[Hayter]

hopefully a national televised game against a team they played in the finals will get them a little interested.

[Mohican83]

The rest of the games don't matter. lakers will have the #1 seed in the west and will be a different team in the playoffs

[Hayter]

Mohican83, on 07 March 2010 - 12:29 PM, said:

The rest of the games don't matter. lakers will have the #1 seed in the west and will be a different team in the playoffs

yes it does matter cause if lakers don't get home court advantage in the finals, you can forget about it..

these refs were horrible today. both ways. i think bennett salvatore had some money on it. horrible calls. bynum's last foul on howard wasn't a foul. the lob from matt barnes to pietrus was a horrible call. i gotta say, they call every ticky tack on bynum and let everything else go. if i was bynum, i'd be pissed about these idiot refs too...

[Reg]

Kobe's late miss continues Lakers' slide as Magic hold on to win

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Vince Carter had 25 points, Dwight Howard finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds and the Orlando Magic beat the Lakers 96-94 on Sunday to hand Los Angeles its first three-game losing streak of the Pau Gasol-Kobe Bryant Era.

Carter made his first 13 free throws and kept the Magic in control, showing signs of why Orlando made the move for the eight-time All-Star after losing to the Lakers in last year's finals.

But Carter's lone miss gave the Lakers a chance at the end, with Bryant's 20-foot jumper falling short.
Bryant had 34 points and Gasol added 20 points for the Lakers, walking to the locker room distraught and dejected after their latest loss. And with quite a different feeling than that champagne-soaked championship celebration last June.

But this one had all the drama of that series.

Matt Barnes made a 3-pointer to push the Magic's lead to six with 1:10 remaining. A missed free throw by Jameer Nelson gave the Lakers a chance to tie, and Bryant delivered with a 3-pointer -- if only for a second -- with 12.9 seconds remaining.

Bryant jumped into his teammates pouring out from the bench in what would be a premature celebration. Officials reviewed the play and ruled that it was only a two-pointer. And just like that, the Lakers are in the first three-game skid since they acquired Gasol from Memphis in February 2008.

The rematch had the physical feel of a finals.

Bryant and Barnes continuously traded elbows and were each hit with a technical foul in the third quarter after going chest-to-chest in a verbal spat. Barnes had a put-back dunk a few plays later and dangled his legs on Bryant, who extended his right arm slightly into his opponent's chest, leading to another confrontation.

Howard interjected and was called for a technical after muttering a few words at Bryant. The two All-Stars and Olympic teammates kept the verbal jabs going, showing no similar love when their NBA teams meet.

All the rough and tough play gave way to a foul fest.

The teams combined to shoot 29 free throws -- with Orlando going 17 for 18 -- in the opening quarter alone. Howard and Andrew Bynum were sidelined in foul trouble for most of the first three quarters, but a strong effort from Carter and the Magic bench put Orlando ahead by 12 points late in the third.

Then the Lakers provided a reminder of the finals.

They came back just like they did in Games 4 and 5 last year in Orlando, scoring 10 straight points -- including the first eight to start the fourth -- to cut the Magic's lead to 74-72.

Howard answered with a thunderous dunk over Gasol, who was called for a flagrant-one foul on the play about halfway through the fourth. Then like Game 4 -- when Howard missed a pair of crucial free throws -- he again missed badly on both, but still put Orlando ahead 81-74 in what would be a back-and-forth finish.

Game notes
Lakers F Ron Artest reached for his inner Dennis Rodman on Sunday. His hair was dyed blonde with letters in three different languages in Lakers purple. He didn't want to talk about his hair before the game, but he posted on his Twitter page that the letters spelled "Defense" in Hebrew, Hindi and Japanese. ... Yankees pitchers CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte were sitting in the first row on the baseline.

[Juan23]

I see no passion y corazon on defense in the last three games....effin Kobe can't win em' all man...the others are looking out of wack....I think Gasofts backbone is lost and he can't find it.

[Ricky]

Kobe did what he could...WHAT IS WRONG WITH RON? All he has to do is play hard defense! Its not Pau fault that he's been muscled last few games, i truly understand what he goes through haha

but yeah, Dwight is a bitch now. Barnes should get shot

[Hayter]

barnes should have been thrown out. i'd be surprise if the league doesn't fine him after review. i gotta agree with jeff van gundy. the play of the game was when matt barnes faked a pass to kobe's face and kobe didn't budge. that right there should have got him a technical. kobe has brass balls. i ain't gonna lie, i would have flinched my a$$ off.

