to force a Game 7 in the Conference Finals despite trailing 3-1. With their Eastern Conference Finals victory over the New York Knicks, the Indiana Pacers won their first Eastern Conference title after four previous appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals; however, after this season, the team was radically altered with key players Dale Davis, Derrick McKey and Mark Jackson moving to other teams and Rik Smits retiring. Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals was the last game Patrick Ewing ever played as a Knick. The Pacers would not win another playoff series until 2004. In Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers used an 15-0 fourth quarter run to overcome a fifteen point deficit to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers and make their first NBA Finals since 1991. With the win, the Lakers also avoided the dubious distinction of becoming the seventh team in NBA History to lose a playoff series despite leading 3-1. The Lakers' NBA Finals win over the Indiana Pacers was the first title for both Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, and the first Lakers championship since the 1988 NBA Finals. A. C. Green, the only player left from the Lakers' Showtime era, was in the Lakers starting lineup for this series as well. Playoff qualifying Eastern Conference The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the East: Indiana Pacers (56–26, clinched Central division and home court advantage for the Eastern Conference playoffs) Miami Heat (52–30, clinched Atlantic division) New York Knicks (50–32) Charlotte Hornets (49–33) Philadelphia 76ers (49–33) Toronto Raptors (45–37) Detroit Pistons (42–40) Milwaukee Bucks (42–40) Western Conference The following teams clinched a playoff berth in the West: Los Angeles clippers Los Angeles Lakers (67–15, clinched Pacific division title and home court advantage throughout the playoffs) Utah Jazz (55–27, clinched Midwest division) Portland Trail Blazers (59–23) San Antonio Spurs (53–29) Phoenix Suns (53–29) Minnesota Timberwolves (50–32) Seattle SuperSonics (45–37) Sacramento Kings (44-38) Bracket This was the outlook for the playoffs. Teams in italics have home court advantage. Teams in bold advance to the next round. Numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's original playoffs seeding in their respective conferences. Numbers to the right of each team indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions possess an asterisk (*) First round Eastern Conference first round (1) Indiana Pacers vs. (8) Milwaukee