LAKERS -at- MAGIC - 6/9 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

Under the Guns... You approach a large stone archway that the Horsemen have just passed beneath. Expecting some kind of magic kingdom as you step onto a glimmering golden courtyard, you are instead greeted with an abandoned, weather-worn carnival. There is something unsettling about the place.

A lone female carnie worker with sad eyes and a tattered top hat steps out from behind one of those basketball shooting games. You notice that instead of small rims, they are abnormally large. She takes the hat off her head and taps it unconvincingly with a plastic wand. She reaches in and pulls a white rabbit from the hat. It wiggles free from her grip and hits the ground running, bolting through the abandoned carnival.

The Horsemen ignore the magician and charge after the rabbit. Follow the white rabbit, you think. You give chase, too, as it darts through the grounds. The rabbit stops in front of a target shooting game. It seems to be interested the white target rabbits moving back and forth, waiting to be shot at. Before you realize that all the guns are facing away from the game, the magicians appear from no where in a cloud of smoke. Ambush! They have you and the Horsemen in a vicious crossfire.

Surprisingly, the Horsemen hang tough under the barrage. They should be getting crushed, but push back. They draw fire from one side, then attack from the other. Death raises a sword and prepares to go in for a decisive blow, but he loses grip, dropping the sword to the ground. The Horsemen are forced to retreat.

With a "foomp" the magicians are gone. As the smoke clears you see a large stuffed white rabbit on the shooting gallery counter. There's a note attached to it. DancingBarry:

The Four Horsemen were here. Their opponent went into target practice mode, delivering a precision offensive attack. The Horsemen didn't give in. They had a chance to take victory in a hostile environment, but failed to execute in the final moments.

They will fight again. I will continue to track them...

You've got to hit your freethrows on the road. Who knew the one missing would be Kobe Bryant?

Kobe went 5-10 from the line, the Lakers 16-26 as a team. A normal game from him and the Lakers may have ended up taking one of the Magic's best shots and still coming away with a victory. Instead, they fall 108-104.

That was some precision target shooting for the Magic. They shot 63 percent for the game -- highest ever in a Finals game -- quite a swing from the first game in the series when the Magic shot the second lowest percentage in a Finals contest. Despite that, the Lakers had it there for the taking in the final minutes. Kobe lost the ball splitting a double team in what Phil called "the deciding stop" for the Magic. Pau had the fumble in his hands on the floor, but didn't call timeout and the Lakers lost the possession.

It was there, but they failed to close. You are generally going to have several possessions handed to the home team that should have been yours, so you have to take care of the ones you get. A key turnover and not hitting freethrows cost them. Take care of either of those and this series might be 3-0.

Defensively, what happened? The Magic worked the high screens to success after success. They only shot 14 threes, and they had five players scoring more than 18 points each. The Lakers have to shore up the two-man D. Rafer Alston got 20 points on 8-12 shooting.

Kobe summed it up: "Freethrows is a gimmie, obviously, but we lost this game on the defensive end. We've been playing very good defense and the team tonight shoots 62 percent from the field, 75 percent in the first half. We've got to do a better job defensively."

"We have to go after it in game four and try to make it our game," Pau said.


