Since I last posted, a lot has transpired with the Lakers. The bottom line: they defeated the Spurs in five games in the Western Conference Finals to advance to the finals against the Boston Celtics, and stunningly, trail the Celtics three-games-to-one in the best of seven Finals series. Where to begin? From the beginning, I suppose.
The Lakers lost Game 3 in San Antonio before a controversial end to a Game 4 win. In what was a close game throughout after a 22-8 early Laker lead, the game came down to the final two plays. With the score 93-91 Lakers and the shot clock winding down with less than 5 seconds left in the game, Derek Fisher took a shot that went out of bounds that appeared to have grazed the rim, which would have given the Lakers possession with a fresh shot clock (which would have been shut off with just 4 seconds left). Instead, the ball was ruled out of bounds with 2 seconds left on the shot clock, and the Lakers were forced to heave up a shot that San Antonio eventually recovered the rebound with 2.1 seconds left. After a timeout, the Spurs Brent Barry had the ball with the clock winding down and did a pump fake the got Fisher in the air. As Fisher came down, he made obvious contact with Barry, who then heaved up a desperation three point shot that went wide of the rim. No foul was called on Fisher.
Had Fisher's shot in the Lakers last possession been called accurately, the Spurs never would have had possession after for the controversial non-call. Fisher definitely fouled Barry on the last play, and he should have been awarded two free throws that would have tied the game and sent it into overtime. But it never should have even got to that point. Both Barry and the Spurs coach, Gregg Popovich, acknowledged after the game that the referees made the right call by not calling the foul on Fisher. But what else are they going to say? If they chastise the refs, the NBA will come down on them and fine them. Eventually, the league came out the next day and said a foul should have been called. (Why the felt the need to say anything makes no sense to me, but they did anyway.) Of course, there was no mention of Fisher's shot that clearly grazed the rim on the possession before.
The Lakers came out and looked sluggish in Game 5 at home, and fell behind by 17 points early in the game. But they regrouped, slowly began chipping away at the lead, and eventually won the game 100-92, earning their first berth in the Finals since 2004.
On to the Finals...
Games one and two were horrific performances for the Lakers in Boston. In Game 1, it was actually a pretty close game throughout, but the Celtics hung on for a 10-point win. Game 2 was ugly.
The Lakers started off solid, building a quick 15-7 lead. But it was all Celtics after that, as they built a 24-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. But miraculously, the Lakers stormed back and cut the 24-point lead with 7:40 left down to a two point game with less than a minute left in the game. And of course, the refs had a big part in this game. Vladimir Radmanovic traveled from Boston to L.A. after a steal and a breakaway for a dunk that cut the lead to four. Once again, no call was made. Eventually, the Lakers would lose the game after failing to recover completely from the 24-point lead, despite scoring 41 points in the fourth quarter, including a 31-9 run in the final 7:40 to end the game. But the Lakers (and Celtics) would have a lot else to be concerned about. In the game, the Celtics outshot the Lakers at the free throw line 38-10. Numerous calls on both ends for both teams went without notice, specifically, the five or six times Pau Gasol was pushed with two-hand shoves in the back while attempting to grab rebounds. As Phil Jackson concurred, that had to be the most "unbelievable" game I've ever seen.
Down two-games-to-none, the series moved to Staples Center in L.A., and in an ugly Game 3, the Lakers got back in the series with a six-point win. Then came the historical Game 4.
The Lakers, who for the most part, showed very little aggressiveness, cohesiveness or energy in the first three games, came out on fire in Game 4. Lamar Odom, unheard from for the bulk of first three games, started the game hitting every basket in sight. Kobe got things rolling with his aggressive penetration to the basket, setting the tone early. In fact, in the first few minutes alone, the Lakers had already shot as many free throws in this game as they had in all of Game 2 in Boston. When all was said and done, the Lakers had built am NBA Finals record 21-point lead after the first period, 35-14. The Lakers would eventually build that lead to 24-points at 45-21 midway through the second period, and would end the first half up 58-40. The Lakers maintained their lead through the middle of the third quarter when it peaked at 20 points at 68-48 with 7:05 left. Then the unthinkable happened.
The Celtics slowly began to chip away at the lead. By the time the third quarter clock struck 0:00.0, the Lakers lead had dwindled all the way down to two points, 73-71. The Celtics outscored the Lakers 23-5 to end the quarter, and 31-15 in the quarter. Suddenly the Lakers couldn't penetrate; they weren't aggressive; they lost their cohesiveness; Lamar Odom went quiet. Most importantly, Kobe never got going at all during the game. In fact, Kobe had just three points at halftime. Paul Pierce played great defense on Kobe all night, which would eventually allow the Celtics to get back in the game. Kobe would end up shooting 6 of 19 from the floor to finish with a a very quiet 17 points. The fourth quarter was a very close game throughout, with the Lakers maintaining their very small lead, until the 4:07 mark, when Boston finally got its first lead of the game... and never looked back.
When it was all said and done, the Celtics had completed the greatest comeback in playoff history, wiping out a 24-point lead to win by six! The game left the Lakers, and their fans, stunned. No words could possibly described what had been witnessed on Thursday night. No words could possibly describe what the Lakers were feeling, maybe other than stunned, and speechless. And instead of going into Game 5 tomorrow night tied 2-2 with a chance to take the series lead and maybe win the title in Boston, the Lakers are on the verge of elimination. The Lakers earned that loss. They deserved to lose. They had no business winning the game. That was the most disgusting performance I have ever seen.
It's hard to put into words, but the Lakers we've seen in these four games of the Finals are not the same Lakers we saw finish first in the Western Conference during the regular season, then go 12-3 in the playoffs to win the Western Conference Championship leading up to the Finals. A lot of the credit for the Lakers play has to go the Celtics defense. They have completely taken the Lakers out of their game, their rhythm, forcing the Lakers to settle for outside jumpers; unable to penetrate with any aggression. Boston head coach Doc Rivers has clearly out-coached Phil Jackson to this point.
We all know the Celtics have to win one more before they can really celebrate. It takes four wins to win the series. Even Phil Jackson said in his Game 5 post-game press conference, "This series is not over." Officially, it's not over. But realistically, it's over. Everyone knows it. Deep down, the Lakers probably know it; Celtics, too. But only until Boston wins that fourth game, which could come tomorrow in Game 5 at Staples, or in Game 6 or 7 in Boston, or maybe not at all. No team has ever come back from a three-games-to-one deficit in an NBA Finals series. But if the Lakers couldn't hold a 24-point lead at home in a crucial must-win game, who's to say they'll win anymore games? They won't give up. They'll do whatever they can to get back in this series, again. Take it one game at a time. It's time to play with desperation. Each game is now must-win, and each game could be their last, which is how they have to play from here on out. One game. Desperation.
