Maybe that will help the NBA out with ratings. That was a fabulous fabulous basketball game to watch. Back and forth in the first half, Lakers make the big run at the end of the half to take a 60-46 lead into the half. Pacers just kept chipping and chipping away at the lead though, and by the 4th quarter they found a way to get it knotted up after an inspired performance off the bench by Croshere and Reggie playing great as usual in a big game. Last two minutes were great though. Reggie and Kobe, Reggie and Kobe. Reggie loses Kobe on a backscreen, nails a 3. Pacers up one. Then Tyrone Lue comes down and makes a big shot off a Kobe pass. Lakers up one. Then Reggie fakes the three, drives around Kobe and gets the runner. Next it's Kobe slicing into the lane putting LA up one. Then, it's Travis Best shooting the 20 footer behind the Jermaine O'Neal screen to put Indy up one. And of course the Lakers get the ball down one with 18 seconds, and the break of a lifetime. Kobe gets trapped in the corner and can't get off the shot. Rose strips the ball from him, gets shoved not once, not twice, not three, but four times by Kobe on his way down. He also called a timeout on his way down. And what do the officials do? NOTHING. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. They wait until Rose falls out of bounds and give it to the Lakers. Then Kobe gets the ball, attempts the fadeaway for the last shot, misses, and it was all over. 110-109 Pacers. High scoring game. War between two stars down the stretch. Crowd involvement. Using the NBA's old catch phrase, THAT was why I love this game. Best game I've seen all year. ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Teams win and lose games, not individuals. Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
Other great moments included Reggie shoving Kobe to his heels before he ran around the multi picks for the 3. I also liked how NBC didn't show the Rose block on Kobe. I'm also anxious to see how Shaq responds to the shot attempt by Kobe... rather than merely a pass to the big guy. ------------------ Good night everyone, Canadian or American. Just remember that we're all bound together by basketball, the internet and the mullet. (My attempts at trying to sooth over an international incident).
Achebe, I was absolutely fuming, screaming at my TV after that Rose block which they called a foul on. I saw NO CONTACT at all, just a clean block by Rose and a great play. Do they (NBC) even consider showing a replay when it might show that their darling Lakers were wrong? Nope. Oh well, scoreboard says it all. ------------------ "We're not settling for just getting in the playoffs." "We want a higher seed. There's no doubt. We expect to get in."-- Steve Francis President of the Mo Taylor and Jason Collier fan club! Teams win and lose games, not individuals. Draftsource.net ClutchTown.com
Did anyone count how many times Shaq was REJECTED? How many blocks did Jermaine O'Neal have? ------------------ The best is yet to come. Go Rockets!
Did you see that one block Croshere had on Shaq? Absolutely packed it right back in his face! That was a great block. ------------------ "Happiness is a journey, not a destination. Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching."
That was definitely one of the best games of the year. The NBA needs more games like this. Great offense overpowering good defense. I love this game! (especially when Kobe loses) ------------------ "Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning how to put food on their family while being put to death."
The Pacers do not have a great offense and the Lakers do not have a good defense. A more apt description would have been "Below average offense stumbles by uninspired defense." It was a good game though. ------------------ The Rockets will be the NBA champions. Believe.
