***LAKERS -at- Magic 02/13/2011 Game Thread****

[Rick12322]

[vedanta]

[Katarin]

Sun 14 vs Phoenix L 116-121
Sun 28 vs Indiana L 92-95
Sat 25 vs Miami L 80-96
Sun 02 vs Memphis L 85-104
Sun 16 @ LA Clippers L 92-99
Sun 30 vs Boston L 96-109

Sensing a theme with weekend games (particularly in the afternoon). ;p

[SlickVic]

Not all that shocked with this game. 3rd game in 4 days on the road. A lot of people like to write off Orlando and while I won't take any bets with how far they'll go this year, this is a team that has the personnel to take and make outside shots. That's not always a winning strategy but they hit their shots tonight (in part thanks to porous Laker D) and that was the main difference here. On the other end, no one really has to respect the Lakers perimeter shot (save for Kobe) and for whatever reason, it was one of those games where the Lakers couldn't get anything going inside either, which made this a fairly easy win for Orlando.

Not holding my breath for a game in Charlotte off a back-to-back but assuming they don't get embarrassed in Cleveland that's a 5-2 road trip. Certainly respectable given the level of competition. Only real downside with the losses is keeping pace with Boston and Dallas and OKC is only a game back in the loss column right now.

[32]

Tired legs tonight. No shame in losing this one.
_________________
Nobody in the NBA can touch the Laker brand, which, like the uniform color, is pure gold.

[shansen008]

Cant believe i just watched this Dwight Howard SLOBATHON.

The dude gets called for a couple fouls in the first, then all of a sudden he can do no wrong? Im sorry but that just stinks. We all know Orlando is a 1 trick pony, without howard they are probably a lottery team.

Idc if im called a conspiracy theorist. Here we are yet again on a nationally televised game against a contender and what do we see but their star coddled and aloud to push people around all game long.

You could definitely see the Lakers felt comfortable in the first half, then the second half starts and the refs just pretty much let Orlando (read: D12) do whatever he wanted.

That putback dunk and-1 over Gasol? Watch it, slo mo or not, Gasol has position. D12 reaches around with his ARMS and shoves Gasol out of the way. How that isnt a foul on D12 is beyond my comprehension apparently. I know when i learned to play bball, to get a board you had to move your feet to get position. Basically he didnt do any of the fundamentals required, in fact breaking the rules....and yet he is rewarded for it.

Kobe grabs on offensive board while giving his defender a piggy back ride for no call. That 2nd half was extremely painful to watch. Turned into the same story we normally see, the Lakers lose hope because of the non basketball officiating, and they cease to care. They stop moving without the ball, they start (bleep) to refs more, because they just plain arent doing their JOBS! Or are they?

You could "feel" the tone of the game change in the 2nd half with regards to the officiating. In fact before that as another poster said, it all started with arenas throwing up a prayer while standing our of bounds at halftime. That was BS. Not only was it BS, but the announcers making up excuses for why it didnt matter was also BS.

That play was egg on the face of the NBA......

Edit: One more thing...just to point out the inconsistency of the officials. How about that foul on Jameer Nelson when Kobe tried to make that half courter? HTF do you not call that? For those of you in the "They never call that stuff.." camp....ill just refer you back to our first game against the Celtics this year. The 2 plays are mirror images of each other almost...yet Boston was at the line with .8 left shooting 3 free throws.

Yep...all is well, nothing to see here....go on home folks. Dont forget to go buy a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport w/ Orlando Magic colorway....while supplies last. Seats are even embroidered with "D12"!

[Kobewood]

[lakergal16]

[eureca]

Sucks to lose, but 2 more wins against sub .500 teams and its an awesome 6-1 road trip with 4 quality wins against tough home teams. Magic wanted this bad and Lakers didn't bring their A game.

[dmlakerfan01]

[Triple-Threat-Lakers]

Momentum changed when the refs failed to recognize that Arenas was out of bounds when he passed the alley-oop dunk to end the third. Also to end the 2nd, Kobe was blatantly fouled before he threw that desperation three. Also, wtf was that and -1 over the back on Gasol?

[SlickVic]

[SlickVic]

[lakergal16]

Big Game James said it's just "one of those" losses on the road trip.

[Bynum4MVP]

[lakergal16]

[StuLantz#1]

I can't ever recall a contending Laker team ever playing this horribly against the best teams in the league during the regular season. Even towards the end of previous three-peats when teams usually coast they still usually kind of show up against the heavy hitters (the last Boston win was like one of the only exceptions it seems this year). Everyone out east besides Boston won't matter anyway, but there hasn't been a tougher challenge in the last couple decades than having to beat the Celtics and a Spurs team playing out of their mind on the road.

[Bynum4MVP]

[Rsxtreme415]