NBA Finals Game 4: The Lakers Put the Magic in the Kobe Clutch and Defeat Orlando 99-91
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
NBA TV Notes added at the very bottom.
“If you wanna crown them, then crown their ass! But they are who we thought they were and we let em off the hook!”
Denny Green must have been in the building because the Orlando Magic gave this game away and now trail the Los Angles Lakers 3-1 in the best of seven NBA Finals.
The Magic just didn’t want it enough. This is soul rock soul. You can’t fold! Kobe takes no prisoners. Dwight? Not so sure. The spin move and pass for the Gasol dunk was as pretty a play as you’ll see in sports.
Boom!
Derek Fisher’s three at the end of regulation tied up what looked like a sure Magic victory. Seemed as if the ball just didn’t bounce Orlando’s way in overtime and left the Orlando fans shocked.
Big players make big plays in big games.
Fisher and Bryant have three rings. They know what it takes and made sure LA is on the doorstep of yet another title.
Can we crown Los Angeles champions? Not yet, but the lady with big thighs is revving up her vocal engine and wants to blow.
How can the Magic lose this game?
Why did they choke?
Where was Rashard?
Why don’t you foul on the last play with a foul to give?
Jameer should have been in Fisher’s face like something crazy. Three is more than two bruh.
There are those who are gonna criticize Dwight Howard for missing the two biggest free throws of his life despite hitting a half court Bob Gibson like hook shot pregame. All he had to do was hit one and the Magic win.
Truthfully, it should have come down to that.
Hedo Turkoglu missed five to almost offset Howard’s 8 misses.
Hell, the Magic missed as many free throws as the Lakers made (15).
In press row, reporters are given stat sheets after each quarter and a final box post game. I circle stats that jump out. The stats you see the next day. The runs. Free throw and shooting percentages. These stats also help formulate our questions to players and coaches. Free throws IMO was the deciding factor in this game.
LA shot 15-20, Orlando 22-37…at home. Unacceptable in the most important game in the playoffs.
The Lakers closed with a 17-4 run. Championship stuff.
Why didn’t Mickael Pietrus do all he can to get the ball to Dwight Howard who was being guarded by Kobe Bryant of the pick switch? There were 4.6 seconds left.
I know most of you could see mad Orlando booty holes get tight…as Sheed likes to say…in the closing moments. The Magic for the most part played alright, but straight up gave up the guts at the end. There were too many missed assignments, turnovers, clanked free throws and bricked jumpers…again, at home in a game they had to win.
After the Lakers went down 12 in the first half, they professionally went to work in the third…outscoring the Magic 30-14 in the deciding quarter.
Trevor Ariza (had a great all around game and his three as the shot clock dwindled in I think the third was gigantic), Andrew Bynum (his six were crucial) and of course Derek Fisher stepped up when Kobe needed them the most.
Bryant shot 11-31 and had his third straight sub-par shooting performance. Although, he did become only the third player in NBA history to have four straight 30 point, 8 assist games.
Is it just me or does the officiating suck both ways?
Will he Magic just lay down for the summer or will they fight right?
Pau Gasol continues his great play. Dwight had 16 points, 21 boards and a Finals record 9 blocks, but only had 5 field goals.
What is that? How does that happen?
He was dominant in the first without making an offensive impact but needs to turn it up just a notch. Seven turnovers is not good. Stop putting the ball on the floor after the catch. That’s all mental. There’s no need for the bounce. Pivot, bang or pass and reset. When you put it on the floor, you play small and the ball will get taken…especially around Fisher or Bryant.
There’s really not much else to say. What say you?
| LOS ANGELES LAKERS | ||||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Trevor Ariza, SF | 44 | 6-14 | 3-4 | 1-2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | +15 | 16 |
| Pau Gasol, FC | 49 | 7-14 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | +9 | 16 |
| Andrew Bynum, C | 16 | 2-3 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | +8 | 6 |
| Kobe Bryant, SG | 49 | 11-31 | 2-6 | 8-8 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | +11 | 32 |
| Derek Fisher, PG | 42 | 5-11 | 2-7 | 0-0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | +15 | 12 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Lamar Odom, PF | 28 | 4-10 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | +5 | 9 |
| D.J. Mbenga, C | 4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Luke Walton, SF | 11 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 2-4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6 | 6 |
| Jordan Farmar, PG | 9 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 |
| Josh Powell, FC | 8 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -6 | 2 |
| Sasha Vujacic, SG | 4 | 0-2 | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 |
| Shannon Brown, SG | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 0 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| 38-91 | 8-23 | 15-20 | 10 | 29 | 39 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 28 | 99 | |||
