Why was the Lakers, who scored four consecutive championships in 2003, eliminated by the Spurs? Duncan averaged 28 points per game, and the OK combination

After Tatum's season reimbursement, the Celtics also completely declared that there was no hope of defending their title. The last time an NBA team could win two consecutive seasons was dated back to the Warriors in 2018. They successfully won two consecutive championships with the two peak MVPs, Curry and Durant. However, even that Warriors failed to achieve three consecutive championships, and they were also ruined by injuries. Although this was an accident, it is expected that years of playing in the playoffs will bring more burden to the players, so injuries have always been one of the biggest hidden dangers for the defending champions.

From 2000 to the present, the only team in the NBA to win three consecutive championships was the Los Angeles Lakers that year. They stood on the NBA's highest podium for three consecutive seasons in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In addition, under the leadership of O'Neal and Kobe, the Lakers were originally determined to win four consecutive championships, but unfortunately in the 2002-2003 season, they exposed the fact that their strength declined from the regular season, so in the end, the team only achieved a record of 50 wins and 32 losses in the West.

After eliminating the Timberwolves in the first round of the 2003 playoffs, the Lakers seemed to have ignited another glimmer of hope for the championship. Although their dominance is obviously not as good as the three consecutive championships, they still have a chance to stay in the playoffs. Unfortunately, the Lakers failed to continue their form at the bottom. Facing the Spurs, who won 60 wins in the regular season and ranked first in the West, they can be said to have been completely defeated by their opponents in this round of the series.

The Spurs, who have the league's No. 1 power forward Duncan, also added new players like Ginobili and Stephen Jackson in the 2002-2003 season, so the team's outside strength has been greatly strengthened. When their opponents faced the Spurs before, they only needed to limit Duncan and David Robinson in the interior to greatly increase their chances of winning. But now facing this brand new Spurs, once they double-team in the interior, Parker, Ginobili and others can also respond quickly.

After the Lakers and Spurs met in the Western Conference semi-finals, the latter gave the Lakers a warning in the first game. At home, they limited the Lakers to only 82 points in G1 with the defense of the whole team. In this game, the Spurs forced their opponents to concentrate the ball on Kobe alone. Therefore, he made 38 shots in a single game, and in the end he also scored a game-high 37 points. At the critical moment of the final quarter, he scored 13 points alone to help the team keep the score tight. O'Neal's case, he made 10 of 20 shots, contributed 24 points, 21 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 4 blocks. However, except for the OK combination, only Fisher scored in double-digit points. At that time, he made 3 of 7 shots in the game and contributed 10 points.

The Spurs' offense is also very dependent on core players. In this game, Duncan scored the team's highest 28 points, 7 assists and 3 blocks, and 8 rebounds are also the second in the team. In addition to Duncan, the Spurs scored the most points with Ginobili. He played on the bench in 30 minutes, scored 15 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals, and also made 3 of 3 three-pointers. The other one scored in double-digit numbers was David Robinson. He made 5 of 10 shots in the game and contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds in double-double data.

The second game was still at the Spurs' home game. In this game, the Lakers' OK combination still tried their best. Kobe scored 27 points and 6 rebounds, while O'Neal scored 27 points and 10 rebounds. However, this game lost the suspense early. After the third quarter, the Spurs were already 27 points ahead. The reason was that many people on the Spurs were online. When Duncan only scored 8 points in the first half, Bowen, Parker and Ginobili scored in double digits. After the end of the game, Duncan scored 12 points, 13 rebounds and 7 assists. Among the rest, Bowen scored 27 points and 3 blocks, Parker 16 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists, and Ginobili scored 17 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

After returning to home with a 0-2 score, the Lakers finally ushered in a recovery. Even though Duncan scored 28 points and 11 rebounds in G3, the Spurs still failed to escape a big defeat. In this game, Kobe Kobe broke out again. He made 10 of 23 shots, scored 39 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while O'Neal scored a double-double with 21 points and 16 rebounds. It is worth mentioning that he also sent 8 assists in this game. Therefore, with the help of Kobe and O'Neal, the Lakers successfully scored the other three starters in double-digit scores. In the end, the Lakers also rewritten the big score to 1-2 with a 15-point advantage at home.

In the fourth game, the Lakers took advantage of the victory and chased. Kobe made 10 of 24 shots and scored 35 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Although O'Neal only made 6 of 17 shots, he scored 23 free throws and also made 17 of them. At the critical moment, facing the opponent's foul tactics, his performance of 9 of 10 free throws successfully helped the team stabilize his position, so he eventually scored 29 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 4 blocks. The Lakers' third player is still Fisher, who made 6 of 12 shots and contributed 17 points, 3 rebounds and 3 steals. Under the leadership of the three of them, the Lakers equalized the big score without any danger.

The Spurs were a pity for Duncan's performance. He made 10 of 17 shots in the game and made 16 of 20 free throws, scoring 36 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists. He also scored 12 points alone in the final quarter. In addition to Duncan, the Spurs also had three players in double digits in this game, namely Parker with 14 points, Stephen Jackson with 15 points, and Ginobili with 13 points.

However, when the Lakers chased for two consecutive games, the Spurs were still not panicked at all. After returning to the home court in the Battle of Tianwang Mountain, the Spurs continued to have a firm advantage. As the leader, Duncan continued to score 27 points, 14 rebounds and 5 assists. In addition, Parker, who had an explosion, scored 21 points in a single game, became the X factor in the game.. However, when he was leading by 18 points, the Spurs almost failed. The Lakers launched a desperate counterattack under Kobe's leadership. They limited the Spurs to 6 of 15 shots in a single quarter and scored only 16 points. On the other hand, Kobe scored 13 points alone. Unfortunately, there was too little time left for them in the end, so the Lakers failed to reverse. Kobe, who scored 36 points, and O'Neal, who contributed 20 points and 12 rebounds, were helpless.

In the last game, the Spurs were no longer ready to give the Lakers any chance. G6 Duncan scored 37 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks in a single game completely wiped out the Lakers' hope of winning the four consecutive championships. In this game, the Spurs not only basically grasped the rhythm of the game from beginning to end, but also collapsed the Lakers with a 32-13 offensive climax. However, the OK team still tried their best to perform in this game. O'Neal scored 31 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks, and Kobe also scored 20 points, 6 assists.

In the last series, Duncan averaged 28 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.3 blocks. In addition to him, players such as Parker and Ginobili also performed well. In the Lakers' OK combination, O'Neal averaged 25.3 points, 14.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.8 blocks per game, and Kobe averaged 32.3 points, 5 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1 steal per game. They have done their best to win.