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KD’s NBA Finals roundup

Jun 16

Posted by sophie in Uncategorized

The Finals are over, the city of Orlando has kindly asked me to leave, and I actually slept for more than three hours last night. Still, I have some catching up to do. So while I attempt that, in case you missed it, here’s a roundup of some of the things we came up with while following the Lakers and Magic in Los Angeles, and Orlando.

Behind the Box Scores

*BtB, where we have a champion
*BtB, where the Lakers put the hammer down
*BtB, where the Magic had something to say
*BtB, where the Magic wouldn’t go away
*BtB, where the Laker were dominant

Columns

*Phil, at ease
*Defining Pau Gasol’s martyrdom
*The Kings are building around Paul Westphal
*Finally, Orlando’s time
*Blake Griffin works out for the Clippers … and others
*The Magic, and ‘anything can happen
*Lose the muzzle, Jeff Van Gundy

Gamers

*Lakers pull away from Magic, win championship in five games
*Lakers win 2009 NBA championship
*Lakers take hold of series, down Magic in overtime
*Magic strike back, take Game 3
*Lakers escape with overtime win in Game 2
*Bryant strikes first, Lakers take Game 1

Press conference roundups

*Game 5 pre-game presser roundup
*Saturday’s media availability roundup
*Off day notes, Bobcats broke, ‘Zo, Whitlock go off
*Stan Van Gundy: NCAA ‘worst organization going’
*Game 3 coaching presser reaction
*Practice thoughts: Lakers confident, Magic … confident?
*David Stern’s State of the NBA press conference
*Dissecting the coaching pressers

Previews

*BDL’s Game 5 preview
*BDL’s Game 4 preview
*BDL’s Game 3 preview
*Game 2 preview, Magic on the rebound?
*Watch ‘em and weep: NBA Finals, Game 1
*Finals pick? Lakers in six
*Five ways for the Lakers to win it all
*Five ways for the Magic to win it all

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‘Net reaction: NBA Finals, Game 4

Jun 12

Posted by sophie in Uncategorized

Scanning the blogs and beats following the Lakers’ 99-91 OT win over the Magic in Game 4 of the Finals …

Forum Blue and Gold: “This game is proof as to why we keep the faith in our players. This game is proof as to why we don’t bury our own guys; we don’t throw our own guys under the bus. Because our faith is rewarded. Everyone under the sun was calling for Phil to bench Fisher and play more Shannon Brown(notes) (myself included). Tell me, does anyone honestly believe that anyone outside of Bryant could have made those two shots other than Fisher? Through all his struggles, all the 1-8, 1-7 shooting games, our coaching staff kept the faith in Fisher. Even when he was getting crushed by Deron Williams(notes), Aaron Brooks(notes), Chauncey Billups(notes), and Rafer Alston(notes), the coaching still kept calling his number, sending him in during crunch time, sending him to battle when the games were on the line. And for their faith, they were rewarded with the most crucial victory of the season, delivered to us by one and only Derek Fisher(notes). This is the stuff of legends; the stuff that only becomes more endearing when you’ve lived through his struggles as we all have.”

Orlando Magic Daily: “… forget everything you’ve heard about the home team having the advantage going into the extra overtime. The Magic had no momentum tonight. It was dead. All 18,000-plus were stunned and silent. The offense went motionless as three players stood and watched Hedo Turkoglu(notes) try to force the issue on pick-and-rolls. It wasn’t there. The Magic should’ve gone to something else — Dwight in the post, Rashard in isolation, Pietrus working through off-the-ball screens … anything. It’s too bad, because it could’ve gone down as a historic performance from Dwight Howard(notes). No big man has ever reached a triple-double in points, rebounds and blocks in NBA Finals history, and Howard was one block away from that feat tonight. Think about it — Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq, Wilt, Russell, Duncan, Robinson — none of those guys blocked as many shots as Dwight did tonight.”

Silver Screen and Roll: “… congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, 2009 NBA Champions!!! I know it’s one game premature, but c’mon, this thing is O-V-E-R. The proof is in the pudding. If you’re a stat junkie consider this: the Lakers have three chances to win just one game, two of which are at home. Now, considering that we have the second best home record in the league, have yet to lose two games in a row in these playoffs, and have yet to lose three games in a row since Pau joined us last year (did I mention that he is underrated?). I’d say that those are pretty good odds. For those of you who ascribe to more of a Zen Master mind-game philosophy, last night’s win was like telling Orlando that not even their own mamas love them. It was the soul-crusher, the dagger to the heart, the realization that despite 5+ chances to be up 3-1 instead of down, they just can’t close the Lakers out.”