| 41.8% | 34.8% | 75.0% | Team TO (pts off): 8 (10) | |||||||||||
| +/- denotes team’s net points while the player is on the court. | ||||||||||||||
| ORLANDO MAGIC | ||||||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Hedo Turkoglu, SF | 41 | 8-13 | 1-3 | 8-13 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 25 |
| Rashard Lewis, PF | 46 | 2-10 | 2-6 | 0-0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | -13 | 6 |
| Dwight Howard, C | 49 | 5-12 | 0-0 | 6-14 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 4 | -11 | 16 |
| Courtney Lee, SG | 7 | 1-4 | 1-4 | 1-2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -9 | 4 |
| Rafer Alston, PG | 27 | 5-13 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | -9 | 11 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | +/- | PTS |
| Mickael Pietrus, SG | 37 | 4-8 | 1-2 | 6-7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 15 |
| Tony Battie, C | 12 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | +7 | 2 |
| J.J. Redick, SG | 17 | 2-6 | 1-2 | 1-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 6 |
| Jameer Nelson, PG | 26 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 2 |
| Marcin Gortat, C | 4 | 2-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | +3 | 4 |
| Adonal Foyle, C | DNP COACH’S DECISION | |||||||||||||
| Anthony Johnson, PG | DNP COACH’S DECISION | |||||||||||||
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | ||
| 31-74 | 7-21 | 22-37 | 7 | 34 | 41 | 17 | 4 | 10 | 17 | 21 | 91 | |||
| 41.9% | 33.3% | 59.5% | Team TO (pts off): 19 (16) | |||||||||||
| +/- denotes team’s net points while the player is on the court. | ||||||||||||||
Flagrant Fouls: None
Technical Fouls: PLAYERS: 3 ORLANDO ( M Pietrus 1 ) LALAKERS ( T Ariza 1, P Gasol 1 ) – TEAMS (def3sec): ORLANDO (1) – COACHES: LALAKERS P. Jackson (1)
Officials: Bennett Salvatore , Mike Callahan , Scott Foster
Attendance: 17,461
Time of Game: 03:08
NBA Tip-off presented by AutoTrader.com
Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith
Barkley on claims that Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is fatigues following Game #3: “Kobe Bryant just had a bad second half. He’s human. He’s not going to dominate the game every night.”
Barkley on the importance of Orlando winning Game #4: “This is the biggest game of the series. Orlando has a good chance of being back in the series after tonight. If Orlando wins tonight, I think this series is up for grabs.”
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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai
Announcers: Johnson, Barkley and Smith
Barkley on the Magic’s loss in Game #4: “Orlando gave this game away.”
Smith on Magic center Dwight Howard’s performance in Game #4: “A superstar needs to dominate in three areas. Dwight (Howard) was only able to dominate in two; defense and rebounding. He couldn’t get the third thing in this game and that was scoring.”
Barkley on Magic guard Mickael Pietrus: “Mickael Pietrus is becoming one of my favorite players.”
Smith’s response to Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy saying experience doesn’t play a role in the Finals: “I disagree (with Stan Van Gundy) about experience. There is a reason not many rookies have led their team to an NBA Championship. Experience is a big part in playing a basketball game. It’s composure, not panicking, belief, and trust.”
Barkley: “I disagree. Missing free throws and leaving a player open to make a three-pointer doesn’t have anything to do with experience. The bottom line is the Orlando Magic blew this game.”
Barkley on Stan Van Gundy’s decision not to foul late in the game, which led to overtime: “I think Stan Van Gundy missed it. (Lakers head coach) Phil Jackson was right and Van Gundy was wrong. Phil Jackson was right when he said they (the Magic) had a foul to give.”
TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Magic guard Mickael Pietrus following the game
Pietrus on his thoughts going into Game #5: “It’s going to be tough. The Lakers are going to play hard. I think we just need to relax and play basketball the way we’ve been playing.”
TNT’s David Aldridge interviewed Magic guard Jameer Nelson following the game
Nelson on losing to the Lakers in Game #4: “We played well enough to win the game, but we made some mistakes.”
Excellent point about the Dwight and the bounce. He’s too comfortable dribbling to go into his moves. Again though all in time man. He has to learn how to adjust. The Lakers are doubling on the dribble, from the weak side. To me that’s a coaching mistake as well. Somebody should be in his ear about that.
Flabbergasted at the missed free throws. Jump shooting teams shouldn’t miss free throws. Period.
Fisher’s three was stone cold. My goodness.
Ariza earned himself lifetime security in this series. He played huge in this game. He’s looking alot more like Scottie than Odom.
That was a P*SSY #SS foul that Pietrus put on Gasol at the end of the game. Straight up. Dude coulda got hurt for real. Two forearms to the back? So what he dunked and the game was decided. Somebody should lay the people’s elbow on his roody pooh candy #ss in the next game. Mbenga? Josh Powell? Shannon Brown? Earn your paycheck.
Lakers in 6
Jerold Wells screams bloody murder in call for Black on Black crime. Story at 11.
