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The 2003–2004 Los Angeles Lakers reached the 2004 NBA Finals, losing in 5 games to the Detroit Pistons. The Lakers in the offseason signed veteran free agents and former All-Stars Karl Malone and Gary Payton, who were recruited by center Shaquille O'Neal. Payton struggled with coach Phil Jackson's triangle offense, which limited his ball-handling and post-up opportunities. Before the season, All-Star guard Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault in Colorado. Before games, Bryant often flee to Colorado for court appearances. The Lakers had a perfect 18-3 start to the season. But, their perfect start was ruined when Malone went down with a knee injury in December and ailments to Shaq and Kobe soon followed. The "Big Four" of O'Neal, Bryant, Malone, and Payton played in only 20 games together. Despite all of this, the injury- depleted Lakers still managed a 56-26 record and entered the playoffs as the number 2 seed in the Western Conference, thanks to a pair of Kobe Bryant buzzer-beaters in Portland. They easily blew past the Houston Rockets led by Steve Francis and a young Yao Ming in five games in the first round. The second round pitted the Lakers against the defending NBA champions the San Antonio Spurs, who defeated the Lakers in last year's playoffs. Though the Spurs took the first two games, the Lakers won the next four games, including Derek Fisher's miracle shot with 0.4 seconds left in Game 5 (a 74-73 Lakers victory) and a Game 6 88-76 victory at home to advance to the Western Conference Finals against the Kevin Garnett-led Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers managed to get through a tough Minnesota team, defeating them in six games to advance to the NBA Finals where they would meet the Detroit Pistons. Though the Lakers were heavily favored to win the title, the Pistons proved too much for the Lakers as they easily went on to win the series in five games. Game 4 of the NBA Finals was perhaps Karl Malone's final NBA game as injuries forced him to sit out the fifth and final game of the series. In Game 4, Malone was limited to just two points. Game 5 was the last time O'Neal and Bryant played together as teammates as O'Neal went to the Miami Heat in the off-season after the beef between the duo. Phil Jackson resigned after the season. He later wrote a book about the team's season in which he voiced disdain for Kobe Bryant, calling him "uncoachable". ==Draft picks== 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2003–04 Los Angeles Lakers season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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