Sports Thread #1 for 6/14/09: 2009 NBA Finals, Game 5 (Will The Lakers Hoist The Ring Tonight?)
Photo from NBA.comSheed with the preview
The Los Angeles Lakers were outshot, out-rebounded, out-defended, out-assisted and surrendered more free throws. Yet, in the end the battle-tested crew who fell to the Boston Celtics in last year's Finals are now just one game away from championship redemption after their 99-91 Game 4 overtime win in Orlando. Despite holding a 12 point halftime Orlando's youth and inexperience showed as they were Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu missed crucial free throws, the Magic committed careless takeaways, Stan Van Gundy made fatal personnel moves and were outexecuted by the more seasoned Lakers.
LA outscored Orlando 17-4 after trailing 87-82 with 6:06 remaining in the fourth quarter. Derek Fisher delivered a jaw-cracking triple to send the game to OT with 4.6 seconds left in regulation, and busted another three-point dagger with 31.4 seconds to go in OT. LA took a commanding 3-1 lead and in the first NBA Finals to have two overtime games since Magic Johnson's Showtime Lakers battled Larry Bird's Celtics.
Can Orlando summon the resolve from their devastating monumental meltdown to send it back to LA or will the Kobe Bryant and the Lakers capture the franchise's 15 title in the Magic Kingdom?
LA Lakers
Da Block Is Hot
Pau Gasol is the unequivocal Robin to Kobe's Batman. Gasol's 14 shot attempts were the most he's gotten in the Finals thus far, resulting in 16 points and 10 boards. While the Third-Team All-NBA member could stand to receive the pill a little more frequently to alleviate the scoring burden of Kobe who fired 31 shots, 14 is a pretty good number of looks. Pau is averaging 20 points on 59 percent shooting. When the Lakers make him one of the triangle offense focal points things run smoother and shot-punching terror Dwight Howard is occupied and drawn away from the bucket clearing the lane for drives. Look for LA to give their everlasting armed power forward a plentiful serving of shots tonight.
No treys today
Everyone knows the Magic are predicated on three's, but the Lakers have done a superb job of locking Orlando up from deep throughout the series. Avoiding a trifecta tsumani is a large reason why they've gained a 3-1 advantage. The Magic only hit on 33 percent from treyland in Game 4, and are shooting a substandard 34.4 percent for the series. Unlike Verizon Orlando has been disconnected from their network and the Lakers are have no intentions of allowing re-installation. LA will need to elude letting Orlando's flame-throwing shooters, Rafer Alston, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Mickael Pietrus and Courtney Lee get their groove back tonight, and close out hard but judiciously to not conceded easy drives and mid range jumpers.
Collectively provide so Kobe can thrive
Even more than the superlative Kobe, the complementary Lakers were the pillars of their Game 4 OT victory. Trevor Ariza blazed Orlando like a Newport cigarette in dropping 13 of his 16 points in the third quarter. Despite a modest 9 points and 5 rebounds the foul-saddled Lamar Odom made some pivotal buckets in the fourth quarter and played great defense on Lewis, limiting him to 8 points. Unquestionably the biggest co-star in LA's Game 4 production was Derek Fisher, who rebounded and had the pecans and intestinal gulliness to put to sinister, jurassic triples in Orlando's collective mouth after going 0 for his first 5 three tries en route to scoring 12 points.
The Lakers will need similar joint output to close it out in Orlando and alleviate pressure of Kobe. The Black Mamba had a good, but definitely not great game by his standards. Kobe scored 32 points, and delegated the rock well handing out 8 dimes (he, Jerry West and Michael Jordan are only players in Finals history to average 30 points and 8 assists in Finals history), but he shot 11-31, and was noticeably overaggressive to the alienation of his teammates in overtime, misfiring three straight shots. With a championship within sight to satisfy his voracious appetite, look for Kobe to come out ultra aggressive looking to barbecue everything within his path, and eventually settle into a facilitating mutilator mode.
Keep Being Greedy
This is what LA has been fixated with since June of last year. The opportunity to avenge getting humiliatingly punked by a hungrier, more physical Boston Celtics squad. Yeah, they have home court advantage and have the haven of possibly winning the title at their crib, but if LA really wants to make a statement, they should go for the kill and bury Orlando in their own backyard. Please believe Phil Jackson emphasized the importance of adopting the mentality of a starving animal that smells blood and mercilessly goes for the kill. Now is the time to capitalize on a golden opportunity to close out a wounded, fragmented team. Don't dispassionately nap on Orlando and give them any momentum with a win. Finish them!