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times: “Typical Fish. At the end of the most indelible game of his enduring Lakers career, Derek Fisher disappeared. He was swallowed by the long limbs of Lamar Odom(notes), the long embrace of Andrew Bynum(notes), the long hair of Sasha Vujacic(notes). His bald head was hidden in somebody’s warmup jacket. His short arms were wrapped in somebody’s giant ones. After both tying and winning a game that will propel his team to an NBA championship, he was immediately enveloped not by camera lights but teammates, lost not in glamour but love, the most unassuming Laker never even having a chance to pump a fist. Typical Fish. Don’t worry, after what happened Thursday night in front of a crowd that was stunned into silence, you’ll see him again. After his two jaw-flooring three-pointers led the Lakers to a 99-91 overtime victory against the Orlando Magic in Game 4 of the NBA Finals, you’ll now officially be seeing him forever.”

Brian Schmitz, Orlando Sentinel: “They’ve taken their fans on a wild, wondrous journey since October and defied the kind of odds this postseason that gets you in Ripley’s and makes Vegas blush. The Orlando Magic now will have to top their own comeback act, dipping deep into the well of improbability to drink in a championship. After falling to the Los Angeles Lakers 99-91 in a bitter overtime loss on Thursday night at Amway Arena, the Magic trail 3-1 in the NBA Finals. The Magic not only must buck history heading into Game 5 on Sunday — no team has ever rebounded from this deficit in the Finals to win the title — but they must get past perhaps an equally formidable obstacle. Kobe.”
TrueHoop: “Stan Van Gundy brushed off the notion that Finals experience means much of anything, pointing out that basketball is a simple game and every player on the court has the benefit of having played thousands of games. The rules don’t change in the Finals. It’s an enticing point. But consider the position of the Lakers here. With nothing more than one more tremendous effort, they can probably win the title they have craved for more than a half-decade on Sunday. Or, they can play with fire, as they did in 2000, and lose to a devil-may-care opponent, and roll the dice in Games 6 and 7. I don’t know what’s going to happen in Game 5 — but with memories of 2000’s Game 5 vivid in the memories of Phil Jackson, Brian Shaw, Kobe Bryant(notes), Derek Fisher, Mitch Kupchak and others in the Laker organization, I’d be shocked if the Lakers don’t arrive 100% motivated on Sunday. Call it experience, professionalism, or anything else you want … it tends to work.”

Lakers Blog: “… it’s hard to figure out exactly how the Lakers won this game Fair statement on his part. To say the least, this was a goony bird, haywire barn burner that borderline defines description. Down by a dozen at the half, the Lakers appeared anything but a team on the verge of pulling out one stunning comeback for the ages. 33% shooting from the field. Foul trouble plaguing the Lakers (most notably, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom). Dwight Howard dominating to the tune of five blocks and fourteen boards, the latter figure matching the Lakers’ entire tally. In a nutshell, not a damn thing gone right. Packing it in would have been easy. Playing hard-but-unfocused would have been somewhat more commendable, if not necessarily more productive. Instead, the Lakers weathered one ugly storm and came out smiling for their troubles. To attempt an explanation, I think one word might sum the outcome up: perseverance.”

Empty The Bench: “Kobe is strong as hell. In the first half, he ripped the ball out of Howard’s hands, prompting a foul from a pissed-off Superman. Then he completely pulls Howard to the floor with 11.1 seconds left so that he can’t get an open dunk. This feat of strength turns out to be a game winner, as Howard klunks both free throws, keeping the Lakers within one basket.”

Talk Hoops: “The Magic lost this game because they were their own worst enemy. The constantly made poor decisions that led to turnovers. They allowed the Lakers to turn those poor passes/decisions into easy points The Magic were successful in getting the Lakers bigs into foul trouble (There was a D.J. Mbenga(notes) sighting for four minutes), but they didn’t capitalize on their constant trips to the foul line. Howard had those two big misses at the end of the game, but those free throws would have been moot if not for his other six misses at the line or Hedo Turkoglu’s five missed free throws. Teams that shoot this poorly from the line and turn the ball over this often are just asking to lose close games.”

Basketball-Reference.com Blog: “… this was the third game of the series in which [the Magic] struggled to consistently score. With an offensive rating of 95.8 in Game 4, they are now averaging just 101.6 pts/100 poss on the series, and 94.1 if you toss out the aberrant hot streak of Game 3. Howard struggled for the 3rd time in 4 games, Lee continued his abysmal performance (he was so bad he got yanked with 8 minutes left in the 3rd and never saw the floor again), and even Rashard Lewis(notes), heretofore the Magic’s standby offensive dynamo when all else was going wrong, couldn’t really get his shot and misfired in the rare cases he did. And did you see the botched side-out plays at the end of regulation? If I’m a Magic fan, I’m really worried about the Lakers’ proven ability to clamp down on Orlando’s offense during this series. And if you need to shoot 63% in order to win, I’m afraid that’s a pretty unrealistic expectation game in and game out.”

