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Read about the Lakers vs. Magic Game 5 as it unfolds. As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Game 1
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 4, 2009
Lakers 100, Magic 75: Postgame 1

Game 2
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 7, 2009
Lakers 101, Magic 96: Postgame 2

Game 3
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 9, 2009
Lakers 104, Magic 108: Postgame 3

Game 4
Lakers - Magic Running Diary, June 11, 2009
Lakers 99, Magic 91: Postgame 4

Inactives
Lakers: Adam Morrison, Sun Yue
Magic: Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson

Starters
Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum
Magic: Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard

Phil Jackson Pregame
- Jackson opened his presser by talking about Tex Winter, who he said is able to watch and enjoy the Finals from home but isn’t able to speak on the phone: “When I became the head coach of the Bulls, I asked Johnny Bach to be the defensive coordinator and Tex to be the offensive coordinator. Tex is obviously the innovator of the triangle offense … His dedication to it made him the drill sergeant to the team. He always encouraged team play and system play, so if it became too individual, he would always bring that to bear. But more than anything else, he kept a running score on the sideline, which is now done by Brian Shaw.”
- He also talked about how difficult it is to maintain a singular focus with all the outside distractions with just one more game to win. Ultimately, he said, it’s not about him and his 10th title: “It’s really about these young men and what they’re doing.”
- Finally, Jackson compared Jameer Nelson’s return to Orlando’s lineup to Andrew Bynum’s prior to the playoffs and explained that the team skipped the morning shootaround due to the time that would have been wasted getting to and from the arena. Instead, the team watched film at the hotel.

Stan Van Gundy Pregame
- “They’re prepared, they’re in a good frame of mind, it’ll come down to how well we play. I thought practice yesterday was very good, I thought the walk through this morning was good.”
- Van Gundy said he doesn’t worry about missed free throws, because they aren’t a lack of effort or execution. It just happens. He added that Dwight Howard’s improved considerably throughout the season … But just missed some shots.
- He doesn’t think Orlando is getting “badly outplayed,” but didn’t take the bait to say that the Magic should or could be up or even in the series, as an Orlando reporter suggested. “What it could be is basically anything, the reality is it’s 3-1,” he said. In other words, he said that the Magic had a chance to win two of the last three, and the Lakers had a chance to win Game 3, meaning the series “could” have been 4-0, 3-1 or 2-2. But it’s “not.”

Jim Cleamons Pregame Video
Lakers assistant coach Jim Cleamons joined us to preview the final game, and take a deeper look at the pick and roll, which has been critical for both teams in the series. CLICK HERE and scroll down to “Coach Speak” to watch.

Follow Us On Twitter
In case there aren’t enough observations for you in the diary, feel free to follow us on twitter on @Lakers or @miketrudell.

First Quarter
12:00 The energy in the building for Game 5 is noticeably less than that of Game 4 … Will that seep into the Magic (or Lakers) players? One thing to keep in mind in the early goings: Bynum, Gasol and Odom all had two fouls after quarter one of Game 1, which in large part caused L.A.’s 12-point deficit at halftime.

11:25 Lee scored the game’s first points on a deep pull-up jumper after Bynum turned the ball over trying to find Gasol down low, but quickly made up for it by grabbing an offensive board and keeping it alive for Pau’s tip in.

8:17 Orlando was extremely active on defense as the Lakers struggled to get good looks, resulting in two deep jump shots from Bynum. At the other end, Turkoglu and Lee scored on consecutive drives to put Orlando up 11-6.

7:00 Phil Jackson called timeout after Bryant was stripped and Alston converted a layup at the other end, with Kobe coming up lame surely due to pain on his troublesome finger. However, Bynum grabbed a Fisher miss and stuck it back in, his first make in seven attempts after he was forced into some tough shots.

4:15 After Bryant stuck his second consecutive jumper, Bynum converted his second straight field goal in the paint, a dunk over Howard, to bring L.A. within four at 21-17. In essence, L.A. had survived Orlando’s initial burst.

2:21 At an extended TV timeout that only the Finals can provide, Orlando’s “Dancin’ Dads” performed a bizarre dance to “Ridin’ Dirty” and “Pretty Fly For A White Guy” that you’re glad you missed, though to be fair, they sort of redeemed themselves when my top-three rap song “Big Pimpin’” came on.

