After tonight's victory, they are (finally) on the cusp of their first NBA Finals since 2004. The Kobe Era's first potential trip to the franchise's most hallowed and familiar grounds. 3-1. With two more games at the Staples Center.
They almost lost it. Up 93-86 with 50 seconds left, the Lakers were in complete control.
Brent Barry just bricked a 3, and now Pau Gasol approached the free-throw line for 2 shots. An 80% FT shooter this season, Pau's two shots felt automatic.
Then he bricked both. On the other end, Manu Ginobili answered with his only 3 of the night. 93-89 Lakers, 42 seconds to play.
Oddly, expecting the foul, Kobe Bryant flew to the rack. Draped by Tim Duncan and Ginobili, he missed the lay-up. No Call. Duncan outlets to Tony Parker who sprints for a lay-up. Lamar Odom goal-tends and suddenly it's 93-91 with 28 seconds left.
In the span of 22 seconds, the Lakers squandered two possessions and surrendered five quick points to the defending Champions. From in-the-bag, to "wait, where's the bag?"
Ultimately, the Spurs came up short. After two tough Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant misses, the Spurs had their chance with 2.1 seconds to play. They ran the half-court out-of-bounds to Brent Barry.
Robert Horry inbounds to Barry. Shot-fake. Fisher jumps. 1 second. Barry creates the contact, dribbles right. Awkwardly shoots from 30-feet. Time expires. The ball hits the bottom of the back-board. No call.
Game over. Lakers escape 93-91. Their biggest victory of the year.
Could the last-second play have been a foul? Debatable. It was a judgment call and the referees judged it was not a foul. In all fairness, there was not much contact, and Barry shot after Fisher nudged him. It was a soft foul and it did not overwhelmingly prevent Barry from shooting. Either way:
3-1 Lakers with Game 5 on Thursday in LA.
More than anything, the win belongs to Lamar Odom and the Lakers rebounding efforts. All night long, Odom was aggressive. He hit the boards and attacked. When the Lakers needed a bucket, he got to the line. 8-9 from the stripe en route to 16-and-9.Combined with Kobe's 28-and-10 and Gasol's 10-and-10, Odom's output cemented the battle of the boards. 46-37 Lakers. 13-8 Lakers on the Offensive Glass. Who needs Andrew Bynum?
For the third game in-a-row, the Lakers won the war on the glass. After losing the rebounding tally to both the Nuggets and the Jazz, the Lakers are dominating the Spurs.
They are giving them a taste of their own medicine. After out-rebounding the Hornets and earning second-chance points and additional possessions, the Spurs are allowing the Lakers to do just the same.
No sequence demonstrates this better than the end of the second quarter.
With 23 seconds left and his team leading 51-47, Luke Walton missed his and-one free throw.
In the scramble for the rebound, Vladimir Radmanovic ended up with the ball. He immediately passed to Kobe Bryant. With another possession, Bryant burned the clock and held for the last shot.
His fade-away jumper with 1 second left pushed the lead to 53-47. 6-point lead going into half-time. Major momentum. Control of the game.
In the 2-point win, the Radmanovic-rebound and Bryant-jumper proved pivotal.
--
Down 3-1, the Spurs will have to sweep the remaining three games AND win in LA twice. Can they do it? Good luck.
As the Eastern Conference Finals reset at 2-2, the Lakers are firmly in the driver's seat.
0 comments:
Post a Comment