The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me: “It’s so funny as a fan how you can go from complete euphoria and the highest high to the lowest low. This is a game once the Lakers win the title that Lakers fans will remember for the rest of their lives. Derek Fisher coming through in the clutch again and getting his team within inches of a title. As a Magic fan you will never forget where you were for Game 4 as you slowly watched any real chance at the title fly out the window with Dwight’s missed free throws and again Fisher’s heroics. Even if this is over on Sunday the big picture tells me this team was not supposed to be in the Finals and will grow tremendously from this experience. The other part of me wonders if this team has three more fights in them to pull of the impossible. Logic says no but my heart so badly wants to say yes.”

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NBA Finals: Game 2 Live Blog

Jun 9

Posted by sophie in Uncategorized

LOS ANGELES — Welcome live to Game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals. Marcel Mutoni and I are here high above courtside, ready to see if Orlando can avoid getting blown out again. I’ll be liveblogging tonight, and Marcel will be tweeting here.

PREGAME
• While wandering around and watching the players warm up, I bumped into a former NBA player who (while insisting on speaking off the record) insisted the Magic will not be winning this series.

“There’s no way Orlando can win playing this style of basketball,” he said. “This drive and kick stuff might work in the East, but it won’t work against a Western Conference team that’s used to playing against big men. Also, Dwight Howard only has one post move. How can you spend the entire summer playing with the Dream Team and still come back with just one post move?”
• Great exchange to lead off Stan Van Gundy’s pregame press conference:
REPORTER: I don’t know how often you think back to your days in Miami, but after you left there, did you ever question your ability to coach or connect to NBA players?
STAN VAN GUNDY: No.

• Phil Jackson’s presser wasn’t as combative, but there was a minor revelation when someone asked why he’d never coached an Olympic team.

“There was an opportunity maybe six or seven years ago,” PJ said. “But I said no. It’s something I’ve never desired to do. I opted out at that time. I was asked by the Canadians if I’d like to coach their Olympic team. Steve Nash wasn’t a mature enough player yet, so I had to turn that one down.”

• The official pregame begins with a moment of silence for recently passed Clipper great Randy Smith.

• Tonight’s National Anthem is by Kris Allen from “American Idol.” Yay.

• BTW, here’s my report from Blake Griffin’s workout for the Clippers yesterday. Not pretty.

• Kobe just told Pietrus he can be his black Kate Moss tonight. Or maybe I made that up.

FIRST QUARTER
• The tipoff is sponsored by East West Bank. Will Dwight and Bynum both crash?

• No. Dwight wins it. But Orlando’s unable to get him the ball and they miss a shot. Lakers reciprocate.

• Second possession, LA doubles Dwight and the Magic find C-Lee for a layup.

• Bynum picks up a cheap foul 77 seconds in. Immediately afterwards, Rashard Lewis gets called for a moving screen.

• Three pointer by Ariza on a dish from Kobe. 3-2, LA. 10:06 to go.

• Rafer either throws it to Nat Butler, or the pass was tipped. Javie doesn’t want to hear it from SVG.

• Dwight rejects Boom Boom Pau at the rim.

• Lakers clear it out for Pau, who scores easily over Rashard Lewis.

• Hedo wets a three. Game tied at 5 with 8:30 to go.

• Dwight’s coming close to a 10 count at the free throw line. Fans should do the 10 count out loud like they used to do to Mailman.

• Bynum has two, and then Pietrus gets called for an offensive foul, Orlando’s second of the night.

• Neither team looks particularly sharp early on. Lamar scores inside on a dish from Pau to make it 8-6.

• Fisher gets a steal and Pietrus picks up his second foul. Timeout, LA leading 8-6 and 5:22 left in the first. The teams are a combined 5-19 from the floor. Blake Griffin would fit right in.

• Out of the TO, the Lakers iso Kobe on Hedo, and Kobe hits the two.

• Ariza looks like he gets shoved into Rafer by Dwight, but foul on Ariza. Skip to the line, make, make. Lakers up 10-8.

• BTW, the other day Pietrus called Rafer “Skip to my Loof.”

• Rashard with a runner after Ariza just misses a steal and leaves him open. Game tied at 10.

• Lamar takes it up strong inside and gets fouled. Foul called on Lewis. Lamar goes miss, make. 11-10, LA. 4:04 left.