0:53.4 Bryant’s two free throws cut Orlando’s lead to just one at 27-26, getting him to 11 points to lead all scorers. On the next possession, Howard got to the free throw line and missed badly on the first in an interesting situation since the last freebies he shot allowed L.A. to tie Game 4. He made the second, however.

0:00 After a Luke Walton miss, Mickael Pietrus (who moments earlier had converted a driving layup after taking six steps) couldn’t convert a quarter-ending three, making it a 28-26 margin after one. In Game 4, L.A. had trailed 24-20.

Continue reading ‘Lakers - Magic Running Diary 5′

Read about the Lakers vs. Magic Game 3 as it unfolds. As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Adam Morrison, Sun Yue
Magic: Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson

Starters
Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum
Magic: Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard

Phil Jackson Pregame
Jackson responded to a question about Pau Gasol’s apparent basket interference play by citing a Dwight Howard goaltend that had occurred earlier in the game. As the discussion continued, Jackson said that he thought the play was in fact a violation, but the rule actually showed that it was not since the ball’s path was not affected. He added a line about his backup point guard: “Just giving them both a little feel for the game. Jordan can energize us with his speed, quickness, his offensive ability out there. Shannon a little more in the defensive aspect of the game.”

Stan Van Gundy Pregame
“They’re doing a very, very good job defensively,” SVG said of the Lakers. His focus is limiting the turnovers (20 in Game 2), but eight of them came in a first quarter after which the score was 15-all. He also explained that Courtney Lee took no heat after missing what was “not an easy shot,” and said that the Gasol rim-touching did not affect the shot. “Calls didn’t decide that game,” he explained.

Shaw Pregame Video
While the Magic were the team that made more adjustments heading into Game 2 (they had to after getting blown out of the building by 25 in Game 1) the Lakers feel like they’re the team that can change a few critical things before Game 3 in Orlando tips off at 6 p.m. CLICK HERE to check out Brian Shaw’s scouting report.

Follow Us On Twitter
In case there aren’t enough observations for you in the diary, feel free to follow us on twitter on @Lakers or @miketrudell.

First Quarter
12:00 The Magic had six of its cheerleaders and their kind-of-bizarre-friendly-green-dragon mascot repel from the rafters to lead into introductions, which didn’t feature a video. As such, we can declare that Houston by far had the best pregame intros for any of L.A.’s playoff opponents.

Moments later, Howard won the tip for the third straight game, then received a pass from Turkoglu. When Ariza came to help, Turkoglu had a wide-open three that would have sent an already frantic crowd into a frenzy, but he missed, and Fish hit a jumper at the other end to start the scoring.

10:43 Gasol’s baseline spin move worked easily on Lewis, and a one-handed dunk ensued after Lewis had hit from the baseline. On the next possession, Lee missed an open three, and Bynum’s hook was goaltended by Howard. Lakers 6, Magic 2.

7:44 Howard hit 1-of-2 free throws after the first foul of the game (on Gasol) to cap a 5-0 Magic run, but Ariza ended it with a pull-up jumper from the top of the key. Both teams were getting good looks at the basket. Yet the Magic had actually missed three wide open jumpers, which to me is a product of the pressure of being down 2-0 with a frenzied crowd ratcheting up expectations. That’s a lot to live up to.

4:54 Five straight points from Bryant, the second on a pull-up three, gave L.A. a 17-13 cushion prior to Bynum’s foul of the Turkish Turkoglu, who’d go to the line after the first TV timeout. Here are a few things you could do during a Finals’ TV timeout: run around the arena; count to 1 million; text everyone in your phone book; check your running diary for grammar errors.

3:46 Rafer Alston was 1-of-13 heading into the evening, but nailed his first three to help the Magic tie things up at 21 before Bryant made the prettiest of moves to get a finger roll off a post up. Meanwhile, Bynum had amassed four points and four boards in nine minutes before Odom lined up to check in, giving the Lakers exactly what they wanted. Furthermore, he committed only one foul after being saddled with foul trouble in Game 2.

2:36 Odom put a deep J up immediately upon entering the game and missed, equaling the amount of shots he missed in Game 2, but Bryant nailed two more pull up jumpers, looking like he did in Game 4 at Utah in the First Round when he was taking shots really early in the clock and nailing all of them. He was 6-for-7 with 13 of L.A.’s 27 points to put his team up two.

