Caution: If You Have A Pre-Existing Heart Condition And/Or Are A Magic Fan, DO NOT Watch These Finals

This is just brutal. 2002 Kings-Lakers brutal. I think back on all the moments over the years where the Lakers came up huge in the biggest possible moments. Horry's Game 5 shot. Derek Fisher's 0.4 game winner. Horry about three more times. Kobe to Shaq in 2000 to cap a 15 point comeback Game 7 against the Blazers in the 4th.

Add last night's 3-point shot from Derek Fisher to that list of cold-blooded, backbreaking shots that the Lakers have consistenly made in recent history. As much as I hated to acknowledge it, I knew without a doubt, along with so many other Magic fans-- if the game went overtime, the Lakers would win. All the Magic had to do was hang on in the final minute with their 5 point lead. But they simply couldn't do it. So we have an exceptionally clutch shot from a guy who was 0-for-5 on his 3-point attempts in the game before that shot. On a play originally designed for Kobe, Derek Fisher received the ball, raced up the court, and plunged a dagger right in the Magic's collective hearts.

Now, there's a bit more to it than that. I don't think I've seen a team choke this horribly in a game of this magnitude in quite some time. The Magic, despite their alternating hot and cold play in this game (up 12 at the half, followed by an atrocious 3rd quarter where they were outscored by 16), had finally taken firm control of the game. It became a slugfest late in the 4th, with teams trading blows back and forth. with the game tied at 79, Dwight Howard scored on a beautiful lay-up down low, drawing the foul as well. He nailed the free throw (his last until going 1-for-2 in OT to tie the score again), and the Magic took an 82-79 lead. Then, with the shot clock winding down, Trevor Ariza of all people steps up big again for a huge 3 to tie the game. On the ensuing Magic possession, Turkoglu drains a step-back 3 with 2:11 left in the game.

Dwight Howard gets yet ANOTHER block, this time swatting Gasol's shot, and Turkoglu steps up big again with a running two with 1:34 left. Magic 87, Lakers 82. Timeout LA. The crowd is going nuts. Nelson gets called for blocking on Kobe, Kobe bricks a long contested 3, and the Magic fans are feeling it. Everyone in the arena knows the Magic are winning this game. Up 5, with the ball, 1 minute left. They get the ball to an ice-cold Rashard Lewis (yes, the same guy who absolutely butchered the Cavs in the clutch last series), with a chance to effectively end the game. Pump fake. Steps up closer to the basket. Another pump. WIDE OPEN SHOT FOR LEWIS! Brick. From 16 feet out, a total brick. The Lakers grab the ball, Kobe sprints up the court, twists in the lane on two defenders, finds Gasol for a monster dunk. 87-84, Magic ball.

Now the entire arena is in oh-please-god-no-don't-blow-this mode. It appears safe so long as Turkoglu, the most clutch player on the team, has the ball in his hands. He winds time down, finds a wide-open Howard under the basket with 11 seconds left. Now here's the biggest problem I have with Howard. The fact that he always feels the need to gather himself before any shot. He catches the ball high. If he immediately shoots, it's game over. Unquestionably. But what does he do? He pulls the ball down to gather himself for a monster dunk. And, of course, Kobe does the smart thing and fouls the hell out of Howard, the 50% free throw shooter. I feel like it's worth mentioning that Gasol would have kept the ball high and scored instantly.

And here's what's funny: everyone, I mean everyone, knew he was bricking these free throws. This is a guy who, with the exception of good offensive post moves (dunking doesn't count-- it's not a post move if 5'7 Nate Robinson does it), is the second coming of Shaq. And yes, that means right down to the free throw shooting. So here's a 23 year old superstar who consistently struggles with free throws, a guy who demonstrates the maturity of a 14 year old, going to the line to ice the game in unquestionable the biggest moment of his career. Of course he's going to choke. A better strategy would have been to pretend he had been injured too badly to even shoot the free throws, so the Magic could bring in a substitute who would actually make them. Or at lease ONE.

He bricks the first. Collective groan through the arena. At this point, I turned to my buddy Joe and said, "If he misses this next one, the Lakers go down, hit a 3 to tie, and win it in overtime. Trust me on this." Naturally, Howard misses. Timeout Lakers. And we know the rest.

