Do or die for Orlando

It’s Game Three today of the NBA Finals and I hope Orlando gets one in their homecourt. Don’t get me wrong, I still am for Los Angeles but it would be nice to celebrate the championship at the Staples Center. There’s no place like home. Pres. Barack Obama predicted a Laker victory in six games and I hope he will again be on target. He also predicted the US NCAA championship of the University of North Carolina. I will stick to my 5-game Laker victory.

We had a great game last Monday. Coach Thomas Edison Van Gundy made the necessary adjustments and even experimented with an unusual combination in the end game that almost evened the series. Of the ten 3-pointers made by Orlando, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis combined for 9. The two found their range early and that set the tone for a good game. What gave Orlando in, aside from the sorry lay-up of Courtney Lee was their 20 turnovers that translated to 28 Laker points.

Going back to the Magic’s game, their half-court defense produced transition offense. Combining it with good ball movement, Hedo, Lewis and Mikael Pietrus got open and scored at will. Dwight Howard was an improvement from Game One but he also had seven turnovers.

Hedo played more roles than Jack Nicholson. At 6-10, he became the world’s biggest point guard, clutch shooter, excellent passer and a great defensive player. He was at the controls for an unconventional lineup at the end game that featured two shooting guards in JJ Reddick and Pietrus along with Lewis and Howard. Then Pietrus fouled out and along came in Lee. The experiment almost worked.

The lob pass with .6 of a second remaining in regulation went over Kobe Bryant’s head to Lee who had a clear path to the basket for the game-winning lay-up which clanked. He had the chance to be the player on the floor not named Kobe to be the hero. It was a smart and brilliant play that was almost made. Good thing Lee is used to wearing a mask, he can use a less transparent one in Orlando for missing that lay-up like he has done for a gazillion times.

In overtime, the Lakers outscored the Magic 13-8 and Derek Fisher was the defining factor. Playing the whole five minutes in overtime, he had two steals, and the one on Reddick was the key. Used to only playing 24 to 28 minutes in the regular season, D-Fish played a rare 41 minutes, contributing 12 points, 1 rebound and 3 steals.

If the Magic will win today, things will be completely different. Both teams have adjusted and they will playing like everything is on the line. Fisher said it best when he declared, “Being the best isn’t supposed to be easy. These are the types of games that make it memorable.”

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