• Orlando is tryign their best to get it inside to Dwight but they can’t make it happen. He gets called for a three second violation on this play, after turning it over on the previous play.

• Stan Van Gundy just put JJ Redick in the game. I don’t get how Redick can get into the game but SVG can’t figure out how to use Anthony Johnson.

• Timeout Orlando. LA leads 11-10 with 2:56 left.

• The Laker Girls just did a dance routine to “Jailhouse Rock.” Because no good songs have come out since the ’60s, you know.

• Jameer checks in. Gortat goes to the line after Gasol picked up a dumb foul. Gortat hits 2 to give Orlando the lead, 12-11.

• Lamar hits a jumper over Gortat.

• Fisher picks up a loose ball foul when he hacks Dwight going for a board. Dwight to the line, miss, make. Game tied at 13.

• Kelly Dwyer pointed out on Twitter that according to 82games.com, the Magic used this Nelson/Redick/Hedo/Dwight/Gortat line-up zero times this season. Always good to try it out DURING THE NBA FINALS.

• Dwight gets a rebound and scores inside. he still has no dunks during the Finals.

• Open jumper from Fisher ties it at 15.

• Dwight tries to drive on Gasol but turns it over again. Dude goes right every single time.

• Now Dwight gets his first foul on a moving screen against Fisher.

• With the clock running out, Kobe bricks a three.

• So, after one, the score is 15-15. No, really, it’s 15-15.

• Both teams seemed to do a better job defensively in that quarter — very few open shots/blown assignments.

SECOND QUARTER
• Celeb watch: Mark Wahlberg, Dylan McDermott, Jack, Lou Adler…sure there’s more that I can’t see from up here.

• Bynum returns and sets a nice screen for Farmar, who nails a two.

• Lewis scores inside, and Bynum misses a hook over Gortat.

• Pregame, someone asked me where Gortat was from and I guessed, “Outer space?”

• Odom with another jumper. Nice night on the perimeter for him.

• Tony Battie works Odom in the post and hits a turnaround. Odom wipes Redick, then Bynum gets called for a three second violation.

• Gortat picks up a foul on a moving screen. That’s three offensive fouls on moving screens for Orlando. Think Phil talked to the refs about that? Timeout on the floor, Lakers lead 21-19, 8:55 to go.

• Zac Efron gets booed by the crowd here. No teenagers here, apparently. These teams are playing like the teams in High School Musical, though.

• Out of the timeout, Bynum scores and is fouled by Gortat but it’s announced as a foul on Redick, who was at the three-point line. Weird. Three point play.

• Lewis scores for ORL to make it 24-21, LA.

• Dwight returns and Bynum tries to score on him but misses. Then Farmar picks up a foul off the ball. Turkoglu in for Battie, and Kobe returns for LA. Guess Phil was saving him for Hedo?

• Lewis drives and hits a pull-back jumper to make it 24-23, LA.

• Bynum takes it at Howard and hits a hook over the top. 26-23, LA.

• Lewis for 3. That’s 9 for Lewis in the second. Game tied at 26, and then Bynum picks up his third foul of the half. Timeout on the floor.

• Laker Girls dancing to “Respect.” Is this throwback night?

• Celebs: Warren Beatty, Andy Garcia

• Fisher, Alston and Pietrus return.

• Hedo misse a three but Lewis tips it to himself. Nice game tonight from Lewis.

• Ariza wets a three. LA leads 29-26.

• Hedo drives and misses a two. Kobe drives and hits Gasol for an open three that he misses. Next play Kobe hits Fish in the corner for a three.

• Lewis responds with a three. LA up 32-29.

• Dwight still has no dunks in the Finals.

• Lewis misses a corner three. Gasol draws a foul inside on Pietrus, his third. Timeout, Orlando. LA leads 32-29.

• Now the Laker Girls are dancing to “I Feel Good.” This must be some sort of Old School Sunday or something. Weird.

• Gasol to the line, miss, make. LA leads 33-29.

• Two nice possessions from ORL where they spread the floor and work it around, but LA hangs with them and holds them scoreless. Kobe hits a three ont eh other end ot put LA up 7 with 1:38 to go.

• Dwight gets doubled and ORL finds Rashard in the corner for a three. That’s 15 in the quarter for Lewis.

• Another 3 from Lewis. That’s 18 in the quarter for Shard.

• ORL forgets to guard Gasol on an inblunds play and Kobe hits him for a dunk. Dwight is upset with Battie on the play.

• Last play of the quarter and Redick misses a three. At the half, LA leads 40-35.

• Halfitme tonight? Quick Change!