Missed the second half and OT of that game, thanks for the summary and perspective Mizzo. People love to focus on clanked free throws at the end, but I always say, if it’s come down to the importance of free throws at the end, well you played yourself into that hole earlier. Your point about D Howard putting the ball on the floor is well taken. I’ve been screaming at the TV most of the games that the Lakers need to stop the other Magic……force D Howard to be the man. They’re obviously not listening because ORL is getting big points from lots of players, and Dwight isn’t getting many. As you say though, from Dwight’s perspective, he really should work on his footwork, develop a drop step, work on his range, perhaps getting better at chippies (to use Shaq’s term), hell, a sky hook – how would that be for irony if Dwight developed a sky hook and took the Magic to some championships, after what Kareem correctly said about his game? But my man D Fish. What can ya say about him? As a longtime Laker fan I know in the late ’90s and during those first couple championships I used to squeeze the ol’ buttcheeks sometimes when Fish shot……but I don’t tense up no mo’ when Fish shoots. Stone cold, as Jerold says. Ariza stepped up big in the third after shooting 0-6 in the first. Luke has played well when given the opportunity during the Finals. Lamar is well, he’s only bolstered his standing as my favorite Laker. Pau does what he does-get good position and make smart decisions. I still wish that Shannon Brown would get some burn but we’re up 3-1 so I can’t complain much. And thank god for Kobe Bean Bryant.
Free throws killed the Magic last night. A bad night for Kobe, but with Orlando only going 22-37 on free throws, the Lakers took advantage and won.
One thing D. Howard really needs to learn, is to not clear folks out with his off arm. They are killing him with offensive fouls in the Finals for doing that. But, that goes along with him needing to improve footwork and learning to use his body better.
Gotta give it up to Ariza and Odom for not giving Rashard Lewis the chance to really get comfortable. They learned how and where he liked to get the ball, and wouldn’t allow him to get it where he could just fire away comfortably.
I knew there was no way that Alston was going to have two good games in a row, and he proved it. He had a decent game, but Rashard Lewis led the team in assists!
THe KOBE CLutch! Someone watched wrestling when tyhey came up with this headline. Nice work.
and yeah… The Magic are pretty dead.
For me, Kobe wasn’t the story of the game. He took 31 shots and has had a progressively lower shooting percentage in each game. I said last night that he looked wiped out. On three consecutive plays he front-ended two jumpers, then turned the ball over with a jelly-leg dribble. Pietrus ran by him all night long. He even jumped right over Kobe’s back to take a rebound and never touched Bean. He recovered to make some big shots, but he wasn’t the principal reason why the Lakers won the game.
It is as you said. Orlando lost it. Playing at home, they shot 37 free throws. LA only shot 20. Orlando missed 15 shots from the line. They also had a ton of turnovers, but they don’t really have good ball handlers on the team. Rafer is a walking turnover. Hedo is solid. Rashard is murder if he puts the ball on the floor (6 pts? Really?).
If Orlando had won last night, the Lakers would be facing the prospect of needing to beat a younger team two more times with Kobe shooting less than 40%. I wouldn’t have liked those odds one bit if I were Phil.
Dennis Green. Right on. Dwight Howard, meet Matt Leinart.
Also, the shot that Ariza made at the end of the clock to tie the game at 82 (just before Hedo’s 3) was HUGE. If he doesn’t make that shot, Fisher never gets a chance to tie it up. And I co-sign what you all have said about his overall performance. And to think, he used to play for the Magic.
Right on Temple
Kobe is looking worse and worse as the series progresses. He just doesn’t have the legs to score like he wants to. Ironically he’s probably not the MVP of these Finals. Sure the numbers are there but I’d give it to Gasol at this point. Kobe will get it, 30 and 8 is nothing to sneeze at…… I’m just saying.
As for the Magic man I don’t know. I was talking to my pops and he mentioned the law of averages. Sure Orlando was bound to have a good shooting game and they had one. I countered with this: The law of averages says that average players will eventually come back to earth and perform like average players.
Alston? At this point in his career he’s a solid NBA player. He’s average. I really hope the Magic didn’t expect him to put up 20 again last night.
D. Howard was a beast last night. Dude almost had a trip dub with BLOCKS!!! Single game Finals record. 21 rebounds. Most double doubles over the course of the playoffs. I really don’t know if it’s in the cards for him to be a huge scorer. I mean Shaq played in the Finals against Houston, at the same age, and flat out did work. Sure he had the benefit of college but just how much of an advantage does that give? Dude’s game is just so raw at times.
@Temple
And they got rid of him bc he wasn’t a good enough 3pt shooter. How ironic.
Clarification.
The Finals single game record for Howard is the 9 blocks.
Shaq was more polished than Dwight in high school. Do you remember his full court coast to coast dunk (with crossover) in the McDonald’s All-America game? He played with Stanley Roberts in practice everyday and played in the SEC for a minute. He played against Alonzo and Dikembe in college. He played against alot of very good players before he came to the league and had time to refine his game — and he played in an era where he had to KNOW how to score against Hakeem and Ewing and others. Dwight’s had it relatively easier and its been detrimental.
Good points, T3. This is the biggest reason I’m for guys going to college. Their is a severe lack of development, especially with big men, in the league here. As physically talented as Howard is, his overall offensive game isn’t very good from a skills standpoint. And it may never be; he’s in his fifth season already and by that time players are who they are. Yes, you can improve things you already know how to do, but how many players pick up new skills after their fifth year? Ones that they showed no existence of earlier?
Howard will force a game 6. The Lakers still lack a killer instinct. Kobe can’t close games anymore. Expect a Magic victory in Game 5
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