In 2003, the Lakers scored four consecutive championships but lost to the Spurs. Duncan averaged 28 points per game. How is the OK combination performing?

Looking back at the 21st century of the NBA, there were many super teams in the league during this period, such as the Celtics, the Heat, and later the Warriors. They all played top dominance, but even the strongest Warriors among them, they failed to achieve three consecutive championships. To achieve this feat, not only is they outstanding enough, but they also have good luck. For example, in 2019, the Warriors lost due to a sudden injury. The injury of Durant and Thompson, two generals, directly led to the victory, and the scales of victory were completely inclined to the Raptors.

And in these 25 years, only one team has achieved three consecutive championships so far, that is, the Lakers led by the early OK group. With the help of O'Neal and Kobe, the Lakers won the championship for three consecutive seasons in 2000, 2001 and 2002. They even played a historical dominance in the 2001 playoffs. At that time, they also came to the end with a terrifying record of 15 wins and 1 loss. Then in 2002, the Lakers won the trophy with a 4-0 sweeping their final opponents.

However, in the process of winning four consecutive championships in the 2002-2003 season, the Lakers were unable to continue their dominance. In the second round of the playoffs, they were eliminated by the Spurs, who were their defeated players in the previous two years. So what happened in this round of the series? Let’s review it together next!

OK combination relationship deteriorated, only fifth in the regular season. After the Spurs won the first place in the Western Conference, the Lakers, who have dominated the league for many years, inevitably slack off. Therefore, their desire for championships has also declined significantly compared to before, which is a common problem for champions. However, the biggest impact on the Lakers this season is that the conflict between O'Neal and Kobe is getting worse and worse. At that time, the media, who were not interested in the excitement, were constantly adding fuel to the fire. In this case, the two of them looked at each other more and more disliked each other.

Kobe, he was the strongest player of the Lakers at that time, so he was also the player in the lineup who most wanted to win four consecutive championships. On the other hand, O'Neal is different, otherwise he would not have failed to deal with his toe injury during the offseason. Instead, he waited until the new season approached before he underwent surgery, which also led to him missing more than a dozen games in the early stage of the regular season. During O'Neal's recovery, Kobe showed great power, and in the end he averaged 30 points, 6.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game this season. However, due to injuries and locker room conflicts, the Lakers' games this season were not as good as before. In the end, they only achieved the fifth record in the Western Conference with 50 wins and 32 losses in the regular season. This was the lowest-ranked season since 1997.

Unlike the Lakers' Spurs, although they face the serious decline of veteran David Robinson, fortunately, the team introduced Stephen Jackson in time and signed rookie Ginobili who was selected as early as 1999. After they entered the Spurs' lineup, they quickly integrated into the system. In addition, Parker also made obvious progress, so the Spurs' strength on both offense and defense this season is still very balanced. In the end, under the leadership of Duncan, they also won the first place in the West with 60 wins.

Facing the Spurs, the Lakers' role players performed poorly

In the playoffs, the Lakers' performance finally recovered. In the first round, they defeated the Timberwolves and advanced to the Western Conference semi-finals, and the Spurs also successfully eliminated the Suns and entered the second round. After the Lakers and Spurs met, the former realized the gap between them and the real strong team this season, which is mainly reflected in the gap between role players. In this round of the series, the Lakers' role players performed significantly abnormally. The former "Mr. Big Heart" Robert Horry combined 0 of 18 three-pointers in 6 games, and the main rotation Brian Shaw made 15 attacks on the offensive end and only hit 3 goals. In addition, due to the loss of Rick Fox due to injury in the first round, the Lakers were relegated against the Spurs, their defense, three-pointers, and ball-holding were obviously not able to bear the content of the game that Fox should have played well.

If the role players cannot respond from the outside, then when Kobe and O'Neal attack, they will face greater defensive pressure. The Spurs can unscrupulously empty the role players to double-team them, which leads to the Lakers' offense being very sluggish at that time. The Lakers' assists in the entire series were only 95, while the Spurs had 120. In contrast, the latter's offense was much smoother.

The Spurs' main team basketball was a success

From the Spurs' assists, it can be seen that their offensive system focuses on team basketball, and any player can get a chance to score. For example, rookie Ginobili, who played like a fish in this system. In addition, Parker, who is also a young player, did not have enough ball rights because his teammate was Duncan, and when the team trusted him very much, he obviously did not disappoint the team. With smooth transmission, not only many players can average 2+ assists per game, but also feel very hot on the outside. Bowen made 24 three-pointers with a shooting rate of 65.4%, while Ginobili made 8 three-pointers with a shooting rate of 61.5%. There are always people in the Spurs who can stand up in the entire series, so they are not worried that the core players will be restricted by their opponents at some stage.

The Spurs can be said to have figured out the Lakers thoroughly. The experience of failure in the past two years has at least provided them with some experience, so this time they faced the Lakers again, they played more easily. For example, in the key battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Spurs showed how well they knew O'Neal. In the end, the latter only scored 20 points in the game, and at the same time, there were 5 mistakes. In desperation, the Lakers also lost the match point.. Later, when it came to G6, the Lakers, who were already in a desperate situation, could not make any resistance. In the end, they lost 28 points and were eliminated.

Looking at the entire series, Duncan is undoubtedly the best player. He averaged 28 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. Kobe has tried his best. He averaged 32.3 points, 5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1 steal, while O'Neal averaged 25.3 points, 14.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.8 blocks per game.