Andrew wrote:Great win for the Magic when it could easily have been another blowout the way the Lakers came out of the gate, or a fourth quarter meltdown had Kobe's shot been falling the second half. They really had to fight for it but a win is a win and they came through, so nicely done.
As irritating as I'm finding Mark Jackson these days, he did have a great point in comparing the post game of Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. Howard really should try to avoid bringing the ball back down to belt height more often, while Gasol is exceptional at keeping the ball above his shoulders for the quick finish. It wouldn't be as big a problem if Howard were a more consistent free throw shooter and to his credit he has been knocking them down a little better in these Playoffs but he's got the strength and athleticism to make that quick finish and draw the and-one rather than giving the defense time to hack him and force him to make two. That's something that could come in time though and he'll throw in a nice move here or there so his post game is hardly terrible or limited only to dunks.
That the Lakers were in it until the end despite Kobe cooling off considerably after the first quarter is a testament to how the rest of the team is stepping up. They're not just standing around watching and that doesn't bode well for the Magic. It looks like this could still be a series though which is good but I still like the Lakers' chances of finishing the job much more than the Magic pulling it off having missed out on getting the split.
Great game from Rafer Alston. He's been much maligned over the years (and not without reason) and he's had a bit of a bumpy career making the transition from streetball legend to being a dependable pro in the NBA but it's nice to see him step up to fill in for Nelson. Since Nelson has been cleared to play I think he should be there on the bench as an ace for Stan Van Gundy to have up his sleeve but so long as Alston is playing well he should be getting the lion's share of the minutes at point guard.
Hell, it could have been a blowout the way the Magic came out.
It's ridiculous that Orlando didn't win that game by 20.
A win is still a win though. Expect the Magic to win the next two as well.
Great job setting an NBA record. Showed the world that we are indeed a quality shooting team.
I wouldn't call it a "great" game from Rafer though. He did score a lot, which is good... some amazing penetration moves while hitting the open jumpers... his passing was still extremely weak, and we committed some extremely unnecessary turnovers. It was a "good" game by him though.
I also think that any 5 year old could see that Dwight shouldn't bring the ball back down. It's hard to credit Jackson with noting that which is painfully obvious.
We should do this because we hate L.A.! 
That would be awesome.Bryant already owns too much rings,he can share them to others too.. 
Anyway that was a great game and i hope next game will go overtime.