Kobe -- -- Kobe struggled from the freethrow line all night. Just a rare game where that happens. If he makes his usual freethrows, the Lakers have the lead in down the stretch of this game. Just a bad time for one of those flukish freethrow games that he has every blue moon. It's happened two or three times this season. Despite that, the Lakers were still in this game in the final minutes. Even so, Kobe couldn't close. He missed a drive in transition, missed a three and lost the ball trying to split a double on another play in the final possessions. He got some good rest from Phil to start that fourth quarter, too, but couldn't close the deal. To start the game, Kobe helped get others get established, then throttled it up midway through the first quarter for 17 points after the first. With the Magic lighting it up, this helped the Lakers stay in the hunt. He also made some great passes to set up others, and he led the team in points and assists at the half. He struggled with his shot and made just 2 of his last 12. The Magic were trapping aggressively. "It just didn't happen tonight. You got to bounce back and be ready to go in game four," a disappointed Kobe said. The Stats: He scored 31 points on 11-25 shooting (4-9 from three, 5-10 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 8 assists, 4 turnovers and 5 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He drained a step-back elbow jumper. He rattled in a top-of-the-arc three. He sank a step-back elbow jumper off the high post. He missed a layup trying to flip it over his head off a cut. He posted up Pietrus, stepped around him and scored the layup. He sank a pull-up sideline jumper off the two-man game. He took a dribble to his right, pulled up and drained the 19-footer. He was blocked on a drive, all arm, no call. On the inbounds, he up-faked Pietrus at the three line, took contact and sank an And-1 three, he made the FT on the 4-point play. He got hit on the arm with no call at the end of the first quarter and missed a jumper. He had 17 points on 7-10 shooting. He ball-watched and gave up an open jumper. He faced up and swished a sideline three with the shotclock low. He posted up, drew the D and fed Pau for FTs. He pulled up at the sideline, saw Howard zoning and lobbed to Pau for the layup. He missed a tough off-balance chuck just beating the shotclock. He up-faked Pietrus on a jumper and drew more FTs, he made one. He was blocked on a drive. He missed a three. He missed a runner over Howard at the half. He shot 1-5 in the second quarter and finished with 21 points on 8-15 shooting with 4 assists. Second Half: Lee was smothering him from 30 feet out with the shotclock low, Kobe swung through and drew three FTs, he missed two, however (these misses costing the Lakers big). He was bumped with no call and lost the handle. He was called for a cheap offensive foul trying to post up, so weak, even more so considering the physical play in the post up to this point. He missed a turnaround out of a timeout when our play busted. He up-faked Lee and manufactured FTs on a jumper, he made just one again. He drained a wing three in early offense. He missed a good look at a three off the Bynum screen at the end of the third. He had 26 points on 9-19 shooting. He worked the two man game and hit Fish for three. He pulled up at the elbow and cut it to 2 with 3:54 left. He missed a transition layup, arggh. He missed a wing three. He attacked Howard off the screen and drew two FTs, he missed yet again, making just one. He was picked trying to split a double team and lost the ball. Down by 4, he missed a three. He missed another three. He scored a layup with a second left.

Gasol -- -- You got the ball and you are on the floor in the final minute of a game, call timeout. Every possession counts. Pau did a great job recovering Kobe's lost ball, but we coughed it up in the scramble afterward. It looked like Kobe may have fumbled the pass back from Pau, but hard to really see. In any event, call the timeout there. Both Pau and Lamar got some good looks in the post and Pau did the most with his touches, making 9-11. Milk that more, please. The spacing and ball movement was much better than the last game, but the Lakers need to go that sooner and more often. Quick ball movement to get our post players set up usually results in very good things. The Lakers worked the well for a while in the fourth to come back. Defensively, he got pushed around quite a bit without any help from the officials. That's the home cooking officiating you've got to fight through. The Lakers nearly did. Rebounding wise, the Lakers kept the Magic to just 5 offensive boards. Hard to say whether that was a good or bad job when a team shoots 62.5 percent from the floor. It seemed like there could have been a couple over-the-back fouls that should have been called. "He's allowed to do physically a couple more things here at home," Pau said. The Stats: He scored 23 points on 9-11 shooting (5-6 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 2 blocks and 3 fouls in 40 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: He spun on Lewis and dunked on his first touch. He got away from his man on an entry pass and dunked. He missed a wing jumper. He picked up his second foul of the first quarter with 1 minute left and had to sit. He attacked Gortat and hit the fade in the lane. He earned FTs when Kobe drew his man and fed him in the paint, he made both. He scored a layup off the lob from Kobe when Howard had his back turned. He had 10 points on 4-5 shooting, no boards and 2 fouls in 15 minutes. Second Half: He posted up Rashard and hit the easy jumphook (more please). He cut, took the pass, spun and hit the turnaround. He swatted Hedo's drive. He missed an elbow jumper. He beat Howard down the court and dunked the lob from DFish. He was fouled in the paint while posting up Lewis, he made one FT. He posted up Howard, backed him down and hit the jumphook with his left to cut it to 3. He swiped a post entry pass. He couldn't hold a board with Howard on his back. He posted up Hedo and drew two FTs, he made both with 2:41 left to tie it. He attacked down the lane, took contact and powered in a layup. Great D to help roof Lewis with Lamar and get the stop down by 2. He had the ball on the floor when Kobe fumbled it away but didn't call timeout and lost it trying to pass.

