After game one of the Denver series, Steve Mason went on the air the next day and said:
"I think the Lakers just stole a home game."
After listening to both teams talk about game two of the finals, I think the same could be said this time around. Think about the following:
--With under a minute to play, Hedo Turkoglu hit a shot that everybody in the building thought was a three-pointer, to give the Magic a 89-86 lead (that score even briefly appeared on the scoreboard). But a closer look showed that Turkoglu's foot was on the line, making the shot worth only two. With :33 seconds left, Pau Gasol hit a lay-up to tie the game at 88. Had Turkoglu's foot not been on the line, the Lakers would have had to score again, which they never did in regulation.
--Even more significant, the Magic should have won the game on the last play of regulation. With 0.6 seconds to go, the Magic had time for one last shot. Inexplicably, Kobe Bryant got picked, and left Courtney Lee a wide open lane to the basket. Turkoglu threw a lob, and for reasons only Lee can understand, he missed it. This was a one-footer, with no one guarding him. He's made this shot thousands of times since he was five years old. I think he was so surprised that he was left open, he just clanked it.
"Coach did a good job of drawing up the right play," Lee said afterwards. "I caught it, got a good look at the backboard. I tried to get it up there as quick as possible, and the ball rolled off the rim."
"I saw an opening and just threw it up," Turkoglu said. "It was just luck. It would have been great for us because we played good."
Even Kobe Bryant knew the Lakers were in deep trouble.
"It was just a brilliant play," Bryant said. "It was just a very, very, smart play the he drew up. He knew my eye was more on the shooters coming up, and just a hell of play by a hell of a coach."
'When the ball was in the air, what were you thinking...'
"s***."
I'll take it a step further: I think it's the easiest shot any player has ever missed in an NBA Finals. Patrick Ewing (who is now an Orlando Assistant Coach) had a lay-up years ago, but he was being guarded. This was a gimme.
Once the game went into overtime, the Lakers re-grouped and took over. The Magic now find themselves in an almost impossible spot. Since the NBA went to the 2-3-2 format in 1985, this is the 13th time the home team has won the first two games. In 11 of the previous 12, the home team went on to win the series (the lone exception since '85 was in 2006, when Dallas won the first two games at home but lost the next four straight to Miami).
In other words, Courtney Lee didn't just miss a lay-up. He may have missed his team's only chance to win the title.
I'm sticking with my original prediction that the Lakers will win this series in six games, but after game two, it might not take that long.
No one can say actually, every game has it's game plan on every team.
Posted by: pinnacle security | 08/29/2011 at 11:49 PM