Derek Fisher once again goes in the annals of Laker postseason greatness with his game-tying 3. And with 4.6 seconds left they proceed to blow their one final chance to win this game. We all knew their spirit was too broken after this to win in OT, Kobe too rejuvenated by Fisher's dagger 3. Seriously, how can Pietrus be the guy attempting a game-winner when they have 4.6 seconds to score? They had more than enough time. I was screaming at the tv to have Lewis inbound to Turkoglu and give him the last shot. I want nobody else on this team taking that shot. Not Howard under the basket, Not Lewis in the corner, definitely not Pietrus on a contested fallaway... it HAS to be Turkoglu.

Lewis finally shows up for a difficult 3 in the corner to start the period (really, Lewis? Couldn't make a shot all game, couldn't make an easy wide open 2 to ice the game with under 40 seconds left, but you can make a contested 3 as the shot clock winds down? This guy gets the award for too little, too late hands down), and then Kobe takes over early in OT. Back to back difficult jumpers to put the Lakers up. Howard goes to the line, makes 1-of-2 for the Magic's final points.

Fisher puts one final dagger into the Magic with his 3-pointer at the top of the key to put the Lakers up for good with one minute left, 94-91. I think I blacked out after that shot. All I remember following that is scratching my head at the final score. 99-91? What? What about a Mickael Pietrus flagrant that may get him suspended for the next game? Oh, and you're telling me he committed this foul when the game was already clearly over?

If you're a Magic fan right now, I can't blame you for contemplating: A) Suicide B) Homicide--namely Coach Ron Jeremy for his decision to bench Alston for the entire 4th and OT, in addition to a litany of other mistakes... not seeing Courtney Lee come in to play defense when all you have to do is maintain a lead, not fouling when the Lakers inbounded with 11 seconds left, not letting the Magic regroup by only calling one timeout in the 3rd when his team was getting butchered 30-14, seriously I could keep going, but I think it's best for my blood pressure that I don't.

... that being said, you don't deserve to win if you can't hold on to the ball and make your free throws. The Magic wound up missing 15 (FIFTEEN!!) free throws in the game, and turned the ball over 17 times. Yes, you read that right. They had 17 turnovers to the Lakers 7, and they wound up shooting 59.5% from the free throw line. IN A FINALS GAME! Here's a fun stat: the Magic shot better in Game 3 FROM THE FIELD than they did in Game 4 from the line. I'm using caps lock here so you can see how astounded I am.

Also worth noting is Dwight Howard, he of the 16 points, 21 rebounds, and 9 blocks-- wound up with 5 of 12 shooting (yes, that's just under 42% shooting-- and the farthest shot he attempted? 9 feet.), 6 of 14 from the free throw line (just about 43%), and 7 turnovers (congratulations, Lakers, you had just as many turnovers as Dwight Howard, the suppposed best player on the Magic!). I believe this turns Dwight Howard into the world's first walking catch-22. The Magic couldn't have won without him, but as he proved-- they damn sure couldn't win with him. Really quite a night for the guy. Have you ever seen someone play so well, and at the same time, so poorly in such a big game before? I submit that you have not.

It remains to be seen if this will change him, if he can stop being such a free throw line liability, if he can actually develop a post move or two, and if he can figure how to hang on to the ball when he gets it in the lane--or perhaps learn to pass better when the double team comes. I certainly hope he can figure it out, for the Magic's sake.

One more thing: I find it extremely amusing that Patrick Ewing is sitting there on the sidelines as an assistant coach, to help with teaching Howard. I wonder if he was having choking-in-the-Finals flashbacks when Howard was falling apart late in Game 4. Maybe the Magic should think about investing in a teacher who actually, you know, came through when it counted.

A Quick Recap of the Playoffs So Far... Conference Finals

As you may have noticed, I'm kind of like Rafer Alston: not exactly the picture of consistency. But I was past due for another update, so without further ado, no more beating around the bush, enough dragging my feet, no more stalling, seriously, you're about to read it... back to the recap.

Fore me, the conference finals were marked by disappointment. One series where I hoped against hope that the Nuggets could prevail, the other series absolutely floored by the Magic's ascension-- causing untold grief to Cavs fans, players, coaches, and puppets alike.


Western Conference:

Conference Final- Lakers vs. Nuggets

Well, I was pretty impressed with the way the Nuggets hung tough with the Lakers for the first four games. They even had a very decent chance (if only they could INBOUND THE BALL!) of winning a few of the games they lost. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough gas in them to push it the entire way. I loved seeing Chauncey Billups step up and lead the team, and it was amazing to see Carmelo Anthony really take his game to the next level with some great moments going toe-to-toe with Kobe. But the fact remains, as I've been saying all year... the Lakers cruise until they have to show up. And when it's required, they do what they have to--and they usually blow the other team out in the process. Game 5 and 6 were just the Lakers going for the jugular and flat out getting it done.