Bynum -- -- The Lakers got a game without foul trouble for Bynum, but we didn't get an interior presence from him. The Magic were working the two-man game against him versus going at him in the post. They chewed us up on our defensive schemes. We've got to do a better job of that, obviously. This takes away the Bynum/Howard head-to-head where we don't have to sag defensively if we don't want to as much. Pau was getting pushed around tonight quite a bit without calls, unable to hold ground or get a whistle. If we can't lock up our two-man D better with Bynum out there, then the Magic are just going to switch gears on us more and more when Drew's out on the floor and take advantage. Not much of a game offensively from Bynum. Looked like he got hit a couple times without a call. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-6 shooting (0-1 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 turnover, no blocks and 2 fouls in 23 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He missed a short jumphook with his left. His jumphook off the two-man game was goaltended by Howard. He poked a post entry away to save a probably hoop because he was pinned down low. He picked up his first foul challenging a Hedo drive with 5 minutes left in the first quarter. He worked a series of moves on Howard, drew contact and banked in the And-1 jumphook, he missed the FT. He airballed a turnaround, getting hit on the arm with no call. He had 4 points on 2-5 shooting, 4 boards and 1 foul in 14 minutes. Second Half: He jumper was blocked, he deflected a pass in transition to get it back.

Ariza -- -- Trevor was again in the spotlight on both ends. The Magic run so much offense through Hedo on one end, then force him to make shots on the other. Hedo was efficient and led his team with 7 assists. We've got to do a better job preventing the penetration. The Magic shot just 5-14 from three. They weren't being forced to hit the three tonight. We need to do that a little more with Hedo. Ariza led teh Lakers on both ends of the floor in rebounding. Offensively, that's just hustle. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-13 shooting (2-7 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 7 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 41 minutes. He was a -1. The Action: He missed an early offense three, bad choice as the Magic pushed the tempo. He sank a pull-up elbow jumper off the Bynum screen. He missed an open three off the Kobe kickout. He attacked the paint but threw the ball away. He attacked again, this time drawing FTs, he made one. Second Half: He attacked, missed a floater but put back in his miss. He stole the ball on one end and swished a three off the Kobe kickout on the other. He attacked, missed, but fought to get it back and drew a foul. He curled off the Pau handoff and scored the layup. He missed an open three. He missed another open three. He sank a three off a kickout to cut the lead to 5 with 6 minutes left. He drew a moving screen on the D end. He missed a throwdown attempt over Howard (I'd like to see that one again to see if he was fouled). He missed a good look at a sideline three.

Fisher -- -- Alston sank a number of open shots early in the game. Phil let the carnage continue in the third quarter. Alston had 20 points on 8-12 shooting. He attacked off the dribble a lot more and that seemed to ignite his perimeter game and confidence. We never changed up our D on this and paid the price. Phil highlighted Alston as a key afterward. The Stats: He scored 9 points on 4-9 shooting (1-4 from three) to go with 3 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -5. The Action: He swished a 10-foot pull-up off the screens to start the game. He missed a three. He sank a pull-up elbow jumper in transition. Crazy drive around the perimeter and he swished a baseline, off-balance jumper. He missed a two-for-one baseline jumper. He had 6 points on 3-5 shooting. Alston led the Magic with 13 points on 5-7 shooting. Second Half: He missed a baseline jumper. He missed an open three off a Pau kickout. He threw a lob to Pau in transition for a dunk. He sank an open wing three off the Kobe kickout. He took a hard foul on Pietrus to not give up a dunk. He didn't switch when LO did on the perimeter and Lewis got the ball back to knock down an open jumper with a minute left. He missed a heave at a three with a few seconds left.

