After impressively dispatching the Sonics in five games, most thought that the Lakers were finally ready to get past the Utah Jazz and vie for another NBA championship by taking on the Bulls. However, with the exception of Shaquille O'Neal, the team rolled over and played dead, getting swept in four straight by Karl Malone and the Jazz.
Shaq may be the star of the team and the one with the spotlight cast upon himself by most fans, but the floor leader is usually the point guard...and in this case, Nick Van Exel.
Having seemingly gotten past the turbulent reputation given to him over the past few season, Van Exel was a steady influence on the court. While his numbers were down (he missed 18 games due to injury), he shot close to his career percentage from the field and even shot a career high in 3-point field goal percentage. His assists-per-game was the lowest since his rookie season, but his assist-to-turnover ratio was 4.3 per game, far above his counterparts John Stockton and Gary Payton.
In the 4-game series against Utah, Van Exel played one of the worst stretches of basketball in his career. His reliance on the 3-point shot may have been a combination of his knee and the fact that the Lakers were often trailing the Jazz, but he wasn't making the shots. Too often the Lakers' inside game was all on the shoulders of Shaq, and Van Exel not having any free throw attempts in Game 2 proves that he was reluctant to drive the ball inside the lane. Overall, he had a horrible series and was relatively ineffective.
After impressively dispatching the Sonics in five games, most thought that the Lakers were finally ready to get past the Utah Jazz and vie for another NBA championship by taking on the Bulls. However, with the exception of Shaquille O'Neal, the team rolled over and played dead, getting swept in four straight by Karl Malone and the Jazz.