HALFTIME
• Looking over some numbers at the half…Rashard Lewis has taken 1/3 of Orlando’s shots…Dwight has as many points as turnovers (4 each)…JJ Redick played 13 minutes…Redick and Kobe each have 5 field goal attempts…Kobe leads everyone with 5 assists…Howard with 11 boards…Orlando has 25 boards to LA’s 17…ORL with 11 turnovers to LA’s 5.

THIRD QUARTER
• Dwight with a running hook to start the half. He went right, surprisingly.

• Kobe returns with a baseline J. Maybe he’s going to look to score.

• Hedo scores on a reverse.

• Fisher turns it over on a bad pass to Bynum.

• Alston scores on the break. Baskets coming fast and furious!

• Lakers turn it over again. They still lead 42-41.

• Gasol picks up his second inside, sending Lewis to the line. Makes first to tie it at 42, makes second to take the lead.

• Kobe drains one right in Courtney Lee’s face.

• Dwight passes to Rafer and he misses a three.Kobe comes back and hits another jumper in Lee’s face.

• Bynum has his back turned to Turkoglu but somehow gets called for a foul, his fourth. Odom jogs to the table. Hedo tot he line, brings Magic within 1, 46-45.

• Dwight goes right (again!) and hits Pietrus for a jumper, putting ORL ahead 47-46. Gasol answers and LA pulls back in front.

• Gasol gets a rebound and throws a behind the back outlet to Kobe, who finds Ariza for a layup. Showtime!

• Odom gets his second block from behind, this time on Rafer. Then he blocks Howard for a jump ball, and Hedo nails a three at the shot clock buzzer.

• Gasol drives and gets fouled by Hedo, his first foul. Pau to the line, good, good. LA leads 52-49, 6:16 to go.

• Rafer misses a wide open three. Fisher saw him, was going to run at him, then decided to leave him open. Good choice.

• Lewis finds Howard inside for his first dunk of the Finals.

• ORL tries to get Dwight and Lewis on a pick and roll, but Ariza breaks up the pass and the Lakers get a dunk for Kobe. Timeout ORL, LA leads 54-51 with 4:37 to go.

• Jameer checks in for ORL. Rashard bricks a three. Kobe drives and shoots over the double team and Lamar picks up a foul going for the board.

• Hedo hits a three. Tied at 54. Crowd starts to get into it a little.

• Kobe misses a jumper and Nelson drives and picks up a foul on Fisher. ORL should be attacking Fisher more often. Jameer to the line…good, good. ORL leads 56-54.

• Gasol drives on Dwight and gets Dwight’s second. Marcin the Martian checks in for Rashard. Pau booms both FTs to tie it at 56.

• Hedo hits a fadeaway three from the corner. Ariza misses a three. Jameer turns it over, and Odom comes back and hits a two over Gortat.

• Next time down, Odom ends up pulling down both Gortat and Jameer Nelson, which was kind of impressive. Timeout LA, ORL leading 59-58, with 1:38 to go.

• Kiss Cam!

• Gortat to the line…miss, miss.

• Kobe comes off pick from Gasol and knocks down 18 footer. Crowd starts “DEFENSE” chant.

• Dwight goes backdoor for the lay-in.

• Kobe misses a three from straight on.

• Nelson with a runner in the paint.

• Kobe drives and this time doesn’t shoot over the double but hits Fisher for a three. Tied at 63.

• Hedo drives around Walton and scores, and Kobe misses a two at the buzzer. After three, Orlando 65, Lakers 63.

FOURTH QUARTER
• “Enter Sandman” played as teams take the court for the fourth. I think he entered a while ago…

• Shannon Brown makes his first appearance of the night as the crowd starts making some noise.

• Jameer drives and gets fouled by Shannon B. Misses the first, and the second. ORL leads 65-63.

• Odom goes right (well, left) to the rim and scores. Tie game.

• Dwight misses inside, and Odom throws a bad alley-oop to Bynum. Then Gortat fires up a jumper from 12 feet that misses by 3 feet.

• Hedo draws a foul on Walton, makes one of two.

• Lamar drives on Lewis, with Howard on the bench, and scores easily.

• Gortat! Gives ORL a 68-67 lead.

• Odom scores inside again. Lewis misses an awkward runner and Kobe draws a foul and goes to the line. Makes, makes. LA up 71-68. Dwight gets off the bench to check back in.

• Gortat misses inside on a ball Dwight woulda dunked. Kobe throws it away in the corner to a spot Shannon was standing on two seconds earlier.

• Timeout. LA leads 71-68 with 8:59 to play. Lamar is 7-8 from the floor. Rafer is 1-8.

• Bynum gets called for a weak 5th foul on the inbounds play, his 5th foul. Lamar checks back in.

