Silly bailout foul. Fisher had no chance at that shot, he was just trying to draw contact as they said on the broadcast.

SI

Smart play by Fisher

Come on Lakers, we need a dagger.

GASOL!

That all but sews this one up for LA

SI

Bad call there- should have been Lakers ball

SI

Dwight with the shove.

Acting on Gasol's part?

Hey, ABC- want to show us the angle of replay with the foul, not some ugly thing where we barely get the shot by Lewis and nothing of the foul underneath

SI

That's a three-pointer let's get on with it.

Just one.

Game

SI

Bah.

Done.

Lakers have done what they needed to do, keeping homecourt. Time to withstand the two (possibly three) straight games in Orlando.

bah. they had their chance at the end of regulation

Big missed opportunity tonight.

Orlando needs to win three straight at home.

He still should have probably made it anyway, but that pass was just a touch too low. Still, the degree of difficulty on that lob is amazingly high.

My only question is, will Kobe be rapping "How my ass taste now?" to Shaq if the Lakers win?

Just read the Simmons article about last night's game...


Can anyone verify this happened? I couldn't watch the game.

0:01: Fascinating last play -- Orlando defends Kobe with its slowest defender (Turkoglu), gambling that his length will bother Kobe's jumpshot, and if Kobe drives, Hedo's teammates will jump in to help and Kobe will shoot, anyway. So what happens? Kobe beats Hedo off the dribble, Redick, Lewis and Howard all collapse on Kobe, Kobe ignores Odom (wide-open, left corner), Ariza (wide-open, top of key) and Fisher (wide-open, right corner) and shoots with two seconds left, anyway ... and Hedo blocks him from behind. Sorry, that's just a terrible offensive play. I would hope even the Lakers fans would admit that.
Important note: Kobe's reputation as a "killer" at the end of games remains overblown. The site In depth coverage of the NBA from 82games.com just posted a study of game-winning shots from the last five-plus seasons (regular seasons and playoffs since the 2003-04 season) that revealed Kobe was shooting 14-for-56 (25 percent) with one assist and five turnovers, and made 12 of 15 free throws. So let's say that was 70 possessions total, including Sunday night. ... He only had one assist in nearly six years??? That's why Orlando quadruple-teamed him in that spot. Kobe is a phenomenal streak shooter, and he has a real talent for catching fire with a lead and closing games out ... but you can stop him in one-shot situations simply because he's his own worst enemy. He wants to be a hero, he's shooting it, and that's that.
0:00.6: Funniest moment of the game: Kobe storms back to the bench, whacks the chair in disgust and sits down as Phil Jackson (already sitting) looks at him with a bemused, "Should I point out to him that MJ absolutely would have passed there?" smile on his face. Classic.
My biggest issue with this Lakers team: Normally when teams get over the hump and win the title, everyone pitches in and there's a selflessness that manifests itself as the playoffs go along. For instance, Jordan's Bulls never totally came together until Jackson screamed at MJ to start finding a wide-open John Paxson in Game 5 of the 1991 Finals; from that point on, MJ dropped the Hero Complex and started trusting his teammates. What's weird is that Kobe isn't 100 percent there yet, but the Lakers are going to win the title, anyway. It has never happened in NBA Finals history before. At least as far as I can tell.

of course it did. the shit is so effed-up it's crazy. league wants kobe to get his title.

The officials were atrocious in the game but I'd still pin the loss on Howard who disappeared at the end of the game.

I'd pin it on Howard's inability to keep possession of the ball. Seriously, I was nervous every time they threw it to him in the post. Either Fisher would swipe it away or he'd lose control of the pass.

How about the call with a minute left where they said it went off of Kobe's leg and it clearly did not? I don't think any team gets called for a travel there at the end of the game.

Lee should have made that play. Even if the degree of difficulty was roughly an 8.

Aye. To be fair to him, it looks a lot easier in slow-mo than it was in game speed.

He also could have done better with the layup not long before that too. He finished that far too weakly with a little push shot that made it harder than it needed to be.

Been a Laker fan since the days of West and Wilt suffering many finals with no wins. I don't know how anyone Laker fan or not would think it was a good play on Kobes part. Hell I was screaming "pass the goddamn ball!":banghead:

I do watch a lot of Laker games and I can't say I've really thought of Kobe as a "killer". I think his skill is getting on a roll to the point where a game doesn't come down to the last shot. Am I'm the only Laker fan that thinks that? I hope not. If the game is on the line though I would hope he would read the defense and trust a wide open player if he's being ganged up on. I do agree though that he thinks he should take the shot no matter what.

Just like how the league wanted the Celtics to finally win again last year? :)

lol - i guess one could say that. or one could just say "the league wanted a celtics vs. lakers final series" and the celtics made sure to put the final game so far out of reach that the refs couldn't do anything to effect the series.