Lamar -- -- Quiet first half, offensively, but we finally started working him in the post in the second half. Need to do that earlier. The Lakers were especially effective when getting the floor spaced off the two-man game and swinging the ball to him -- something they hadn't done well in the last game. They make life very difficult for the Magic when they do that. Defensively, LO got sucked into the paint a lot trying to rotate on the two-man game. It seemed to be more of a problem when he was out there with Bynum for some stretches. Not a lot of boards in this game simply because there weren't a lot of missed shots. Plus, Lamar has to stay out on the perimeter quite a bit. Some good hustle plays by LO, but our two-man D schemes was putting him in jeopardy on help situations quite a bit. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting to go with 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 turnovers and 4 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -6. The Action: He missed a quick pull-up from the top of the key as soon as he entered the game. He scored an And-1 layup, cutting behind his man when Luke found him, he made the FT. Great job throwing a deflected pass off the Magic to get a possession. He sealed off the baseline and drew a charge on Lewis. He stepped in to take a charge on Howard, but didn't get the call (should have). He had 3 points on 1-2 shooting, no boards. Second Half: He missed a jumphook. Horrible post entry pass to Kobe easily picked off. Bogus call, he picked up his third foul on a swat on Howard (LO was ticked). He was finally earned a real whistle when he had to foul Howard from behind on help D (his fourth). He attacked from the right wing to his left and scored a layup. He swatted Gortat. He attacked, spun and hit off the glass. He posted up Rashard and drew FTs, he made one. He posted up Rashard again, more FTs, he made one. He posted up Hedo, ate him up and scored the jumphook. Clutch steal when Fish was on Rashard and they tried to feed the post to take advantage. He switched on DFish's man, DFish didn't switch and Lewis hit a jumper with 1:06 left. Great hustle to track down a long offensive board and throw it back in bounds with 18 seconds left.

Luke -- -- Some decent passes from Luke again. The offense flowed well when he was out there. He does a good job of drawing defenders and finding teammates. Defensively, he didn't stop much of anything and even saw Pietrus hit a Kobe-esque turnaround over him (wish that one didn't drop). He was frustrated by a couple of calls that went against him. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-1 shooting to go wtih 2 boards, 2 assists, 2 turnovers and 3 fouls in 11 minutes. He was a -4. The Action: Sweet pass over a defender's head instead of taking the open jumper and Lamar scored the And-1. He grabbed an offensive board, attacked and hit the short floater. His perimeter pass was stolen. He hit Farmar for the open three on a kickout. Second Half: He attacked and was called for using his off arm to erase a layup. Looked like he had a sure layup, but he kicked out from in front of the hoop.

Vujacic -- -- Phil seems to be keeping The Machine on life support instead of pulling the plug completely. Again, Shannon Brown could use these minutes so he doesn't have to come in cold in the fourth...which of course he didn't get this time. Sasha got his usual silly foul and missed jumper. The Stats: He didn't score on 0-1 shooting to go with 1 foul in 3 minutes. He was a +/- of 0. The Action: He missed a leaning midrange jumper (finally a pull-up from midrange, but he was leaning forward badly, not sure he's ever made one of those). He then fouled on the other end and then gave up a layup. He caused Nelson to travel with some help D. Second Half: He didn't play.

Farmar -- -- Can't expect a much better game from Farmar. Not that he was flawless -- he just doesn't play that way, unfortunately. He had a couple bad turnovers, giving away possessions, but he gave the team decent minutes. He hit shots, seemed to keep the Magic guards from doing what they did to DFish. He worked the midrange areas well. That's what our bench guards need to do. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-6 shooting (1-3 from three, 2-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 foul and 2 turnovers in 16 minutes. He was a +1. The Action: Touch foul on the perimeter, Phil got off the bench to yell "come on!" He missed a long three. He missed an open three. He hit a bank shot, pulling up from the right side (probably the best shot in his game). He squared up better this time and swished the open three. Second Half: He drew FTs taking a bump at midcourt, he made both. Bad pass just out of Luke's reach, turnover. He sank a 20-footer off the high screen. He attacked left, hung and hit off the glass with the shotclock low. He grabbed an offensive board off a missed FT, then threw it away for a layup the other way.

Mbenga -- -- He came in for a few seconds on a defensive stand at the end of the first quarter. The Stats: Nothing to report. The Action: Nothing to report. Second Half: He did not play.

