Before the Lakers hosted the Mavericks on Dec. 6, 2002, we had two key facts: Dallas was 17-1, boasting the fourth-best start in NBA history; and the Lakers had won 23 straight home games against Dallas, a ridiculous form of domination in the Kobe/Shaq tenure.
Who knew that, after three quarters of playing subpar basketball, the Lakers would execute the second-biggest fourth quarter comeback in NBA history*?
*MIL over ATL in 1977.
You see, Shaq was just starting to round into form, having missed the start of the season coming off LAL’s back-to-back-to-back championships due to toe surgery he’d had on Sept.