• Hedo misses a three but ORL gets the rebound. They’re killing LA on the boards. Lewis hits a two as teh shot clock runs down. LA up 71-70.

• Kobe finds Lamar for a long two. LA leads 73-70.

• Dwight goes left! He shot an airball and they called a non-existent foul on Gasol, but still, he went left. Dwight to the line…makes, makes. (I counted to 11 on his second free throw.) lakers up 73-72, and Kobe scores immediately to make it 75-72.

• Dwight with a tip-in makes it 75-74.

• Kobe steps out of bounds, then Lewis drains a three to make it 77-75, ORL. Timeout LA with 6:13 to go.

• While I’m thinking about it, did anyone see that stat the other day that Dwight Howard is one month younger than Tyler Hansbrough? Scary.

• Out of the TO, Kobe misses a jumper and ball out of bounds to ORL.

• Fisher drives and hits a layup to tie it at 77.

• Lewis pulls a Turkoglu and picks up a cheap shooting foul on Lamar, his fifth. Lewis to the line: Good, good. ORL leads 79-77.

• Lewis finally misses a three and Howard gets called for his third foul inside.

• Gasol drives on Howard and hits a fadeaway to tie it at 79.

• Howard drives on Gasol and Tom Washington calls a foul from the other side of the court as Gasol stands with his hands straight up. ORL can’t complain about the officiating tonight. Howard makes the first, and the second. Magic lead 81-79. 4:09 left.

• Kobe finds Fish for an open three that he bricks. Howard turns it over. Kobe drives and gets bailed out with a foul on Pietrus. Kobe to the line, misses the first, makes the second. ORL leads 81-80.

• Right after Marcel says something about Hedo pushing off, the refs call him for a push off.

• Kobe comes off a screen and gets fouled by Pietrus, his sixth. Courtney Lee might finally re-enter? He does. Kobe to the line with 3:08 to play. Makes the first to tie it at 81…and makes the second to give LA an 82-81 lead.

• Entire Lakers bench is up and cheering. Magic bench looks like they’re down 20.

• Gasol rips Howard on a slow post move and screams to the crowd. Gasol has been great against Howard defensively. Timeout. Lakers lead 82-81 with 2:42 to go.

• Lakers ball out of the TO., and Turkoglu drills Kobe for his third foul. That’s ORL’s fifth team foul so Kobe goes to the line. Makes the first…and the second. Lakers up 3, 84-81, with 2:40 to go.

• LA traps Hedo but ORL breaks the trap. Redick from the corner, yes he can! Tie game, 84 all.

• Kobe drives and misses a two. Lewis catches in the post, splits a double teama nd scores to put ORL up 86-84.

• Kobe drives left on Turkoglu, hangs in the air and scores to tie it with 1:02 to play.

• Turkoglu walks around the perimeter and hits the same step-back three he’s been shooting for six years to give ORL the lead. (Actually, refs say it was a 2, I guess, because score is now 88-86, ORL. Huge change there.) Timeout with 47.7 left and LA down two.

• Out of the TO…Kobe finds Fish, who finds Gasol inside for a two to tie it.

• ORL doesn’t take a timeout, and instead they end up with a Courtney Lee(!!!!) and Dwight Howard pick and roll. Lee drives and misses a runner. Rebound LA, tie game, with 9.1 left.

• Outof the timeout, Kobe goes 1 on 4 and either gets blocked from behind (and fouled on the arm). The refs huddle to talk about putting time back on the clock. Kobe should’ve sold that better — just fallen to the ground.

• The refs put 0.6 back on the clock for ORL. 88 all.

• ORL inbounds near halfcourt…and Hedo can’t get it in. TO.

• Second try. Courtney Lee breaks free! And he blew it! Overtime!

OVERTIME
• Here we go! Dwight wins the tip again.

• Dwight starts left and when he cuts back right the Lakers are waiting. Turnover.

• Kobe shoots over a double team and just misses.

• Hedo drives and dribbles off his leg. Two possessions, two turnovers for ORL.

• Fisher drives and finds Gasol inside, and he gets fouled. Makes both. LA leads 90-88.

• Hedo finds Dwight inside and he scores and gets fouled by Kobe. Tie game with 3:20 left. Dwight to the line…good.

• ORL is in the Finals in overtime with a Redick/Alston backcourt right now.

• Redick blows a wide-open three.

• Kobe drives and hits an off-balance jumper to put LA ahead 92-91.

• Fisher steals a pass from Redick on the vaunted Redick/Howard two-man game and draws a foul on Hedo, his 5th. Fish to the line…good, good. LA leads 94-91. 1:51 to play.

• Turkoglu gets a good look but it won’t go down. Gasol gets the board.

