The Nba

SEASON	2,000-POINT SCORERS	TOTAL POINTS
1997-98*	Michael Jordan, Bulls	2,147
1975-76	Bob McAdoo, Braves	2,427
	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Lakers	2,275
1967-68	Dave Bing, Pistons	2,142
	Elgin Baylor, Lakers	2,002
1966-67	Rick Barry, Warriors	2,775
	Oscar Robertson, Royals	2,412
* Through Sunday's games.

Showdown Time

Opposing coaches and players approach Lakers coach Del Harris gingerly—"like I have a terminal illness," he says. Through Sunday, Los Angeles had won 16 of its last 18 games and completed a 4-0 swing through the Eastern Conference, yet Harris's future was in doubt, hinging on how deep into the postseason he could take a team with a nucleus of players whose average age is 25.6. Would only a championship save him? Would a trip to the NBA Finals be enough? Would an appearance in the Western Conference finals allow him keep his job?

Curiously, Harris is not the only top coach facing an uncertain future. Phil Jackson of the Bulls, George Karl of the Sonics and Jerry Sloan of the Jazz must either mend relations with their front offices or make impressive playoff runs to keep their jobs. These coaches had four of the league's five best records at week's end, and each had a trip to the Finals on his r�sum�. "I'm comfortable with whatever happens," Harris says. "Maybe it sounds idealistic, but whenever one door closes for me, another seems to open."

Though at times the Lakers show an appalling inability to play team basketball, their talent is second to none. Harris recognizes, however, that athleticism is not enough. "There are a lot of talented people in prison," he says. "There are talented people who can't hold a job. In many ways the tag of 'talent' is a curse for us. You need a certain number of disappointments before you realize that opportunities don't come that often. You need a measure of maturity before you start setting aside individual goals, because they don't matter-only winning does."

Harris can't understand why people in the basketball world aren't more patient. "Four or five years ago, everyone was saying Jerry Sloan was boring," he says. "They said Utah would never get to the Finals with Karl Malone and John Stockton. Three or four years ago, they had given up on Seattle—there was no way they'd get back to the top with George Karl. But look what happened when those franchises stayed with it. We took away most of Utah's main plays last season in the playoffs, but because the Jazz know each other so well, they found ways to beat us with 10 seconds on the shot clock."

Lakers forward Rick Fox, who played alongside veterans Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish on the Celtics, believes his current teammates lack the concentration needed to take a title. "I'm worried about it," he says. "We all should be. We don't do the same things night in and night out. Sometimes we're great in the half-court, but the next night we're terrible. Championship teams get to the point where execution is second nature. We don't have that."

How can L.A. compensate for a shortage of experience? "We have to be hungrier," says 19-year-old Kobe Bryant. "That makes up for a lot. But I don't doubt this team. We'll get there one day. It's not a matter of if but when?

That is of little solace to Harris, for whom it's probably now or never.

Net Losses
Center of Attrition

Nets center Jayson Williams broke his right thumb on March 27, and while he can't grip a ball yet, he can run up and down the stairs of Giants Stadium. So he does—again and again and again, working out the frustration that's been building since March, when New Jersey went 4-10 and began frittering away its apparent lock on a postseason berth. After challenging the Heat for the Atlantic Division lead in January, the Nets are fighting the Magic and the Wizards for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.