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LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Just when it appeared the NBA Finals had taken a twist, things returned to form. Shaquille O'Neal dominated and Reggie Miller disappeared. O'Neal rewrote the record books with another overpowering performance as the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Kobe Bryant's sprained ankle and again fought off the Indiana Pacers, 111-104, to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. O'Neal was even more omnnipresent than he was in Game One, when he had 43 points and 19 rebounds. This time, he had 40 and 24 and virtually carried the Lakers on his 7-1, 330-pound frame as he became the fourth player in NBA history to post consecutive 40-point Finals games. "I thought he played better tonight than the other night," said Pacers coach Bird, who broke a promise as O'Neal broke his team's spirit. The Pacers started with aggressive double-teams. They used Zan Tabak. They even threw O'Neal to the floor once but ultimately had to resort to "Hack-a-Shaq," which they said they would not do. By intentionally fouling O'Neal, they put him on the line more times than any player in any game in NBA history. "Like I said in the last series (against Portland), I think it's just a total respect for my game," O'Neal said. "I've always been a society man, so I just have to live with the rules." O'Neal attempted a staggering 39 free throws, shattering the Finals record of 24, playoff record of 32 and all-time record of 34. He broke records set respectively by Bob Pettit in 1958, Bob Cousy in 1953 and Wilt Chamberlain in 1962. "His ability to dominate compares favorably to Chamberlain, who could dominate at both ends," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "That's a great honor. I really don't know what to say to that one," O'Neal said. As he shot 17 free throws in the fourth quarter, O'Neal fouled out forwards Dale Davis and Sam Perkins. Both had to step in for a shellshocked Rik Smits, who sat down with four points and five fouls midway through the third quarter and returned only in the final seconds. "The older I'm getting the tougher it gets," Smits said. "It's tough when you pick fouls up like that to get into a rhythm." As usual, O'Neal had his problems at the stripe, missing eight in a row at one point and 21 overall. But he made 1-of-2 on each of his final six trips and that was just enough to push back the Pacers, who hung around but never led in the final period. "I just said to myself to calm down, shoot," O'Neal said. "Take your time, follow through and shoot." That would have been good advice for Miller, who quickly erased the bad memories of his 1-of-16 meteor shower in Game One as he got off to a quick start tonight. He shot 7-of-16 and scored 21 points but just two of those came in the fourth quarter, when he was held without a basket. "I thought I had a couple of good looks," Miller said. "I missed two or three wide-open layups, a wide-open 3 that I thought was big." When he was able to get off a shot, O'Neal was very effective, making 11-of-18 as he shouldered the offensive burden in the absence of Bryant. He also had four assists, including one to Robert Horry for a three-point play that gave the Lakers a 102-96 lead with 58 seconds remaining. "When Kobe went out, we felt that we had to pick it up," O'Neal said. "My teammates were looking for me. When they continued to double, I was looking for guys." Bryant went down with a sprained left ankle in the first quarter and did not return. X-rays were negative and he is listed as day-to-day. "I've had sprained ankles before," Bryant said. "Tonight I thought I was going to get up, shake it off and keep playing. It just kept getting worse and worse." With Bryant held up by crutches, Glen Rice and Ron Harper helped support the offense with 21 points apiece. Rice made 5-of-6 3-pointers to help stretch the defense and Harper dribbled into the seams to make 8-of-12 shots en route to his season high. "A lot of people see me as the third option and without Kobe, there seems to be more things happening for me out there," Rice said. "Whenever a guy gets hurt, we need to have guys that step in his spot," Harper said. Jalen Rose scored 30 points and Austin Croshere added a playoff career-high 24 for the Pacers, who shot as many free throws as O'Neal, making 33. The Lakers were 32-of-57 from the line. Game Three is Friday in Indianapolis, where the Pacers better start their engines to counter the diesel power of O'Neal. Since the NBA Finals went to a 2-3-2 format in 1985, six teams have won the first two games at home and all have gone on to win the championship. The intrigue began when the biggest and smallest players on the floor tangled on consecutive possessions. Pacers 5-11 guard Travis Best actually tackled O'Neal to the floor and O'Neal made 1-of-2 to give Los Angeles an 86-78 lead with 7:01 to go. At the other end, Best drove and was bodyblocked to the floor by O'Neal, who was called for a questionable flagrant foul, his fifth. As O'Neal took a seat, Best made both free throws and Croshere tipped in a miss to halve the deficit. "I don't understand the rules," O'Neal said. "Sometimes they grabbed me and took me to the ground. That's because I'm a big guy, I can take it. I'm not a little guy in a sports car that runs into a brick wall." Croshere, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, made a pair from the line as O'Neal returned with 5:18 left. Rice drilled a 3-pointer to make it 89-84 and O'Neal made a hook and a follow shot to push the lead to 93-87 with 3:51 to play. Croshere made two more free throws and "Hack-a-Shaq" began. The Pacers sent O'Neal to the line four times in 63 seconds and he split the pair each time. Meanwhile, Indiana managed just three points and trailed 97-92 at the two-minute mark. "I feel like the 'Hack-a-Shaq' works both ways," Rose said. "I feel like it's a pretty good theory if you're five or so ahead in the fourth quarter and it's above two minutes. Other than that, I really don't feel like it's a great theory because not only does it give him an oppotunity to rest, even if he's a bad free throw shooter, a bad free throw shooter makes 50 percent." Croshere hit a jumper, but O'Neal split the pair twice more as Indiana now could not foul him until he touched the ball. A pair of free throws by Miller -- his only points of the period -- moved the Pacers within 99-96 with 1:18 remaining. On the next possession, O'Neal caught the ball in the post and faded away from the swarming defense to avoid the foul and zip a pass to a cutting Horry, who put in a reverse layup and drew the foul. The Lakers shot 48 percent (36-of-75) and held the Pacers to just 37.5 percent (33-of-88), including 5-of-20 from the arc. The changes from Game One were obvious in the first minute. The Pacers came more quickly and aggressively with their double-teams on O'Neal and Miller made his first two shots in the initial four minutes. Bryant sank a 17-footer from the right wing to give the Lakers a 22-20 lead with 3:26 left. But his left foot came down on the right foot of Rose and he fell to the floor in pain, clutching his ankle. Harper helped pick up the slack with 11 points in the first quarter. But Rose found his rhythm and scored 10 as Indiana kept pace at 28-28. Meanwhile, O'Neal made just 2-of-7 from the line, where his troubles were just beginning. The Pacers went to the little-used Tabak against O'Neal, who missed eight free throws in a row until finally making the second of two with 6:24 left in the second quarter. Rose scored eight more points in the period but Rice came alive with eight of his own, including a 3-pointer that allowed Los Angeles to take a 52-49 halftime lead. "With Kobe going out with his injury, it gave Glen a lot more touches, a lot more opportunities," O'Neal said. "He stepped up big for us tonight." Indiana was 0-of-6 from the arc in the first half but Miller drilled one that gave the Pacers a 63-62 lead with 6:21 to go in the third quarter. He scored nine points in the period. With Bryant out, the burden of Los Angeles' offense appeared to be on O'Neal, who rediscovered his stroke from the line, making 4-of-6 after Smits picked up his fifth foul and sat down with 7:09 remaining. Rice remained the second option and his 3-pointer gave the Lakers a 71-67 lead with 2:07 to go. While O'Neal was breaking Pettit's mark, Croshere had a drive and four free throws to cut the deficit to 80-78 with 8:25 to play. A runner by Harper and a 3-pointer by Derek Fisher gave the Lakers their largest lead before Best and O'Neal exchanged tackles.
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