So near and yet . . .

Kobe missing free throws and turning the ball over in crunch time? Give Orlando all the credit for an amazing shooting night (62.5%!!) and just maybe for being a little more desperate and focused at the end. But after trailing pretty much the entire game, with Orlando looking as if it might pull away several times, the Lakers stayed gritty and determined and made it a one-possession game. The fact that they really didn't let up at all this game -- maybe the defense was a little less tight than in the first two games, but it really came down to Orlando making shots they were missing in the first two games -- leads me to believe it won't go much past five games. Maybe six. But unless the Lakers have the kind of stinker game they had in the early series, they should win the rest. WEell. maybe Orlando will take one more but . . .

That was almost too easy!

I know it wasn't really. Orlando missed quite a few shots on pretty open looks and can't be expected to shoot so poorly throughout the series. Dwight Howard will likely have some big games. But you have to give the Lakers' defense some credit for that. Howard is not necessarily accustomed to having two 7-footers swarming him, and that seemed to throw his rhythm off.

I was impressed from the beginning with the businesslike sense of mission the Lakers showed from the outset. Kobe was the key, of course, and took the game into his own hands in a sterling 3rd quarter. But everybody came to play and to win. I have been impressed with Stan Van Gundy during these playoffs and I think he'll be able to make some adjustments and have his team ready to be competitive Sunday. But tonight it was all Lakers.

Let's get these finals started

I'm pretty sure that a few days away from games is probably good for the Lakers, who are a bit banged up, especially Lamar Odom. But I can't wait to get these games going. Tomorrow seems like a long time from now in that respect.

I think the key will be how well Andrew Bynum can defend Dwight Howard. If he can keep him farther from the paint, make him change shots and the like, I( think the Lakers will come through pretty handily. In six. I think.

Lakers finally take over a fourth quarter

I had been worried about the Lakers and I'm still not feeling complacent. (I'm atavistic; I've been rooting for the Lakers since the Baylor/West/Goodrich days when they were terrific except in ther final games against the Celtics, and I don't plan to break the habit.) Still, it was terrific to see a team effort including strong defense (and some luck; the Nuggets missed some open shots) to take over the fourth quarter, win and take a 3-2 series lead.

Now it's the games on the other side of the country I'm concerned about. I think lots of NBA fans looked forward to a Lakers-Cavaliers match-up, with Kobe and LeBron, probably the two best players in the league, going after one another. With Orlando leading the Cavaliers 3-1, however, that's becoming a long shot. Still, all of their games could have gone either way, so I'm looking for a miracle.

And for some consistency from the Lakers. This habit of falling apart in alternate games isn't a sustainable strategy as the opposition gets better and better. And they haven't won the Denver series yet.

Lakers looking good

I had not had a chance to see any of the Lakers' preseason games until the second half tonight, after they had taken Kobe out, but what I saw looked very encouraging. It looks as if Andrew Bynum is going to be the player everybody thought he could be, and Jordan Farmar looks to be ready to have a breakout season; he's figured out that he can drive on just about anybody.

Russell Westbrook, who was at UCLA last year and with Oklahoma City this year, also looks good, especially for a rookie. Will he and Kevin Love be competing for Rookie of the Year.

It looks like another deep-into-the-playoffs and quite likely more season fro the Lakers this year -- if they can stay healthy.

The Celtics were impressive

It hurts my heart to type this out, but maybe, just maybe, the Celtics are just a better team than the Lakers this year. All through the playoffs, right up the the finals, even when games were close and a case could be made that luck played a role, I have been confident that the Lakers were simply the better team in each series. Now I'm not so sure.

I don't know why the Lakers lost energy and momentum in thje second half, but you have to give the Celtics all kinds of credit. I'm sure Kobe will figure some things out and be more effective in the next game, but in this game both Ray Allen were able to guard him effectively and prevent him from getting easy shots. In the second half Odom, who had been so strong in the first half, seemed to disappear, but a lot of that can be attributed to the Celtics defense too. The Lakers looked like a bunch of guys on a playground who had just met one another and decided to play a little ball for the exercise. At least in the second half.

I never abandon all hope, but this just might be the Celtics' year, and you can't help but feel that Garnett, Allen, and especially Pierce, after years on losing teams, just might be more determined to get the ring when they're so tantalizingly close. The Lakers will be a very good team for a number of years, especially if Bynum comes back and contributes the way he did in the middle of the season before he was injured, and are likely to win some championships. But this might just be the Celtics' year.

Did I just write that? I do still have a shred or two of hope? Go Lakers!

Whew!

I'll say this for coach Greg Popovich, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili. They showed a lot of class in postgame interviews not to shout "we wuz robbed" after that last play, Where Derek Fisher clearly touched shooter Bret Barry. Actually, if the proper foul had been called, before the shot, it would have been a two-shot foul, with Barry just having a chance to send it to overtime. I would have liked the Lakers' chances in overtime, though overtimes can be effectively decided by the first couple of shots made, and the Spurs might have had momentum.

The Lakers played better, leading out of the gate, and deserved to win. But I could live without clock-management mistakes that gave the Spurs the chance to get back in it, chances they took advantage of in the last minute much better than they had in the rest of the fourth quarter. I must say it was a convincing nailbiter and fun to watch.

How 'bout them Lakers?

I have to admit that I was on the verge of losing hope when the Lakers fell 20 points behind the Lakers in the third quarter of their game against the San Antonio Spurs. But Kobe Bryant, who had been pretty quiet until then, took over the game and virtually willed the Lakers to the win. Jordan Farmar and Vujaicic also brought a lot of energy on a night when Odom and Fisher weren't quite on their game.

I don't expect it will be an easy series. The Spurs may be getting a little long in the tooth, but they are the defending champions and an excellent team. Tim Duncan may be the best power forward playing now, and maybe ever. I expect them to bounce back from what must have been a demoralizing loss and give the Lakers all they can handle.

As I've mentioned before, I'm strictly atavistic in my sports loyalties -- quite primitive for a guy who makes a living with his brain. I fell in love with the Lakers back in the Baylor-West days, when they were terrific but the Celtics were great. It will seem like old times if it's a Lakers-Celtics final again. The Lakers lost my wife when Kobe Bryant did whatever he did with that girl in a Colorado resort, and there's little doubt in my mind that he was up to no good even though he beat the rape charge. But he seems to have grown up some since then, and he has developed into probably the best basketball player on the planet.

Whew!

The UCLA basketball game took it out of me so severely that I haven't been able to blog. Well, actually, although I was exhausted after the game -- Texas A&M was even tougher than I expected and really played well, leading at halftime and right up until the last couple of minutes, and I was whooping and hollering ridiculously -- it had more to do with the plans Sunday. A high school friend I haven't seen since my wedding day more than 27 years ago e-mailed and suggested a reunion at the church we all attended in high school on Easter. It ended up being me, Bob Clark and Sandy MacNicoll-Brown, but it was really quite exciting and gratifying. And it took most of the day. Then tonight I indulged myself and watched the Lakers. An exciting game, which they should have won in regulation until they threw a couple of lazy passes and had to scratch out an overtime win that wasn't certain until the last 3.3 seconds. I've been following the Lakers since the West-Baylor days, but I'm still not as emotionally involved with them as I am with the Bruins. So there will be a few more tonight.

130-124 Lakers!

Pau Gasol was The Man down the stretch, ending up with 29, sometimes fed by Kobe (who had 41). Vujacic made the free throws when the Suns had to foul in the last few seconds. That puts the Lakers in first by virtue of winning the season series. And whether they go all the way this year or not, it looks as if they'll have a dominant team for several years to come.