:)

Pretty good game tonight. Magic are shooting 75% and are only up five!

The Magic have been near-flawless tonight, and that's what it should take to beat the Lakers in this series. No room for errors, no room for mediocrity.

Hello Mr. Stern

First miss of the Lakers in the fourth... with 3 min left.

Gasol ties it up, 99-99.

Clutch shot from Rashard

Boy, I dunno why anyone would say the NBA is fixed, Joey Crawford...

SI

And Kobe misses his 5th FT of the game!

* Kobe hasn't missed 5 FTs in a game all season long.

That was a bad call as it looked like a clean block to me.

He's doing everything he can to help Kobe, but Kobe just can't make FTs tonight.

That said, I am SURE the NBA would prefer a long series and not a 4-0 sweep by the Lakers. It's not fixed, it's just a star getting a call they shouldn't

Good block by Gasol and Odom.

Well that could do it.

Great defensive play by the Magic!

Good, hard-fought game by both teams. This is done.

Meh, so much for the sweep

Orlando finally gets their first finals win after six losses. Nick Anderson will sleep well tonight.

Really enjoyable game. Almost makes me glad that I was off work with the flu (not THE flu however ;) ) to be able to watch it.

Kobe getting hot in the 1st Q was probably the worst thing that could have happened for the Lakers in hindsight. They are such a better team when everyone is playing together, rather than watching Kobe run iso plays.

Good first half from Orlando. Howard was a beast.

Howard has really matured this series IMO. Each game he is better understanding how effective he can be without even scoring, just by using himself as a decoy. This is also a prime example of why, during the regular season, there should not have been so many Magic games where Howard rarely touched the ball. If they'd played like this all season they'd have been the #1 seed in the East.

Having said that, seriously Howard, cut out the turnovers. ;)

The Lakers just erased that 12 point lead. Wow.

dola,

Trevor Ariza just erased that 12 point Orlando lead.

I think Kobe resprained his hand in that tussle with Turkoglu earlier. He doesn't look comfortable with his jumpshot.

Damn Howard missed two big ones there, he only needed one.

Kobe's probably about to hit something ridiculous to send this to OT.

ok prediction time.

no way Kobe passes the ball, takes a bad shot and misses. media circle jerk around him next day calling him the best closer in the game

I would foul and not let Kobe shoot.

Terrible. They should have fouled.

nuts.

A real wtf moment from Nelson. At least there's time left for a winner.

Big big 4 seconds for the Magic.

orlando fans must be having flashbacks of nick "the brick" anderson missing the ft's last time they were in the finals

They really fucked up in the last 15 seconds.

Ok, five minutes to decide the season...

Disappointing last minute of regulation.

Yep. They should have closed them out when it was easy. Hit a free throw, get up a decent shot in the last 4 seconds, actually defend Fischer...

Lewis with as many points in OT as he had in regulation already.

Don't defend Fischer, FOUL FISCHER! FOUL anybody! It's not that complicated. Maybe it is for Stan though.

Um... where was that foul on Fisher? Magic phantom foul

SI

The refereeing the entire game has been atrocious... much worse than the usual tripe we're used to.

Nice elbow smash from Kobe not called.

I guess that was the makup call there (or rather non-call)

SI

Dear me, Derek Fisher, where have you been all these playoffs?

Sad to see what Shaq says about Van Gundy is true. How the hell do you not tell your players to foul in that situation?

GASOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

Game and series

SI

Any other player in the league other than Kobe and Lebron and that's an offensive foul.

That's the ballgame and likely the series. If Howard had made one goddamn free throw there wouldn't be any calls to bitch about.

It's a shame Stan van Gundy cost the Magic this game and possibly the championship. If it's 2-2, who knows what happens. All they had to do is foul up 3. Mike Brown and Stan van Gundy should be out of jobs next year.

Gasol acting like a hard man what a faker. Flopping bastard.

And that's the series. :(

Pietrus should be done for the series after that IMO. What the hell kind of foul was that.

Dwight's free throws lost it for the Magic.

Derek Fisher's two big threes won it for the Lakers.

They are used to him getting away with violations.

You can't even expect good old NBA home cooking when the Lakers are in town.

So maybe NBA players will you know, work on free throws from time to time?

Nah, nevermind. They'll still get paid regardless. What's a loss or two because of them?

Are you kidding me? The flagrant elbow by Kobe Bryant was FAR worse than what Pietrus did. I'll go one step further than the poster above, not only is it an offensive foul for any other player in the league, it's a flagrant and the guy is suspended for the next game.

If Reddick did that to Kobe, he'd be out the rest of the series. Everytime I want to watch the game again, the league shows how big of an F'n joke it it. Every single time.