Denver actually has a very good team, and it'll be interesting to see what steps they take in the offseason, how well they can keep this current nucleus together, and if they can escalate their game to the level of serious title contenders.



Eastern Conference:

Conference Final- Magic vs. Cavs

What can you say? The Magic have proved all postseason that their talent level is higher than almost every other team-- I'd say the only possible teams more talented would be LA and Denver. LeBron absolutely dominated this series, and the Cavs supporting cast couldn't help him out at all. Cleveland fans should be panicking at this point, because LeBron could easily be on his way out of town. It's an absolute atrocity that:

1. 
   Mike Brown is still the coach of this team. REALLY? The guy doesn't even try anymore, he just throws LeBron out there and prays. And it's usually a decent strategy, seeing as LeBron is the best player in the league. But when another team is playing extremely well, making adjustments, shooting incredible percentages... well, you have to change up your strategy! I couldn't believe Game 2- when they are obviously, obviously going to Turkoglu for the game winner, how do you possibly justify guarding him with Sasha Pavlovic?? Always put your best defender on their crunch time guy. That's common sense. LeBron should have been on him. They should have lost that one, but won on a LeBron miracle. Which should have been the defining moment in the Cavs playoff run. Not a footnote for the Magic's (...struggling to not say the word "magical") surprising trip to the finals. Brown also didn't even call a play for the entire fourth quarter of one game. Just iso for LeBron. The whole quarter. It was amazing to watch LeBron take over like that, but Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith said it best immediately after the game. There's no way anyone could keep that up for 7 games. He averages a 38-8-8 and your team loses?? That's a sign of a lot of problems. Chief among them I believe is this guy. Mike Brown needs to be fired, and the Cavs need to bring in an actual coach. I hear Avery Johnson's available. He's not great, but he'll outcoach Mike Brown any day. If I lived in Cleveland and I was a Cavs fan I would be officially livid. And I'd probably picket the Q Arena with signs. Signs that say something along the lines of "Mike Brown, get out of town". Anything that rhymes, really.
   
   
2. LeBron has to deal with the likes of Varejao, Ilgauskas, Wallace, Sczerbiak, and Pavlovic. Holy hell did LeBron's supporting cast get exposed. They finally came up against a real team, one that was coming together, figuring everything out at exactly the right time-- and they would have all been blowout wins in the Magic's favor if LeBron didn't pull the superhuman routine. The fact that they won in six speaks volumes about the help LeBron got. Here's a quick rundown of how awful the rest of the Cavs were in this series: Game 1- Varejao doesn't close out on the Lewis three (even though you always let him drive by and deny the 3 in a moment like that, late game, up 2), then they still have a chance to win when LeBron's drive creates a wide open 3 for Delonte West. Brick. Game 3- LeBron looks human, doesn't have an insanely good game, so the Cavs lose easily by 10. Game 4- Choke, choke, choke down the stretch by everyone on the team not named LeBron. Chief among them was the Delonte West dive after a bad pass by the Magic with 5 seconds left, up by 1. He leaves the ball alone, it goes out of bounds, game over. Instead he knocks it out, Lewis hits a 3, LeBron saves them with some clutch free throws. They definitely should have won, but lose in overtime. It warrants mentioning that LeBron had 44 points, 7 assists, 12 rebounds.
3. The Cleveland front office refuses to make any kind of move for a true low post presence to help out LeBron. Ilgauskas has turned into Dirk Nowitzki without the shooting touch, speed, moves, and desire. Which is to say he's turned into a huge white glacier that plays too far away from the basket.

LeBron needs to say forget these losers and jet out of town in 2010, go play for D'Antoni and the Knicks (especially once they draft his good friend Stephen Curry--what an exciting team this would be...seriously, as a basketball fan, I would just about lose my mind if this scenario actually happened) and bring prominence back to New York.

All this being said about this series-- I don't mean to detract any from Orlando's accomplishments. They are a fascinating team, and they have proved that they have more talent than quite possibly any other team in this league. However, they been alternatingly brilliant and infuriating, which is just another example of the rollercoaster ride this year's playoffs have been.

The Magic have a tendency to meltdown in big moments, and then immediately bounce back with a dominant game. They can take over in the clutch and come up huge, like Turkoglu and Lewis did throughout the Cavs series, and then collapse entirely in a different game. It's a compelling team to watch... and even though I've never given them a chance against the Lakers, they're starting to show that if they can put it all together, they aren't just capable of beating anybody-- they're likely to beat just about anybody.