• Kobe finds Gasol diving to the rim. He scores and gets fouled by Alston. With 1:14 to go, Gasol to the line…and he puts LA ahead 97-91. Timeout ORL.

• Out of the TO, ORL tries to run Hedo off a double pick but Ariza gets the foul. Next play, ORL has Redick drive and he scores uncontested. 97-93, 50 seconds left.

• Turnover LA.

• ORL comes back and Lewis shoots a three over a double team that rims in and out. Dwight gets called for pushing off on the rebound. Gasol to the line with 28.2 left. Good. Good. Lakers lead 99-93 with 28.2 left.

• Out of the timeout the Magic run the same play they ran against Cleveland for a three for Lewis in the corner…and he drains it. Lakers now lead 99-96. 26.2 to play.

• LA gets it in to Fisher who finds Lamar, who ORL fouls immediately. Odom to the line…good and good. 101-96.

• Redick dribbles around and wastes time, then misses a three. Lewis gets the rebound and misses and…that’s it!

Lakers win and move ahead 2-0, with a 101-96 overtime win. More thoughts later on The Links. Thanks for stopping by. But mostly stay classy.

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‘Net reaction: NBA Finals, Game 2

Jun 8

Posted by sophie in Uncategorized

Scanning the blogs and beats following the Lakers’ 101-96 win over the Magic in Game 2 of the NBA Finals …

George Diaz, Orlando Sentinel: “After Sunday’s loss, the body language didn’t look so good. Howard was slouched on his chair, arms crossed, staring at nothing in particular. Athletes get paid a ton of money to do what they do, but they are human. Think of how hard it is for anyone to come back to work the next day after botching a big project. You don’t want to look your boss in the eye. You don’t want to look at your co-workers, either. You want to crawl and hide. The Magic don’t have that option. They will be back in Orlando for three games, all before sellout crowds. All before people who experienced the heartbreak with them, from home, from restaurants, from bars. Their hearts are broken today, too. It is the nature of sports. [...] Is there one more run left? Orlando will embrace its team Tuesday night, willing to forgive and forget. Amnesia, it seems, isn’t such a bad thing right now.”

Mark Heisler, Los Angeles Times: “Lakers talk the talk, and walk the walk — well, at least some of the time — as they did just often enough to edge the Orlando Magic, 101-96, in overtime Sunday night to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals. To Orlando’s credit, it stopped being all about the Lakers, whose game dropped off from their monster Game 1, while the Magic’s came up so far, they almost passed them. For a moment at the end of regulation, it looked as if it was about to be a 1-1 series, as Hedo Turkoglu’s(notes) inbounds lob sailed over Kobe Bryant(notes) to Courtney Lee(notes), going in for the game-winning layup. Fortunately for the Lakers, tragically for the Magic, Lee had to reach back, and adjust, and, as Chick Hearn used to say … HEARTBR-R-R-R-REAK! If Lee had made it, it would have been one of the great coaching moves in Finals history, so maybe Jackson’s 9-0 lead in titles over Orlando’s Stan Van Gundy isn’t that important.”

Third Quarter Collapse: “It seems weird to say that when the Magic’s two forwards combine for 56 points on 54.5% (eFG), but it’s true. — Los Angeles knows Orlando’s offensive tendencies. It knows that Dwight Howard(notes) prefers to go right in the low post, it knows that Howard frequently brings the ball low enough to get stolen, and it knows that J.J. Redick(notes) is not looking for his shot at all. Howard committed 7 turnovers tonight, and to be precise, we should note that not all of them were ballhandling turnovers. And J.J. only coughed it up once, but that’s deceptive, because it doesn’t indicate the degree to which the Lakers were able to arrange their defense so as to cut off the passing lanes when he drove to the basket. He would have had a few layup chances had he kept driving, and looking to shoot, tonight.”

The Baseline: “… the most important aspect of the Lakers’ defense is the pressure they’ve put on Orlando’s guards, making it impossible for the Magic to get into fast-break situations. Orlando posted a measly two fast-break points in Game 2 (which is two more than they had in Game 1). For much of the second half, Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy — who seemed to have an overabundance of point guards when Jameer Nelson(notes) returned — seemed to utterly lose faith in his entire point-guard crew. Instead of agonizing over whether to use Nelson or Rafer Alston(notes), Van Gundy essentially said the heck with both of them and put in J.J. Redick. If you’re not going to have fast breaks, you might as well have shooters.”