Of course the Magic choked the thing away and that's what people will focus on. That doesn't change the fact that yet again, the NBA refs decided a game on a BS non call at the end of a game. This was similar to the Jordan vs. Russell shot that ended the Jazz series. The refs don't call an obvious foul on a star player and the underdog team goes home.

I have never, ever, ever wanted to see a team simply take a cheap shot at someone before in my life. Lakers have the series. I think they were the better team anyway. When they are allowed to throw elbows to the faces of opposing players, they are damned sure the better team. You suck Stern.

Didnt watch the game. And this is why. The NBA has the worst reffing in all of sports. And thats another reason I will never watch the NBA.

I don't understand the reluctance of coaches to do that, or the lack of situational awareness by the players to do it on their own. it's mind-boggingly stupid.

I caught the end of the game on the radio. Two of the three announcers were saying "no way that's a foul," and the third one was incredulous.

I HATE that you can foul when up by 3 and the team has to take the two free throws. As I said earlier in this thread, the team should be allowed to refuse the free throws and take the ball out. But as dumb as the rule is, it's even dumber not to take advantage of it. Van Gundy might as well have got on the PA and announced, "I refuse to employ a strategy that will win the game for my team." If I was a Magic fan that paid to see that game, I'd write that fucker and ask for my money back.

Stan said in the post game press "It was too early" in regards to not fouling up by 3. "There were 10 seconds on the clock" blah blah blah. Then tell the players to foul at 6-7 seconds if there's a chance to and they could have gotten Fisher before he even got to the 3 point line. It's not that hard to figure out.

It was too early? WTF? Is Van Gundy a text sim coach who can only send in one strategy until the next stoppage of play?

Have to agree with the above post by TroyF and should note that I don't have a pony in this series.

While the Magic managed to shoot themselves in the foot just fine in the final 15 seconds, overtime was still up for grabs and was 91-91 before the game changing elbow.

That non-call was the turning point of overtime, and thus quite possibly the series. As has already been stated though, instead of the focus being on the horrific officiating, the entire blame will be at the Magic for their inability to finish (and a lot of it justifiably so). However, that should not excuse the NBA and their officials.

My biggest qualm, also mentioned, is the double standard that exists between Kobe (and Lebron) and virtually the rest of the NBA.

While I don't think he should have been suspended for the Artest elbow (I personally thought the actions against Battier were worse), that is another clear incident where he got the call.

However, the guy clearly has a history of being one of the league's most notorious players when it comes to dishing out dirty elbows and for that call to be ignored at that juncture in the game is unacceptable.

I didn't say Kobe didn't deserve a foul called and maybe its a flagrant, I'm fine with everything you said about Kobe, can't stand the guy personally, and never have liked him.

Pietrus raised both arms above his head, made fists with both hands, and brought them into Gasol's back, no play on the ball, no attempt to do anything but take out frustration on his opponent. If that's a smaller player elevating higher for a layup that risks extremely serious injury. Maybe he realized what he was doing and didn't use much force by the time he got there, but it was a blatant, aggressive, intentional, non-basketball play. Don't really care about anything else that happened or the balance of the calls, I'm not commenting on anything else that happened. That one play was a severely stupid error.

Just saw the play, that was a foul on Kobe

What are you guys talking about? Jameer clearly ran into Kobe's elbow.

No foul.

And this really is the crazy thing. The guy has a history of doing it. Wouldn't you expect the refs to be looking for that, rather than swallowing their whistles. This one just has me shaking my head. Both referees saw exactly what happened as clear as day. They had seconds to blow the whistle and they just decided not to call it.

And no, the NBA is absolutely no harder to call than the NHL or college basketball. They just either a) call the game depending on who is in the game and what the situation is, b) are corrupt as hell or c) are completely incompetent (and possibly a combination of all three). NBA refereeing just makes zero sense and the league has no intention of doing anything about it.

Heh.

That's what has always bugged me about people who point to "scoreboard" as if that should excuse the extenuating circumstances that got you there. Both of you are exactly right- people will go "it's the Magic's fault they didn't win" which is true. However, I didn't think the game was between the "Orlando Magic" and "Lakers + Refs". But don't worry, every blowhard from Jim Rome to Colin Cowherd will be talking about stupid Magic fans who blame the refs for their team not winning when it wasn't a balanced scale.

SI

:D

SI

Boy, it's not like Kobe hasn't been a repeat offender and been suspended strictly for his reputation?

Coming from a fan of the dirtiest team in the league, I guess I should take some solace in taking your word for what a "dirty foul" is after all

Stay classy Troy. Maybe next time your team will succeed in breaking Kobe's neck

One win to go. I expect the haters to be out in full force!

When you get a lot of calls from the refs, have 17 more free throw attempts against your opponent, and miss 15 of those free throws during a close game, you probably deserve to lose.