PORTLAND, Ore. ‹ Shaquille O'Neal says the turmoil has been set aside. The Los Angeles Lakers are in playoff mode.
They showed it Wednesday night in the regular-season finale when Kobe Bryant's 3-pointer at the end of double overtime gave the Lakers a 105-104 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, and, more importantly, the Pacific Division title.
Los Angeles finished as the second seed in the Western Conference and will face Houston in the opening round of the playoffs.
''We're ready. We know what we have to do,'' O'Neal said. ''We know what we are striving for. And we know we want to be the team to win 16 games.''
Bryant ducked out of the locker room without speaking to reporters. He had been dogged in recent days by suggestions of poor shot selection ‹ and then that he deliberately didn't take shots in a key loss to Sacramento.
The Lakers began the night tied with the Kings atop the Pacific Division. When the Kings lost 97-91 to Golden State, the Lakers had their opening.
Damon Stoudamire's jumper with 31.6 seconds left in the second overtime tied it at 102, and he raced downcourt for a layup with 2.2 seconds left to give Portland the lead.
The Lakers inbounded from midcourt on the final play, and Bryant popped free near the 3-point line. He caught Gary Payton's inbounds pass, shot ‹ and swished ‹ before racing downcourt in celebration.
''It was a great shot by the young fellow,'' O'Neal said. ''He told us, 'Set me a good pick and we're going home with a win.' That's the sign of a great player, a great, confident shot.''
Bryant finished with 37 points and eight rebounds.
As impressive as his final shot was, it was nothing compared to the one at the end of the fourth quarter. Bryant, tightly defended by Ruben Patterson, twisted and turned to get himself enough room to launch an off-balance fling as he fell to his right.
Seconds earlier, Patterson missed two free throws that would have iced the win.
Afterward, Bryant gave Patterson an autographed pair of his shoes.
''Yeah, I asked for his shoes,'' Patterson said. ''I said, 'You've got to give me your shoes for that one.' ''
The Lakers trailed by as many as 10 points before rallying in the fourth quarter behind Bryant, whose 3-pointer with 3:21 left gave Los Angeles its first lead, 82-81.
After Derek Anderson hit two jumpers to make it 87-84 for the Blazers, Bryant missed a pair of free throws with 55.7 seconds left.
Patterson blew a dunk with 8.9 seconds left, but was fouled by Bryant ‹ then buried his head in his hands after he missed both shots.
The Lakers had exactly 8 seconds left to close the gap, and Bryant delivered. He had 12 points in the fourth quarter alone.
After the Lakers went up 93-89, Zach Randolph gave the Blazers back the lead at 95-93 with 47.9 seconds left. O'Neal's dunk sent the game into a second OT.
The Lakers rallied without forward Karl Malone, who sprained his right ankle late in the first half and did not return. The extent of the injury was not known.
Heat 96, Nets 84
MIAMI ‹ Caron Butler scored 22 points and Dwyane Wade sparked a third-quarter surge to help Miami finish with their first winning record in three years.
The Heat earned home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, beginning this weekend. They will host New Orleans after Milwaukee lost to Toronto, giving Miami fourth place in the East.
Hornets 94, Wizards 78
WASHINGTON ‹ The playoff-bound Hornets wrapped up the regular season with one of their easiest wins of the year. Baron Davis scored 26 points and Jamaal Magloire had 23 points and 14 rebounds in securing the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. New Orleans will play at Miami to open the playoffs.
The Hornets (41-41) also avoided their first losing season since 1991-92.
Magic 95, 76ers 89
ORLANDO, Fla. ‹ Juwan Howard scored 26 points, leading the Magic, winners of two straight following a 13-game skid.
Cavaliers 100, Knicks 90
NEW YORK ‹ LeBron James finished his rookie season on a winning note, scoring 17 points. James scored Cleveland's final two points on a crowd-pleasing breakaway dunk with 30 seconds left, then exchanged hugs with players from both teams after the final buzzer.
New York, which plays New Jersey in the playoffs beginning Saturday, had a chance to move up to sixth place in the conference, but needed a victory and a loss by New Orleans.
Celtics 137, Hawks 132
BOSTON ‹ The Celtics charged into the playoffs with their best offensive performance of the season behind Marcus Banks' career-high 28 points. The Celtics, who had lost five in a row, will face Indiana in the first round of the playoffs.
Mark Blount scored 27 points and Ricky Davis had 24 for Boston, which played without Paul Pierce (sprained ankle), who said he'll be ready for the playoffs.
Raptors 89, Bucks 87
MILWAUKEE ‹ The Bucks lost their poise and a fourth-quarter lead for the third straight game to squander home-court advantage in the playoffs. Both Miami and New Orleans leapfrogged them, relegating Milwaukee to the sixth spot in the East and a first-round matchup with Detroit.
Jalen Rose's wide open 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left won it for the lottery-bound Raptors.
Timberwolves 107, Grizzlies 90
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ‹ The Timberwolves wrapped up the top seed in the West. Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and Latrell Sprewell added 20 and the Wolves ended the season with nine straight victories.
They dominated from the start, leading by as many as 29 points early in the fourth quarter.
Pacers 101, Bulls 96
INDIANAPOLIS ‹ Jonathan Bender and Austin Croshere fueled an 11-2 fourth-quarter run to propel the Pacers, who finished with the league's best record (61-21).
Al Harrington led the Pacers with 22 points and seven rebounds, and Jermaine O'Neal added 19 points and 13 rebounds in 29 minutes.
Suns 89, Jazz 84
SALT LAKE CITY ‹ Amare Stoudemire scored 29 points and Shawn Marion had 19, guaranteeing the Suns wouldn't finish alone at the bottom of the Western Conference.
Spurs 93, Nuggets 67
SAN ANTONIO ‹ Tim Duncan had 23 points and 16 rebounds for the Spurs, who recovered from a woeful first half to end the regular season with their 11th straight victory.
Mavericks 92, Rockets 89
HOUSTON ‹ Marquis Daniels scored 21 points and Antawn Jamison had 18 points for Dallas, which has won seven of the last eight games and 11 of 14 against Houston.
Scott Padgett had a season-high 18 points to lead the Rockets, who played without Steve Francis (sprained right wrist, bruised left elbow) and Cuttino Mobley (left shoulder contusion) for the second straight game.
Warriors 97, Kings 91
OAKLAND, Calif. ‹ Sacramento blew its chance to win the Pacific Division title when Jason Richardson scored 28 points.
Peja Stojakovic scored 27 points for the Kings, whose late-season collapse reached its lowest point with their eighth loss in 12 games. After beating the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday, Sacramento needed just one win to clinch its third straight division title, but the Kings lost to Denver and Golden State.
SuperSonics 118, Clippers 87
LOS ANGELES ‹ Ray Allen had 26 points and 11 assists, and Vladimir Radmanovic added 25 points for Seattle. The SuperSonics completed their poorest season in 18 years with a 37-45 record.
Bobby Simmons had a career-high 24 points and tied his career best with 10 rebounds for the injury-depleted Clippers, who lost 14 of their last 15 games to finish with a 28-54 record, giving them one more win than last season. They had the Western Conference's worst record.
