12 years ago today, the Los Angeles Lakers went on the road and defeated the Sacramento Kings in Game 7 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals.
In what was considered the NBA Finals of those playoffs, the Lakers and the Kings went back and forth all the way to a pivotal Game 7. In a series that saw a game winning buzzer beater by Laker great Robert Horry and lights out shooting from the Kings backcourt of Mike Bibby and Bobby Jackson, the Lakers found themselves in Sacramento in a hostile environment starring at elimination.
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In what was a nail-biting game that went to an overtime period, the Lakers were led by none other than Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Shaq turned in a game-high 35 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks in 51 minutes. Kobe turned in another one of his great games as he finished with 30 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to go along with a game-high 52 minutes.
The Lakers escaped Sacramento with a 112-106 overtime victory that propelled themselves to the NBA Finals to take on the New Jersey Nets. They swept the Nets in four games and completed their three-peat.
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