Game 3 Hangover: Home Cookin'

Orlando 108, Los Angeles 104

This is the Magic team that Laker fans should fear. A team that can roll out four great shooters along with a dominant big man that makes free throws. A home crowd that isn't just along for the ride, but makes itself an active participant in the outcome. A coaching staff that makes adjustments, plays the correct rotation at crunch time, and even worse - learns from their mistakes. (This just in: an Amber Alert has been issued for JJ Riddick, who disappeared during the cross-country flight back to the east coast. Can us LA fans chip in and pay for a search party to get him back on the floor?)

Orlando came out a-blazin', shooting an NBA finals record 75% in the first half but nursing only a five point lead at the break. The Magic defense shut down Kobe Bryant after the first quarter (when he scored 17) and forced him into jump shots and turnovers in the final three quarters (14 points). LA actually made more threes than Orlando (8-5) but only because the Magic shot 70% inside the arc and only attempted 14 three-pointers. Orlando only had 5 offensive rebounds because they only missed 24 shots all game. Of the five Magic players that logged at least thirty minutes, all five of them (Howard, Turkoglu, Alston, Lewis, Pietrus) scored at least 18 points.

The Magic did exactly what they needed to do. Shoot better, defend better, and get the right players on the court. They made all the right shots, made all the right adjustments, and made the plays at the end that the Lakers didn't. And they only won by four points. Game 4 Thursday.

Who Showed Up:

Rafer Alston 20 points (8-12 FG) 4 asts 36 min. Alston finally reclaimed the minutes that have been stolen from him this series by Jameer Nelson and JJ Redick.

Dwight Howard 21 points (5-6 FG, 11-16 FT) 16 reb 1 TO. Howard was finally a force on the offensive end slipping the double teams and making his free throws. I don't care who you are, you score 21 points on 6 FG attempts you had a good game.

Michael Pietrus 18 points (7-11 FG) Orlando's invaluable sixth man came off the bench on fire and didn't cool off. He aggressively drove the ball inside and spotted up jump shots while outplaying the LA bench single handedly. Shockingly he missed all three of his three point attempts.

Who Didn't:

Kobe Bryant 31 points (11-25 FG) 3 rebs 8 asts 4 TO. For the second game in a row Kobe failed to close out the game in the fourth quarter. After a fantastic first quarter when he scored 17 keeping LA in the game with the en fuego Magic, he shot only 2-12 from the field in the final three stanzas.

It was like getting an awesome appetizer with some sort of perfect combination of deep fried potato, bacon, cheese, and sausage gravy and then getting the entree that the chef dropped on the floor, stuck in his armpit, and then spit on the top. ("Does that looked like spit to you? Yeah.") Instead of watching the best closer in the NBA, I thought I was watching TNT's The Closer with the chick who looks like her face is melting while her swollen lips attempt to swallow her face. Not pretty, people, not pretty at all.

Even more worrisome is the fatigue that is starting to creep into Kobe's game. He missed 5 of his 10 free throws - a definite sign of weary legs. Great starts and mediocre finishes are starting to become a trend in this series. This could be the cumulative effect of two straight 100+ game seasons with extended playoff runs and an Olympic tournament sandwiched in between them. Kobe has always seems to have infinite reserves of energy and concentration that he can dip into at the end of games. Maybe his odometer is finally catching up to him. ( ed. note: This won't happen to me in my 30's, right? Right? Anybody?.... Oh no. I gotta go.)