Monday, June 8, 2009

Win by an Inch or a Mile

In the wise words of Vin Diesel from The Fast and the Furious, "It doesnt matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Its still winning." Last night the Lakers couldnt agree more. Like I predicted the game was going to be a lot more competitive. The game came down to a tremendous defensive stop by Hedo Turkoglu to give the Magic one last chance with 0.6 seconds left on the clock. The Magic had a good chance to win the game at the end of regulation but the rookie Courtney Lee couldnt make the difficult lob pass to win the game. This play could end up being the miss of the series. If Lee makes the lay up at the end of the 4th quarter then the Magic steal home court from the Lakers. But sense "if" didnt happen, the Lakers take a commanding 2-0 lead to Orlando.

The Magic did play much better than they did in game 1. The problem, the Lakers are still the better team. Dwight Howard still is having his struggles inside the paint. Superman was held to only 10 field goal attempts. People may argue that he did have a double-double, which is true but at this point I have higher expectations for Dwight. Maybe its the Magic not getting the ball to him enough or maybe its the Lakers defense finally playing with some passion and energy. Whatever it is Superman is not looking so super.

To get away from Dwight for a minute, the Magic are showing what happens when you rely on the 3-point shot. They did much better shooting than in game 1 shooting 42% from the field. But if you look at the box score, close to half of their shots were 3-pointers. They only made 10 of those 30 shots taken from behind the arch which to me shows that they arent getting Dwight the ball nearly enough. More trust needs to be given to Red Cape and less shots taken from 25 feet. he is after all the most dominant big man since Shaq.

Kobe had a decent game but did not play to the level of game 1. Kobe has the supporting cast of Gasol, Fisher, Lamar, and the rest of the role players that make this team nearly unstoppable in this series. A tough mind set and hard play earned the Lakers this win. Yes they almost lost and were forced into OT but they played strong in the overtime to seal the win. Gasol is showing toughness that critics have said he doesnt posses. Lamar played well making 8-9 from the field and had 7 rebounds and 3 steals. When he plays like this, the Lakers are tough to beat.

Finally to all of those Kobe haters out there, stop questioning his character and asking the question "Who is the real Kobe?" Kobe is focused right now. He is a "chap-ass" but would you not want your star player not to be? Michael Jordan was one and so are many other icons in the sport. The bottom line, Kobe is focused and doesnt want to smile and celebrate too early. Once he wins this series, you will see the biggest smile on his face that you have ever seen.

As for Game 3, I have a hard time seeing the Lakers winning this one. As much as I would like to see the Lakers pull out the broom, it most likely wont happen. The Magic will be playing with the desperation of avoiding losing the Finals. Watch them to come out and feed off of the home crowd and watch for them to have a higher 3-point % on their own court. I see the Magic winning 2-3 games at home but the Lakers should steal 1 of the 3 in Orlando and win their 15th Championship in Game 6.

But Laker fans, dont go to the store to get your favorite champagne. Wait to see if Im right. Wait for one more Laker win because the Magic have been dying by the three in LA. At home they will be living by the three.

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