Phil -- -- Phil didn't run any Shannon Brown in this game, despite Fish getting toasted by Alston. First game in a while that Shannon hasn't seen any PT. "I thought Jordan was playing well," Phil said afterward. No thinking on taking any of DFish's minutes... Behind some excellent perimeter shooting by Kobe, the Lakers took a 31-27 lead after the first quarter. The pace of the game was not in the Lakers favor... "They got their flow," Phil said of the Magic and was worried about the foul issues as Pau had two... He started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Sasha, Farmar lineup to open the second quarter. They maintained the lead until Kobe returned after 3 minutes... The Magic made 19-25 of their first shots, but still trailed by a point midway through the second quarter... The Magic started picking apart Bynum and Ariza/Fisher on the two-man game, forcing LO to help on the Howard cut. (May want to switch Kobe on one of them later in the second half.)... The Lakers lost the second quarter 32-23 and the Magic crowd was in the game... Lakers trailed 59-54 at halfime. The Magic shot an incredible, NBA-record 75 percent (24-32, 4-9 from three, 7-10 from the line). The Lakers shot 54 percent (22-41, 4-10 from three, 6-9 from the line). The Lakers had just 10 rebounds (4 offensive) with all those Magic makes... Phil subbed out Bynum early as the Magic continued to pick on him off the screen-rolls... With LO picking up his fourth foul with 3 minutes left in the third, Phil had to go with Bynum/Pau. He also brought in Farmar for Fisher. No use of Brown, no subbing out DFish earlier for Brown... Down 81-75 to start the fourth, Phil went with a Pau, Lamar, Luke, Ariza, Farmar lineup. Not sure we have seen this all playoffs. The Lakers were down 7 when Kobe returned with 7 minutes left. They held serve... He brought back DFish midway through the fourth for Farmar... With 2:41 left, the Lakers tied it up... The Magic got a putback dunk and a FT to take a three-point lead with 2 minutes left... The Lakers trailed by 3 with 1:06 left and had the ball out of a timeout. Kobe drew FTs, but made just 1... The Lakers were down 2 with 1 minute left. They got a stop and could tie the game up, but Kobe fumbled the ball away trying to split a double team. Pau had it, but didn't call timeout. Ouch... The Lakers fouled and now trailed by 4 with 28 seconds left. Kobe missed a three... They got several looks at threes in the final seconds, but missed them all... The Lakers shot 51 percent (8-23 from three). They had 11 offensive boards to 5 from the Magic... Both teams had 13 turnovers... "I thought we controlled the tempo of the game," Phil said...

Game Flow -- LINK -- Lamar got 8 points in the fourth. He was quiet up until that point. They need to runs some of those same sequences in the first half for him. Pietrus had 10 points in the fourth, a huge putback dunk that Phil questioned whether it was legit and Van Gundy said was probably the biggest make of the game for them.

[Vishnu]

1st

edit: yeah, back-to-back

it's too bad we lost though

thanks DB

[AutoShackMotorSports]

second (yay)

[lakersfreak]

IT AIN´T ABOUT HOW HARD YOU HIT

DB

[msufan23]

Brown losing time all the way to nothing is just mind boggling
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"There are no next times when you're competing for big things." - Tom Izzo

[DancingBarry]

[mike_dee23]

I will type the words not read in a while: more Luke, less Ariza. Ball movement is missing because Ariza is either a) driving into the teeth of the defense, or b) jacking up a 3.
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MTFBWYA

[8750]

thanks, DB
it was very easy to understand before the finals began: if we play man on man, we win easily, if we overhelp and let their shooters wide open, then we find a lot of troubles... that's exactly what's happening... fisher badly rotating on lewis in the final minute was the epitome of our bad defensive strategy... as always, we don't have any idea against high screens and roll, also because bynum is totally lost in these situations...
kobe also has a great responsability losing this game, but that's something that can happen...

[AutoShackMotorSports]

[mike_dee23]

[Klone_dd]

Actually both defenses were bad. Or maybe both offenses were just too good.

Both teams made 40 FGs, the Lakers made more 3's, had more offensive boards, kept TO's low and shot better than 50%. The game was winnable. It's the missed FTs, the thing you least expect from Kobe, that was the difference.

The Magic were bound to have a good shooting game. They space the floor so well and have very good shooters. The role players, Pietrus & Skippy, had good games at home as expected. Still, the Lakers were right there. The effort was there, just some late game execution problems.