0:30.0 Bryant was simply masterful in the first, nailing a silly 25-foot three-pointer on Pietrus AFTER the Frenchman jumped into him. Bryant went on to hit the free throw to get to 17 points in the period with his Lakers up 31-27. Thanks largely to Kobe, the team shot 58.3 percent, which actually paled compared with Orlando’s 11-of-16 (69 percent).
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Magic Running Diary 3′

Read about the Lakers vs. Magic Game 1 as it unfolds. As always, feel free to refresh your browser for live updates throughout the game … On second thought, I guess they wouldn’t technically be “live” updates since you have to press refresh. But whatever.

Inactives
Lakers: Adam Morrison, Sun Yue
Magic: Tyronn Lue, Jeremy Richardson

Starters
Lakers: Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant, Trevor Ariza, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum
Magic: Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard

Stan Van Gundy Pregame
The big news out of the pregame interviews was that Jameer Nelson will dress and will “probably” play according to SVG, a surprise as it was reported earlier on Thursday that he likely would NOT play. Here’s the quote: “We’re going to dress him today and probably play him. Some ways not a difficult decision because it just comes down to trying to make a decision that we think gives us the best chance to win. The easiest decision would have been to not play him … He would have understood and it wouldn’t have disrupted our rotation. He’s ready to go, we think he can put some pressure on their defense.” The plan is to put Nelson in off the bench when Rafer Alston takes a seat. Van Gundy said the Magic will stick with him regardless of how well or poorly he plays.

Phil Jackson Pregame
On Nelson’s impact: “We haven’t discussed it by name, but by position. The players with specific talents, we discuss them … Rafer filled in and was almost identical to what they (had with Nelson).” So, essentially, the Lakers aren’t thinking too much about it. Jackson also addressed the nervous energy that leads into Game 1 of the NBA Finals when asked how his younger role players might respond, but did not seem at all concerned with it. He feels that L.A. is ready to play, though of course several adjustments will be made after Game 1. Basically the same stuff we’ve heard all week.

Follow Us On Twitter
In case there aren’t enough observations for you in the diary, feel free to follow us on twitter on @Lakers or @miketrudell.

First Quarter
12:00 The game ball was presented by a guy named Earvin Johnson, who was led “Magic” by Lawrence Tanter. The assembled crowd appreciated that (apparently he was pretty good at basketball).

11:24 After Howard’s miss, a deep catch in the lane by Bynum immediately produced a personal foul on Lewis. After the inbounds pass, Gasol found Bynum with a pretty pass just under the rim, resulting in a dunk and the first points of the Finals.

10:54 Much has been said about Orlando’s three-point shooting ability, which Turkoglu showcased in the corner after Alston’s penetration. While Bynum answered with an elbow jumper, Alston drove right past Fisher for a layup. Gasol then lost the ball on offense, and Howard scored his first points to put Orlando up 7-4.

7:56 Worried about foul trouble, Howard barely contested another Bynum hoop, as ‘Drew’s six points gave L.A. a 10-9 lead.

5:30 The first time out came after Bynum drew Howard’s first personal on an isolation play from the left block, the score tied at 14 with two free throws coming. Both teams shot well in the first six minutes, combining for 13-of-25 (52 percent), primarily from the inside, as Turkoglu’s was the only 3-pointer attempted.

3:30 L.A.’s defense was happy to allow deep jumpers from sub Tony Battie, while Fisher and Gasol sunk theirs to put the Lakers up 20-16 as Bynum’s second foul so Odom check in.

2:36 Walton checked in for Ariza and immediately got a dunk for Gasol (you wonder why players love playing with Walton) who then drew Howard’s second foul on the other end. Meanwhile, Mickael Pietrus had checked in to guard Bryant, and Marcin Gortat in for Howard.

0:45.2 Orlando took the lead on an Alston layup after Bryant missed for the fifth time in eight attempts.

0:01.0 Another Bryant miss wouldn’t quite climb over the rim at the buzzer, allowing Orlando the 24-22 lead after the first quarter of the Finals.
Continue reading ‘Lakers - Magic Running Diary 1′