Neal said, the referees allow it. "Sometimes 1 have to change my game." O'Neal said. "I think I'm the only player this league that has to.

you know, change his game day and day nut. I do enjoy punishing people, especially people that play me one on one. That's challenge to inc. playing me one on one. 1 can't even stop myself one on one." Before he left the room.

O'Neal leaned into the microphone one more time. His voice breathy, and sounding a bit like the affable Mutombo's. he said. "Play me!" Fur i jinUtl corcrayr of the SB. inc'mliny lin up-Intt.

qnih ric.i and post- s. nsit thi Tmits i 'i i (i ni The way Larry Brown has juggled 76ER NOTES Brown Has you want to get a sneak of what the NBA is going to look like next season, when zone defenses will no longer be violations, watch some of the lineups Philadelphia Coach Larry Brown is using to defend against the Lakers. "Because certain guys are struggling I've had to go with that," Brown said about his decision to sometimes use four guards together. "We haven't been hurt when we've had to go that way. We've been behind and that's our best pressing team.

It's been a combination of all those things. "It's going to be like that next season, when you are not going to see the same game every night. You're going to see crazy lineups. You'll see two tiny guards together and small forwards. You are going to see all kind of defenses and people are going to be forced to do crazy things like this." For the first time in almost four weeks.

Philadelphia forward George Lynch participated in drills with his teammates Monday. Lynch has been sidelined since May 13 because of a broken bone in his left foot and he's hoping to return for a limited role in Game 4 on Wednesday. LAKERS: Continued from Page 1 night. Early Monday afternoon, when Bryant and O'Neal passed each other in a narrow corridor of the Spectrum, where they practiced, they tapped hands. The enemy was someone else, somewhere else.

The enemy was the 76ers. For O'Neal, in particular, it was Dikembe Mutombo, and that was good enough for the Lakers. On the first of two days off between Games 3 and 4. the 76ers practiced early and the Lakers practiced afterward. So Mutombo first defended himself from O'Neal's accusation Sunday night that the 76er center flops on the defensive end, which O'Neal views on the same moral plane as treason, panning his movies and getting on his idol.

Kobe. O'Neal arrived shortly thereafter, said he had said all he would say on the subject, then, of course, challenged Mutombo to live up to the code demanded by those de-fensive-player-of-the-year as at to Brown said. "I think he's defending very well but he's not getting a lot done right now. And we nerd him. I've had to go with Matt Geiger, who hasn't played a lot.

and Todd MacCulloch, who also hasn't played much power forward, and when 1 do. they immediately go with Robert Horry Neither Matt or Todd have the quickness to play Robert. That's why I've been forced to go small so much." "Tyrone had a nightmare situation in Game 3 on great hustle plays. He misses a dunk. He gets an offensive foul trying to make1 an aggressive move.

He misses an open six-footer. He tries to go for a steal with 12 seconds on the 24-second clock and they turn it into a dunk. He's trying to do the right thing but sometimes when you do that, things don't go well." Starting guard Aaron McKie did not run much on Monday and he plans to take it easy again today. "I'm just going to relax because I've had my hands full in the playoffs." said McKie, who has had to play against Jalen Rose, Reggie Miller, Vince Carter, Glenn Robinson. Ray Allen and now Kobe Bryant in the playoffs.

I.tiprui Wlnti He laughed. It is not a new subject. He accused the Portland Trail Blazers' Arvydas Sabonis of the same thing. Then he said the Sacramento Kings' lade Divac and Scot Pollard were Hoppers. The San Antonio Spurs' David Robinson.

O'Neal said, flopped too. Mutombo is a four-time defensive player of the year. He has stitches in his mouth, thanks to O'Neal's being allowed to pivot. He is proud of his defense. 1'p until recently, he believed O'Neal respected that.

But O'Neal fouled out of Game 3. He incurred his final four fouls on the offensive end. two of them when Mutombo stumbled backward, one after slamming the basketball off Mutombo's mouth. "I'm not flopping." Mutombo said. "I've never been called that way or looked at as someone who flops the game.

I think if I'd have been flopping, I would not be defensive player of the year or 1 would not win as many trophies as I've won in my i.ireei. So. flop O'Neal Issues Challenge to 'Just It was a spirited day in the old arena, which hosted the practices because First Union Center, just across the parking lot, was being prepped for a U2 concert. At the same time, the thrust of the Finals had changed. The series left Los Angeles seemingly headed for a Bryant-Iverson showdown.

By Sunday night, O'Neal had called out Mutombo. and the focus shifted to the broad shoulders beneath the basket. O'Neal sat behind a microphone, his black cap turned backward. Told that Mutombo had disputed his charges, O'Neal smiled playfully. "Challenge me," he said.

"Treat me like a game of checkers and play me. That's all I'm asking. Just play me. Just play. "I'm playing hard.

I'm allowed pivot. I'm allowed to play-strong. I'm allowed to be powerful. That's what I've been doing my whole career and I'm not going to change that now. So, you know, just play me.

Treat me like Sega and play me." 4.