Forum Blue and Gold: “The words written on the Lakers locker room white board: 2 Mo’. They are going about their business and saying all the right things. As a fan, I am smiling a little more now. Despite how close Game 2 was, I feel more confident after that game than I did before it started, and not just because of the 2-0 series lead. Or because the Lakers won a game playing ugly. Or because a bunch of people in the media are writing tonight “hey, maybe that Pau Gasol(notes) guy isn’t soft.” It’s because some fundamental things that make Orlando go have not worked for two games in a row …”

But The Game Is On: “[Gasol] is doing it in all facets of the game right now. Defensively, he is pretty much making Dwight Howard a non-factor, only allowing him to score from the free throw line. Offensively, he is making Dwight work on the defensive end and using his height advantage over Rashard Lewis(notes) when he guards him. Pau finished with 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. If he brings his jump shot to Orlando and continues to make Howard work on offense and on defense, ending this series in Florida is possible.”

The Puns Are Starting To Bore Me: “In a game where the Magic were very sloppy with the ball and the guards were nothing short of horrendous on the offensive end of the floor the Magic got the opportunity that all of their opponents have had this postseason. They had the ball in their hands with a chance to win the game.”

Britt Robson: “This much we do know: Courtney Lee can’t guard Kobe Bryant. Hedo Turkoglu looks like he can do it for some stretches. Rafer Alston likewise looks like a bad matchup in this series unless he can figure out how to beat the Lakers’ bigs back in transition — or determines he’s tough enough to stop Fisher off the dribble. Sticking with Lee and Alston as your starting backcourt is not a recipe for surmounting a 2-0 deficit against the Lakers. Nor is riding Jameer Nelson at the expense of Anthony Johnson(notes).”

TrueHoop: “The Magic’s stacked, versatile roster has been a blessing for Van Gundy — but two games into the Finals, it’s proving to be a curse. 101 minutes into the series, Van Gundy has yet to settle on any semblance of a rotation, and his substitution patterns have been wildly unpredictable. While Phil Jackson has established a coherent rotation —complicated only by foul trouble — the Orlando flow chart of substitutions looks like an unwinnable game of Tetris. ‘I’m not sure I got another lineup to throw out there that you haven’t seen,’ Van Gundy said. ‘I don’t have another one now. We played with no point guard, we played conventionally, we had Rashard at the three, we played Hedo at the one, two and three. We played Rashard at the three and four. We played big, we played with no point guard. What do they say, just keep throwing stuff at the wall and hope something sticks?’”

Lakers Blog: “The word ‘experience’ gets tossed around a lot in June. Tonight, we got a feel for why. LA’s veteran core was easily the biggest factor in the win, and once again showed that the Lakers are far more than a one-man show. Kobe Bryant was good but not great, at least by his MVP standards, particularly when it came to taking care of the ball. Seven TOs isn’t exactly typical. ‘I didn’t read coverages as well as I did (in Game 1) and we still managed to win the game. It’s on me to make those adjustments, (to) make those reads,’ Bryant said. Granted, it wasn’t all locusts and plague for 24. 29 points on 10-22 from the floor, juiced by 8-10 from the line. The giveaways were mitigated by eight dimes, including a killer dish to Pau Gasol late in the OT, setting the big Spaniard up for a critical three-point play. The Magic made it clear they weren’t going to abide by a constant stream of mid-range jumpers coming off the screen, as was the case Thursday night. They jammed Kobe hard, denied the ball, and generally tried to make his life tough. As the game went on the Lakers more successfully created space for Kobe, moving him off the ball and letting him receive the ball on the move from the weak side, but on this night he clearly needed the rest of the gang, and the rest of the gang obliged.”

Talk Hoops: “You can’t be as sloppy with the basketball like Orlando was Sunday night and expect to pull out wins in the NBA Finals. The Magic committed 20 turnovers as a team in this ball game and it resulted in 28 points for the Lakers. Compare that to the 12 turnovers and 11 points off of turnovers that went against the Lakers and it’s a significant disadvantage for the Lakers. It was the result of the Lakers defensive philosophy of when someone makes a move towards the middle of the paint, help from perimeter quickly strikes down against the offensive player and swipes at the ball. The Lakers are really efficient at creating turnovers off these quick double teams and they did a great job of doing this, in particular, against Dwight Howard.”

Dime: “One exchange summed up Andrew Bynum’s(notes) postseason so far: When Bynum picked up his fourth foul early in the third quarter and had to sit, Jeff Van Gundy wondered out loud whether that was actually a good thing for the Magic or a bad thing. Mark Jackson seemed to think it was in Orlando’s best interest to keep Bynum on the court …”

Basketball-Reference Blog: “Needless to say, going down 2-0 is devastating to the Magic’s chances. If we use the point differential-based model we employed before the series began, Orlando now has just an 11.6% probability of winning the championship …”

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