Orlando Magic
Caretake the pill or you'll get killed
The endearing, charismatic Dwight Howard had a phenomenal Game 4. The oversized kid with the infectious smile nearly had a triple-double, scoring 16 points, 21 rebounds and and NBA Finals record 9 swats. That's a ludicrously raw night. However, in this instance Superman's kryptonite came in the form of a near dubious quadruple-double committing 7 turnovers and clanking 8 of 14 free throws. The usually reliable Turk, who drains 82 percent of his free throws, missed 5 shots from the charity stripe, including three eminent attempts in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. The inexperienced Magic have to discover some quick maturity and play with more poise down the stretch and value the ball so they don't walk away with empty possessions.
Other than a sub-par 13 point, 3-11 Game 1 Turk has got his braswado back, hitting 21.6 points on 55 percent shooting. D12 has a tendency to hold the pill an excessively long period of time waiting to get doubled and taking multiple dribbles. Howard also brings the ball down low making himseld susceptible to getting ripped by guards. One way to remedy D-Ho's turnover problems is making quicker moves and keeping the rock up high. By making more decisive moves D-Ho can beat double-teams, get Laker bigs in foul trouble, and kick the pill out to teammates when LA compresses him.
Use ya head and keep Skip in the game!
Everything was going great before the Magic inserted Jameer Nelson in the game for Rafer Alston. Nelson's mid-season acquisition substitute following his then diagnosed season-ending shoulder injury, Alston had 11 points, and 20 in the Magic Game 3 win. As soon as Nelson came in the game, the entire complexion of the game changed. Orlando became more laborious on offense, the crisp ball movement disappeared, Nelson was toasted like a marshmallow on defense, including an outrageously, inconceivably moronically backing off Dfish to drain the game-tying trifecta and the Magic came unraveled.
This is no knock on Nelson. I'm the last one to slice Meer. When healthy, Nelson is an all-star and one of the dopest, most incendiary floor conductors in the league. The problem is he's not healthy. Nelson is just coming off the shelf after missing four months of action. It's be an arduous task asking money to play at a high level after missing extended action in the regular season let alone the pinnacle and biggest stage in basketball. Stan Van Gundy has been a mastermind at times during the playoffs, but in the Finals he's been Stan Van “Blunder” with his vomituous rotation mismanagement.
Van Gundy has to stop fluctuating between “Skip to My Lou” and Nelson. Van Gundy has to sit Nelson down, tell him he's got mad love for him and he's the dude next year, but you've got to sit down this series and fall back cause your presence is detrimental to the team. Hurts but has to be said. That's the only way Orlando can regain the confidence, rhythm and connectivity they had before.
Shard release the juice on they caboose
Shard has been Orlando's most consistent scorer the entire postseason, averaging 19 points a game. In Game 4, Shard struggled to establish a rhythm, shooting 2-10 for a meager 8 points. Odom made a concerted effort not to concede as many open shots to Lewis, relentlessly chasing the Magic net-ripping power forward off screens. Shard was very reticent at times, going to the rock shooting poptart double-pump layups and unconfident floaters. In the two games Shard has got 14 or more shots he's scored 34 and 21 points. The Two games he's gotten 10 shots Shard has only scored 7 points a night. Look for Orlando to run more isolation sets for Shard and to free him up for open shots off staggered screens to help him get off early.
Kamikaze Mindframe
The Magic weren't expected to be in this position anyway. Yes, they're in a perilous, bleak scenario, as teams that have faced a 3-1 hole in the Finals are 0-29. But hey, Orlando whole postseason run has been based on surmounting daunting odds. The Magic closed out the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 without a suspended Howard. They clocked defending NBA champs Boston Celtics in Boston in Game 7, and they dethroned King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers against whom no one gave them a chance. Orlando has nothing to lose and should go out ride or die gangsta illuminati style guns blazing. The Magic should play loose, frenetic and indiscriminately blasting with no hesitation.
Prediction
Orlando will come out with a wave of desperate, perpetual krunkness and vitality, running and gunning, but the energy will eventually subside and the Lakers will settle in, keeping it tight. In the end the angelic voice of little adorable Tina Marie and Orlando's grittiness will enable them to see another day and take the series back to Hollywood for Act 6. Magic 109-103
Comments