[Ricky]

Hayter, on 07 March 2010 - 09:44 PM, said:

barnes should have been thrown out. i'd be surprise if the league doesn't fine him after review. i gotta agree with jeff van gundy. the play of the game was when matt barnes faked a pass to kobe's face and kobe didn't budge. that right there should have got him a technical. kobe has brass balls. i ain't gonna lie, i would have flinched my a$$ off.

i would have punched Barnes in the face, but that my knee-jerk reaction

[Nanizm]

start the playoffs already..want to see this team when it counts...while their play this year does make me nervous i know that the playoffs is when championship teams show up....

[Juan23]

Nanizm, on 08 March 2010 - 08:35 AM, said:

start the playoffs already..want to see this team when it counts...while their play this year does make me nervous i know that the playoffs is when championship teams show up....

I wanna see if they start playing some defense too, and if Gasoft grows his backbone back....

[Real Shalongest]

Nanizm, on 08 March 2010 - 08:35 AM, said:

start the playoffs already..want to see this team when it counts...while their play this year does make me nervous i know that the playoffs is when championship teams show up....

Start the playoffs right now? We would be bounced before we ever play the Nuggets. This team effin sucks right now. They should have made a trade at the deadline when they had the chance now they are fucked! Cavs will win their first championship this year. I can`t wait to hear another one of those bad Shaq raps!

[Juan23]

Real Shalongest, on 08 March 2010 - 08:44 AM, said:

Start the playoffs right now? We would be bounced before we ever play the Nuggets. This team effin sucks right now. They should have made a trade at the deadline when they had the chance now they are fucked! Cavs will win their first championship this year. I can`t wait to hear another one of those bad Shaq raps!

They do suck right now, they are not a good road team...they need the home court advantage

3 up on the Mavs >??? WTF is wrong with them....

[Hayter]

every time artest takes it to the hole, he goes so damn slow and tries to power it up. always ends up with someone knocking it out of his hands. effin guy, make a quick move or don't go to the rack half speed and think you're hulk hogan.

[Nanizm]

Real Shalongest, on 08 March 2010 - 08:44 AM, said:

Start the playoffs right now? We would be bounced before we ever play the Nuggets. This team effin sucks right now. They should have made a trade at the deadline when they had the chance now they are fucked! Cavs will win their first championship this year. I can`t wait to hear another one of those bad Shaq raps!

Calm down...this is consistent with championship teams after they win a championship....if you remember those Shaq/Kobe teams were the same way...half assed effort in the regular season..then turned on the swithc in the playoffs...the Lakers appear to have problems but Phil Jackson teams usually get it together right before the playoffs....i know they are not playing well right now but once the playoffs start i am confident that they'll turn it around.

[Paul LA]

Ricky, on 07 March 2010 - 09:56 PM, said:

i would have punched Barnes in the face, but that my knee-jerk reaction

Barnes is the new Doug Christy.

[Juan23]

Paul LA, on 08 March 2010 - 11:01 AM, said:

Barnes is the new Doug Christy.

X2

[Real Shalongest]

Nanizm, on 08 March 2010 - 10:55 AM, said:

Calm down...this is consistent with championship teams after they win a championship....if you remember those Shaq/Kobe teams were the same way...half assed effort in the regular season..then turned on the swithc in the playoffs...the Lakers appear to have problems but Phil Jackson teams usually get it together right before the playoffs....i know they are not playing well right now but once the playoffs start i am confident that they'll turn it around.

If I remember correctly, most of the teams that challenged the Lakers during the Shaq/Kobe era didn`t make big moves like the Mavs,Cavs, and Magic have done this season. Also forgot to mention that during those years Lebron was still in High School growing his pubes somewhere in Ohio

[Nanizm]

Real Shalongest, on 08 March 2010 - 02:07 PM, said:

If I remember correctly, most of the teams that challenged the Lakers during the Shaq/Kobe era didn`t make big moves like the Mavs,Cavs, and Magic have done this season. Also forgot to mention that during those years Lebron was still in High School growing his pubes somewhere in Ohio

Lebron doesn’t know how to win when it counts. He’ll get frustrated, pout then run home and cry.

I'm more worried about the Lakers figuring out what they are doing wrong in time to get on a roll. I believe they'll be fine.

[Real Shalongest]

Nanizm, on 08 March 2010 - 02:21 PM, said:

Lebron doesn’t know how to win when it counts. He’ll get frustrated, pout then run home and cry.

Lebron along with the Cavs will not be stopped this year, IF they can get Illcaca back. Lakers don`t know how to play with Kobe or maybe don`t like playing with Kobe anymore. They are a different team when he is not in the lineup, now don`t go thinking I`m bashing your boy but the truth is the Laker team plays better when Kobe is not there. Derelict get your boner on I said it! But I still think you are gay Derelict.

This post has been edited by Real Shalongest: 08 March 2010 - 02:30 PM

[Paul LA]

Being in 1st place is over-rated, in the NBA.