PHILLY BUSTER LAKERS ON BRINK OF SECOND STRAIGHT TITLE AFTER POUNDING SIXERS LAKERS 100, PHIL 86.

Byline: Howard Beck Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - The surroundings were all wrong, the vibe 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 Laker 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-deckered bus and the 600,000 screaming Angelenos. That all may come soon enough.

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

And they're starting to feel it.

``Oh yeah,'' said Robert Horry, ``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 back-to-back titles. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the Finals. No team has beaten the Lakers in three straight games 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.

This victory was built on 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 open teammates for 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,'' said Ron Harper. ``We got a nice, big two-game lead, but it's not over until what? The fat girl starts singing. She aint 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 that they never relinquished.

Iverson scored 35 points - 16 in a desperate fourth-quarter rally - but he finished 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 - whose shot came 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,'' said Philadelphia coach Larry Brown. ``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.''

If the 76ers couldn't bring their best, the Philly media certainly tried. For the occasion, the cover of the Philadelphia Daily News featured Rocky, wearing 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 midway through the second quarter. Then the Lakers threw an early knockout punch that left Philly staggering and woozy.

The Lakers scored 12 points in four possessions, on a 3-point play by Harper and 3-point shots from Horry, Harper and Lue. The offensive explosion gave the Lakers a 46-29 lead, representing their biggest advantage at any time in the series.

``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.''

No one looked more well-rested and spry than O'Neal. After two days taunting Mutombo through the press, begging him to challenge him one- on-one, O'Neal sent a more direct message in the first quarter.

He jammed hard on Mutombo on two straight 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. Bryant had a quiet first half, going 3 for 6 from the field for 6 points. But the Lakers got 8 points from Harper and 16 total from the bench, and the team shot 54.1 percent.

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Photo:

(color) Kobe Bryant, left, and Shaquille O'Neal have reason to smile: The Lakers are one victory from a second consecutive championship.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer