I was hoping for extra minutes so i could watch something going into the Rockets game beside Oscar crap.
I like the result but this was a lucky win by the Magic. IMO, this was more about the Lakers letting one get away.
Kobe went 1-on-5 in the last 3 minutes of the game. No other Laker touched or shot the ball besides Bryant. The two Gasol tip-ins were off Kobe Bryant chucks. Matt Barnes really got under Bryants skin and made him play bad basketball.
He didn't look sick out there. http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...B?slug=ap-lakers-bryant-ill&prov=ap&type=lgns
this was a great game, VERY intense, real playoff atmosphere... ...I thought there were some horrible, horrible calls, most of them against the Magic. I mean how on earth do negate that alley-oop by Pietrus!?!? I love how JVG is sticking it to the refs after bad calls.
Hell No! I hate the Lakers. But I have respect for other players in this league too. Thanks Maggie! Appreciate it. But I prefer you tell me the truth....lol And you guys see Kobe choke today against the Magic?...HAHA!
kobe is jacking up way too many shots on a team that has 2 legit big guys. the lakers aren't going to win the championship if kobe plays like this. and he needs to get to the line more. he's taking way too many jumpers. we all know kobe is a lethal jumpshooter, but damn... all of his jumpshots have a great degree of difficulty
It's strange, because the guy was available for practically nothing, before the deadline. Alot of the fans weren't even that high on him.
Poor Wizards. They are playing like the Rockets just did. Sidenote: I love the Flo TV ad. It's pretty fun..."He has lost his spine..."
Just got in. A few observations from the Lakers/Magic game: -This is a game where the Lakers REALLY could have used Kirk Hinrich since Nelson was absolutely tearing Fisher/Farmar/Brown to shreds off the dribble. He was driving and dishing at will. I lost count of how many open looks Lewis, Pietrus and all those other jokers were getting on the perimeter as a direct result of Nelson's dribble penetration. -The Lakers don't even try to run an offense in crunchtime. Yeah, we all know about the "Get Kobe the ball and get the hell out of the way" strategy the Lakers usually employ late down the stretch but letting Kobe do what he wants while everybody stands around is hardly the ONLY strategy the Lakers should consider using. Especially on that last shot. EVERYBODY in the building knew who was going to take that last shot and the Magic's defense reacted accordingly. Do you mean to tell me a designed pull-up shot fake turned pass to a cutting Gasol or whoever wouldn't have worked on that last possession? Letting one of the game's best ever take extremely difficult shot after extremely difficult shot hardly involves any strategy. At some point a coach needs to step in and draw up a play. Of course, you would think I'm talking about Mike Brown here and not arguably the league's greatest coach of all time but I digress.... -Dwight Howard literally has a little pea rolling around inside his head. Some of the stupid fouls he picks are completely avoidable and unnecessary. -Officiating. Gasol's hard foul on Howard wasn't much of a flagrant. Yeah, it was a bit retaliatory on Gasol's part but fouling any NBA player on the wrist hardly qualifies as a flagrant in my book. The other issue was Barnes being the only one assesed a technical on that illegal screen that completely leveled Fisher. Fisher got up and shoved him -- that's a textbook double technical. In any event, it was very stupid on Barnes' part to risk giving the Lakers easy points with the game under one minute while you're protecting a lead. -As was mentioned already, this was nearly an epic meltdown on part of the Magic. The Lakers could have and nearly did steal this one. It was chippy. It was competitive. It had the look and feel of a playoff game and possible NBA Finals rematch. That said, if I were the Magic you absolutely cannot get complacent and think that simply the better team won today. Adjustments still need to be made, Howard needs to play smarter and stay on the court, etc.
The Kings blew their chances to win. The Thunder were very vulnerable and didn't play that well. Even though they actually won the rebounding battle for a change, OKC still struggled to pull this one out. If Westbrook hadn't taken over in the 4th quarter, this would have been an "L". The Thunder are winning games against weak teams without playing that great. Their defense is really slipping as of late and the current 14-3 run is misleading. Their next 8 games are very favorable before they finish the season with a tough schedule. I predict OKC is going to hit the wall unless they rediscover defense. This is really what defines them as a team and they are losing that identity.
