Was it a foul? What kind of foul?
These were the questions afoot after the Lakers’ thrilling 2-point victory Tuesday night. With less than three seconds left in the fourth, Brent Barry, who scored an uncharacteristic 23 points by that time, caught an inbounds pass about 5 feet outside the arch. Being played by Derek Fisher, Barry got D-Fish up in the air, initiated contact, took a dribble, and then floated up a prayer toward the basket. The End.
No whistle, no foul; just the hearty sound of the buzzer and a deep, deep sigh of relief from Lakers fans around the world. There’ll be a lot of talk about the final play of the game, but I think it was another spurt of great defense by Derek Fisher, and the result was consistent with the way the officials had been calling the game all night.
A forty-eight minute game shouldn’t boil down to one single play that determines whether we win, but last night it did, and we did. I’m most surprised that Popovic drew up a play for Brent Barry in that situation, when former MVP Tim Duncan, reigning Finals MVP Tony Parker, and Sixth Man of the Year Manu Ginobli were all on the court.
Los Angeles dodged a bullet as ‘poor clock management’ let their nine-point lead shrink down to two in the final minute of Game 4. But the Lakers never trailed the Spurs Tuesday night, propelled by strong early offensive performances by the usual suspects: Kobe, Lamar, Pau, RadMan, and Fisher. Luke Walton came off the bench and hit four shots to help out, and Kobe grabbed 10 boards, which helped make up for his sub-50% shooting night.
The Spurs tied the game several times, but the active, salient defense of the Lake Show, and the nifty interior passing of their big men led to easy buckets at every crucial junction.
Now, for Game 5, it’s back to Staples Center in sunny Los Angeles, where the Lakers will try to eliminate San Antonio and advance to the finals for the first time since Shaq was good.
My prediction is, based on the 29 shots he took in Game 4, Kobe Bryant’s fixin’ to light up the scoreboard all ridiculous, and rock the champion Spurs to sleep. San Antonio should throw in the towel now and save themselves an embarrassing trip out west.
Lakers in 5.
These were the questions afoot after the Lakers’ thrilling 2-point victory Tuesday night. With less than three seconds left in the fourth, Brent Barry, who scored an uncharacteristic 23 points by that time, caught an inbounds pass about 5 feet outside the arch. Being played by Derek Fisher, Barry got D-Fish up in the air, initiated contact, took a dribble, and then floated up a prayer toward the basket. The End.
No whistle, no foul; just the hearty sound of the buzzer and a deep, deep sigh of relief from Lakers fans around the world. There’ll be a lot of talk about the final play of the game, but I think it was another spurt of great defense by Derek Fisher, and the result was consistent with the way the officials had been calling the game all night.
A forty-eight minute game shouldn’t boil down to one single play that determines whether we win, but last night it did, and we did. I’m most surprised that Popovic drew up a play for Brent Barry in that situation, when former MVP Tim Duncan, reigning Finals MVP Tony Parker, and Sixth Man of the Year Manu Ginobli were all on the court.
Los Angeles dodged a bullet as ‘poor clock management’ let their nine-point lead shrink down to two in the final minute of Game 4. But the Lakers never trailed the Spurs Tuesday night, propelled by strong early offensive performances by the usual suspects: Kobe, Lamar, Pau, RadMan, and Fisher. Luke Walton came off the bench and hit four shots to help out, and Kobe grabbed 10 boards, which helped make up for his sub-50% shooting night.
The Spurs tied the game several times, but the active, salient defense of the Lake Show, and the nifty interior passing of their big men led to easy buckets at every crucial junction.
Now, for Game 5, it’s back to Staples Center in sunny Los Angeles, where the Lakers will try to eliminate San Antonio and advance to the finals for the first time since Shaq was good.
My prediction is, based on the 29 shots he took in Game 4, Kobe Bryant’s fixin’ to light up the scoreboard all ridiculous, and rock the champion Spurs to sleep. San Antonio should throw in the towel now and save themselves an embarrassing trip out west.
Lakers in 5.
1 comment:
gB.Barry was stupid. if he wannna get foul with FT, he must down to the floor and shooting a ball in the air. yeah, like a Reggie Miller or Billups in Mo-Town.
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