Los Angeles Lakers
99, Orlando 91 (Los Angeles
leads series, 3-1)

Wow, that was some defense.

It didn’t seem to come up much during the game, for the
usual reasons (defense isn’t much of a talking point, unless teams aren’t
playing it), but this was a phenomenal defensive game from both sides,
following a Game 3 that saw both teams take off on the offensive end.

The sheer activity levels in this game were awesome, and on
a pretty incredible level when you figure the amount of games played and
minutes slogged through this year before reaching a Thursday night in the
second week of June.

Then again, this is also pretty typical of two great teams
who more or less have each other’s wants and needs sussed out. The game
preparation meets the athleticism then feeds off the drive and leads to what we
saw. Great, friggin’, defense.

It shouldn’t be surprising, considering how good these teams
were defensively in 2008-09, but on the heels of that Game 3? An impressive
about-face, no less entertaining, just as competitive.

As is always the case, there were self-made mistakes and
mitigating factors that added to the defense-fest, with the losing team
providing more of the shots to the foot.

The Magic missed 15 of 37 free throws for a miserable 59.5
percent clip, absolute suicide in a game that was tied after 48 minutes. The
team continued its turnover-happy ways, coughing it up 17 times in a very slow
(96 possessions in 53 minutes) contest. Dwight Howard had as many turnovers
(seven) as the entire Laker team.

But credit the Lakers’ defense, which harassed the Magic
screen and roll game to no end. Credit Kobe Bryant’s help defense. Truly
applaud the way Pau Gasol moved his feet, thought off the ball, and gave up his
body in defense of Dwight Howard (5-12 shooting two days after going 5-6 from
the floor).

Gasol was brilliant, defensively. Lamar Odom’s help defense
was superb again, this time without leaving Rashard Lewis so much, and Derek
Fisher was allowed to play a physical brand of defense on the perimeter
(surprising in a game where Bennett Salvatore was the lead official), so he
took advantage.

The Magic were just as sound. They can see the obvious
coming just as clearly as anyone, so Orlando made a point to chase Pau Gasol
off the block early and often, battering him off the ball and bumping him with
help as he cut to the ball. And because the Lakers offense is a read-and-react
offense, Gasol didn’t see the rock as much as we assumed as the ball swung
around, desperate to find someone who was open.

Before Derek Fisher’s two late three-pointers, the Lakers
were shooting 6-21 (28.5 percent) from behind the arc, as the Magic made a
point to chase them off the open long ball. Kobe Bryant got his 32, but it was
a huge struggle (31 shots), and every other Laker only seemed to contribute in
spurts.

But when they did contribute? The difference in the game.

Save for the third quarter, Trevor Ariza shot 1-8 as the
Magic continued to run him off the three-point line, force him to drive, and
work an in-between game (shooting on the run, leaners and such) that he just
isn’t good at during this stage of his career. Save for the third quarter.
Ariza hit a tough leaner as the Magic overplayed everyone but him, which got
his rhythm right as he went on to score 11 more points in the quarter,
including hitting both of his three pointers.

Bryant shot poorly, save for the first quarter, acting as
the team’s offensive savior for the second game in a row during that term as
the Magic just crushed any other Laker’s hope of securing an easy shot. And
Fisher had missed all five of his three-point attempts before nailing a
game-tying trey with just a few seconds left in regulation, and a straightaway
three-pointer in overtime to just about put the Magic away.

The first shot will be the subject of some controversy, as
it should be. The Lakers had the ball with just over 11 seconds left in the
game, down three, and the buzz in the arena was fixated solely on whether or not
the Magic would foul to send the Lakers to the line, with the potential for
only two points.

We’d find out later that the Magic, fearful of their own
free throw shooting woes (I’m sorry, but that’s a cop out. Dwight Howard’s not
going to catch the ball, trust your guys to shoot their averages even if they
just missed three of four in the quarter), decided not to foul. That much has
been gone over quite a bit in the hours since Game 4 ended.

What hasn’t been discussed much is the way the Lakers
surprised the Magic by taking the ball out in the backcourt, as opposed to the
frontcourt, as most coaches do.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy was left to yell at his team like
a little league coach, directing the center fielder to move farther out when
the kid with the pituitary problem that repeated 2^nd grade comes up
to bat. The Magic did a superb job of denying Bryant the ball, face guarding
him with two players on the in-bound pass, but the surprise of the backcourt
in-bound rendered any speculation about fouling pointless.

Even if the Magic wanted to foul, they would have had a
tough time doing it, as the Lakers put in the perfect counter. Almost perfect,
I should say, because the Magic still had a chance to make things right.

Almost perfect because, for whatever reason, Jameer Nelson
was treating Derek Fisher as if he were Derrick Rose as Fisher approached the
three-point line. I’m not excusing Stan Van Gundy. He should have known that Phil Jackson, as he’s done for 20 years, likes to take the ball out in the backcourt. And he should have called for the foul. But Nelson’s decision was the real game-changer.

Nelson was essentially playing a slow, spot-up three-point
shooter for a drive in a three-point game. Even if the Magic wanted to foul,
there’s no way Nelson gets out on Fisher and wraps him up with the defense he
was playing. This one, unfortunately, is on Jameer.

"This one" meaning "the final play of regulation," mind you.
It’s not Nelson’s fault that Howard missed six of 14 free throws, or that Hedo
Turkoglu missed four free throws in the fourth quarter. It’s not his fault
Rafer Alston struggled in the third quarter (1-5 shooting, bad decisions) as
the Lakers made a halftime decision to force everyone but Rafer away from the
ball, and good shots.

And it’s certainly not his fault Rashard Lewis wanted no
part of contact on drives, being a go-to guy, or collecting tough rebounds
(attempting to rebound with his arms, with his body spiraling away from the
ball, while Derek Fisher throws his whole body into the loose ball). Six points
on 10 shots for Lewis, who may as well have been Pat Garrity out there.
Actually, Garrity would have hit a few more of those open shots.

Howard had nine blocks, an NBA Finals record, and he
defended superbly without rejecting anything. Still, when you toss in the free
throw mark and those seven turnovers, you can’t really regard his outing as an
All-Star performance. Time after time he was afforded solid attempts in the
paint, but ruined his chances by bringing the ball down below his waist, ready
to bring it back up for a monster slam a la Shaquille O’Neal.

Dwight? You may have shown more interest in team defense
during this two-game homestand than Shaq has shown in his entire career. You’re
not immature like Shaq. You’re not insecure like Shaq. You’re not out of shape,
like Shaq. But you’re not Shaq. Just because he had that bad habit of bringing
the ball down that low, it doesn’t mean you should emulate it.

O’Neal’s frame was much, much wider than yours, which made
it tougher for teams to wrap him up from behind. You, actually in shape, have
that problem to think about. Keep the ball high, please. You would have had a
30-point game had you just kept the ball above your waist, or higher, even with
the free throw woes.

Again, credit that Laker defense for knowing what to do, and
where to go, at all times. And Gasol for making sure that the shots that Howard
did get off were usually off-balance, and off the mark.

Los Angeles
was ably prepared, and had the talent and energy and drive to execute. The
Magic weren’t that far behind, they were certainly on point defensively save
for that final regulation possessions, but the team’s own offensive mistakes
coupled with that Laker D (just 95 points per 100 possessions for Orlando,
awful) made everything a struggle.

The question now is whether or not the Magic struggle with
their confidence, heading into the rest of a series that has likely been
decided, or if the Lakers struggle to overcome common sense. Common sense that
tells them that the series is already theirs, whether they play just as
desperately in Game 5, or not.

We’ll see on Sunday.

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