The Magic played with despiration, pulling out their best play - the high P&R - early and often. Normally, you run your pet play in the 4th, but they were going to it often. Kinda like how Kobe abandons the triangle and runs P&R with Pau. The Lakers run it when they need a score. The Magic went to it time and time again and it got them into a great rhythm. You'd think the Lakers would eventually figure out how to stop it, but couldn't.

The only thing that concerns me is that Kobe looked pretty gassed in the 2nd half. He didn't play particularly well in Game 2. Are the number of games he's played this year (2008 season, Finals, Olympics, 2009 season, Finals) catching up to him?

Hey, LG members, remember when I used to name a NKPOG (Non-Kobe Player of the Game)? I had to chuckle when JVG stole my line!

[DancingBarry]

[X56]

That's the part that i couldn't understand - Pau not calling a timeout. Reminded me of game 2 of the Denver series though Ariza was tripped by Melo iirc and he wasn't/didn't call time out.

O well, am just glad that we are still leading 2-1 instead of looking at a 2-1 deficit.

I hope Orlando's shooting will revert back to game 1

Lets go Lakers!
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Game 7 2010 NBA Finals - Lakers 83, Boston 79

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB

What are your thoughts on PJ's comments that Howard was getting away with illiegal pcks that was wiping out Ariza and DFish?

Since Drew appears to be playing to "stay on the court" without playing with any define purpose on a consistent basis - along with not providing any offensive threat to force Howard to guard him, one wonders what is the purpose of having him on the court?
Note: Of course, he is only 21 and learning on the job. It would be nice if he played with the energy he had when he first played Shaq?!?!

[AllorNothing]

Why the heck doesn't Phil start that big lineup? Lamar, Kobe, and Trevor can at least make it back defensively.

[ReaListik]

Thanks DB.

There was so many freak things tonight that happened, for one thing no matter if you're open or not it's extremely rare to shoot 76% as a team for an entire half. The second half really wasn't that much different, it seemed like every prayer that was thrown up went in. Kobe missed a ton of free throws that he normally makes in the clutch.

I fully expect to see a focused Laker squad tomorrow during the media coverage and I expect that game 4 they will come out of the gates with fire and passion to win the game. Expect Kobe to go off.

We need game 4.
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"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[limchrc]

Thanks for the recap. Let's get the win next game.

[mhan00]

ergh, two games in a row with a questionable decision from kobe at the end of regulation. after a superb first quarter, kobe's shot just absolutely deserted him, fts included, that hurt.

not sure why brown didn't get any time whatsoever. like sky pointed out, alston can get insanely hot when he's at home; we might have wanted to try a different look on him than slow footed fish. to be fair to fish, though, a couple of those layups were insanely difficult over a tall defender.

[srm90]

Does anybody in the NBA know how to set a screen anymore? Dwight Howard obviously doesn't.
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[IPK]

[Sage_10]

I don't think the Lakers defense was that bad. I think Orlando was just smoking hot.
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"You Must Be Willing To Give Up That Which Can Be Lost In Order To Gain That Which Cannot Be Lost." - FORTUNE COOKIE

[prisma8slg]

freethrows

thanks DB
_________________
"I define success by championships, by winning..." Kobe Bryant

"I've seen it all. Sasha dunked on somebody," Kobe Bryant said. "I'm ready to retire now."

[hoops19]

thanks DB.... as always just how the game was played..... at the back of my mind i knew magic will get this one because of their desperation but i somehow "hoped" when it was so close.....

we'll get the next one(s)
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"Champions keep playing until they get it right".

[lakerfn4lfe]

I think not playing Shannon Brown was one of the keys to this game. At least Shannon isn't afraid to go strong to the hoop and can draw fouls. Fish did hit a couple of mid-range shots, but he just doesn't dunk the basketball. He is also a very good defender, and I believe he could have kept Alston in check.

Yeah, I know that Jordon was doing an OK job on Nelson, but I think Shannon would have brought an X factor that Jordan or Derek didn't have. Oh well, next game perhaps!

[LakersMD]

If that's what it takes for Orlando to eek out a 4 point win at home in a must-win situation, good luck doing that in 3 of the next 4 games.