`I LIKE OUR CHANCES' LAKERS WIN AGAIN ON ROAD; ONE WIN TO GO LAKERS 100, PHIL. 86.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - The surroundings were all wrong, the vibes not quite right for a coronation, but the feeling and the glow that engulfed the Lakers was unmistakable. So there it was, an impromptu victory parade - a tad early, yet seemingly appropriate.

Riding shotgun in a golf cart, riding away from a 100-86 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers that gave the Lakers a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, coach Phil Jackson sped down a First Union Center corridor Wednesday night, stopped every 20 feet by another well-wisher.

First, an Italian television reporter, who wrapped up his interview with, ``You are the king!''

Then, Jackson's twin sons Ben and Charley, decked out in Lakers jerseys. ``Look at this guy. Way to go, Dad.''

Jackson reached a hand out to them and grinned, then sped on, stopped once more by Jimmy Buss, the Lakers' assistant general manager and son of owner Jerry Buss.

All that was missing was the double-decker bus and the 600,000 screaming Angelenos. That may come soon enough.

The Lakers will claim their second consecutive championship with their next victory - perhaps as soon as Friday night at First Union Center.

And they're starting to feel it.

``Oh yeah,'' Robert Horry said, ``we're feeling pretty good. We know. All we gotta do is win one more game. We've got three games to win one game, and I like our chances.''

All the trends point to a repeat. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. The Lakers haven't lost three games in a row in more than two years.

And no team has beaten the Lakers on the road, period, this postseason. They improved to 7-0, tying the NBA record set by the 1995 Houston Rockets.

Shaquille O'Neal punished the 76ers from start to finish with a commanding 34-point, 14-rebound, five-assist game. He scored early, dunking ferociously on Dikembe Mutombo, and became the playmaker later, dishing the ball to teammates for open 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Kobe Bryant played a subdued but deadly efficient game, falling just shy of a triple-double with 19 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

The Lakers bench produced its best game of the series, providing 28 points. And the NBA marketing folks started printing up those ``2001 Champions'' T-shirts.

But amid the rush of emotions came the words of caution.

``It's exciting,'' said Jackson, ``because you start thinking about more than just the game. You start thinking about winning it. You can't do that. That's one of the keys that we didn't get across to the team last year.''

The Indiana Pacers were down 3-1 last June but pummeled the Lakers in Game 5 to send the series back to Los Angeles.

This team has not been prone to such missteps, winning every elimination game so far.

``We have to keep going out to do our job,'' Ron Harper said. ``We gotta nice, big two-game lead, but it's not over until what? The fat girl starts singing. She ain't singing yet. She's just humming.''

The two-day break between games 3 and 4 figured to benefit the beat-up, broken and fatigued 76ers most, but they struggled early. Allen Iverson missed 10 of 14 field goals in the first half while the Lakers established a double-digit lead they never relinquished.

Iverson finished with 35 points - 16 in a desperate fourth-quarter rally - but was 12 for 30 from the field. Mutombo scored 19 points and did his best to challenge O'Neal but looked intimidated.

After trailing by as many as 22 points, the Sixers began a furious rally late in the third quarter and built a 13-0 run that cut the deficit to 77-70 with 8:58 to play. The Lakers simply absorbed the blows and fired back: an O'Neal dunk on Mutombo, then consecutive 3-pointers from Brian Shaw, Tyronn Lue and Robert Horry - who hit from just a few feet to the right from the spot where he made Sunday's game-clincher.

That put the Lakers up 88-71 and the Sixers were done.

``They knocked down some big shots,'' Philadelphia coach Larry Brown said. ``And I think when you consider the fact that we did make a run and they didn't panic, they made big plays, that's why they're the champs. That's why they're a very special team.''

The cover of Wednesday's Philadelphia Daily News featured Rocky, in boxing gloves, a Sixers jersey and a Sixers-themed championship belt. The headline: ``YO, LAKERS ... You're goin' down!''

But the Sixers never showed the fight of their fictional patron saint, falling behind by double digits in the second quarter. Then the Lakers threw an early knockout punch: 12 points in four possessions - a three-point play by Harper and 3-point shots from Horry, Harper and Lue. The offensive explosion gave the Lakers a 46-29 lead which they never relinquished.

``You want to go out there and win, and you don't want to give anybody any life or give them some hope,'' Horry said. ``You want to put as much pressure on them as possible. Now with them down 3-1, it's hard on them.''

O'Neal opened the game by jamming hard on Mutombo on two consecutive possessions, then smiled wide as he backpedaled down the floor and made eye contact with his father, Philip Harrison, in the stands.

By the end of the first, O'Neal already had eight rebounds. By halftime, he had 20 points.

``Shaq was unbelievable,'' Harper said.

By the final buzzer, the Lakers wore the relaxed smiles of a team on the verge of another title.

``We were on the verge last year at this time, similar situation on Indiana's floor and flopped,'' Rick Fox said. ``And this is just as prideful a team, on their home floor. The opportunity's still there to fight, and that's what their story has been about all year.'

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1) Shaquille O'Neal played at a level all his own in Game 4, contributing 34 points, 14 rebounds and five assists as the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (June 14, 2001, Sports section)

(3) no caption (Shaquille O'Neal)

(4) no caption (Allen Iverson)

Box: (1) THE HERO

(2) THE GOAT

(3) THE KEY

(4) GAME RECAP