NBA Finals Game 3: Magic 108 Lakers 104
Thanks to a record-shattering shooting performance, the Magic won their first Finals game in franchise history, defeating Los Angeles. The Magic shot 75% in the first half (24 of 32), which was the highest shooting percentage ever in a half for a Finals game. The Magic shot 62.5% for the game, which was the highest shooting percentage ever for a Finals game, breaking the 1991 Chicago Bulls record. Despite the Magic hot shooting, the Lakers made things tough for the Magic, as they shot 51.3% themselves.
The Lakers jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, and had the lead for most of the first quarter as it ended 31-27 Lakers. The Magic were able to wrest the lead from the Lakers at the 4:29 mark of the second quarter, and scored 14 of the final 20 points of the first half to lead at halftime 59-54.
The Magic were able to maintain their lead in the third quarter, and led by as much as 77-69 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining and led 81-75 going into the fourth quarter. The Magic stretched their lead to 91-82 with just under eight minutes remaining, but the Lakers made their first eight shots of the fourth and tied the game at 99 with 2:42 remaining. The Magic never let the Lakers get the lead though, as the Lakers missed five of their final seven shots and split two free throws as the Magic made their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 21 points (8 of 14 field goals), 5 assists, 5 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 21 points (5 of 6 field goals, 11 of 16 free throws), 14 rebounds, 2 blocks
Rafer Alston: 20 points (8 of 12 field goals), 4 assists
Hedo Turkoglu: 18 points (7 of 12 field goals), 7 assists, 6 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 18 points (7 of 11 field goals), 3 steals
Los Angeles leading scorers
Kobe Bryant: 31 points (11 of 25 field goals), 8 assists
Pau Gasol: 23 points (9 of 11 field goals), 3 rebounds, 2 blocks
Trevor Ariza: 13 points (5 of 13 field goals), 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Lamar Odom (bench): 11 points (4 of 6 field goals)
Jordan Farmar (bench): 11 points
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 62.5% (40 of 64) LA 51.3% (40 of 78)
3 PT FG%: ORL 35.7% (5 of 14) LA 34.8% (8 of 23)
FT%: ORL 76.7% (23 of 30) LA 61.5% (16 of 26)
REB: ORL 29 (5 offensive) LA 27 (11 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 23/13 LA 16/13
BENCH: ORL 24 LA 24
Other game notes and stats:
-The Magic shot a remarkable 20 of 23 from two point range in the first half and 35 of 50 for the game
-The Magic's best-shooting quarter was the second, as they shot 13 of 16 overall
-The Magic starting frontcourt outscored the Lakers' starting frontcourt 60-40, and outrebounded them 25-14
-Bryant, after starting out 8 of 11 shooting, made just 3 of his last 14 shots and scored just ten second half points
-Bryant made just 4 of 9 free throws
-The Magic used a nine-man rotation, with Tony Battie scoring four points and Jameer Nelson scoring two points; Marcin Gortat went scoreless
-Courtney Lee was the only Magic starter not in double figures, scoring four points in 20 minutes
-The Lakers attempted 14 more shots than the Magic
-The Magic made 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth
Here is the complete box score from nba.com
Here is the complete recap from nba.com
Game 4 will be Thursday night in Orlando.
The Lakers jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead, and had the lead for most of the first quarter as it ended 31-27 Lakers. The Magic were able to wrest the lead from the Lakers at the 4:29 mark of the second quarter, and scored 14 of the final 20 points of the first half to lead at halftime 59-54.
The Magic were able to maintain their lead in the third quarter, and led by as much as 77-69 with 2 1/2 minutes remaining and led 81-75 going into the fourth quarter. The Magic stretched their lead to 91-82 with just under eight minutes remaining, but the Lakers made their first eight shots of the fourth and tied the game at 99 with 2:42 remaining. The Magic never let the Lakers get the lead though, as the Lakers missed five of their final seven shots and split two free throws as the Magic made their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 21 points (8 of 14 field goals), 5 assists, 5 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 21 points (5 of 6 field goals, 11 of 16 free throws), 14 rebounds, 2 blocks
Rafer Alston: 20 points (8 of 12 field goals), 4 assists
Hedo Turkoglu: 18 points (7 of 12 field goals), 7 assists, 6 rebounds
Mickael Pietrus (bench): 18 points (7 of 11 field goals), 3 steals
Los Angeles leading scorers
Kobe Bryant: 31 points (11 of 25 field goals), 8 assists
Pau Gasol: 23 points (9 of 11 field goals), 3 rebounds, 2 blocks
Trevor Ariza: 13 points (5 of 13 field goals), 7 rebounds, 2 steals
Lamar Odom (bench): 11 points (4 of 6 field goals)
Jordan Farmar (bench): 11 points
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: ORL 62.5% (40 of 64) LA 51.3% (40 of 78)
3 PT FG%: ORL 35.7% (5 of 14) LA 34.8% (8 of 23)
FT%: ORL 76.7% (23 of 30) LA 61.5% (16 of 26)
REB: ORL 29 (5 offensive) LA 27 (11 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 23/13 LA 16/13
BENCH: ORL 24 LA 24
Other game notes and stats:
-The Magic shot a remarkable 20 of 23 from two point range in the first half and 35 of 50 for the game
-The Magic's best-shooting quarter was the second, as they shot 13 of 16 overall
-The Magic starting frontcourt outscored the Lakers' starting frontcourt 60-40, and outrebounded them 25-14
-Bryant, after starting out 8 of 11 shooting, made just 3 of his last 14 shots and scored just ten second half points
-Bryant made just 4 of 9 free throws
-The Magic used a nine-man rotation, with Tony Battie scoring four points and Jameer Nelson scoring two points; Marcin Gortat went scoreless
-Courtney Lee was the only Magic starter not in double figures, scoring four points in 20 minutes
-The Lakers attempted 14 more shots than the Magic
-The Magic made 9 of 10 free throws in the fourth
Here is the complete box score from nba.com
Here is the complete recap from nba.com
Game 4 will be Thursday night in Orlando.
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 2:00 AM
13 Comments:
At 3:00 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Now we all can see what the Magic are capable of doing when they shoot the ball like they're capable of.
So many players contributed to this win. Alston, after two awful games, justified the confidence SVG showed in him with an outstanding game; Howard had his best offensive game of the series, and hit 70% of his free throws; Lewis and Turk had their usual solid games, and even Lee had a poster dunk and played some really good defense on Bryant in the second half.
Of course, Pietrus off the bench was huge with his energy on offense and defense. Pietrus didn't make any threes, but he still scored 18 points; that shows how versatile he is offensively.
The Lakers really battled though, as any other team would likely have been blown out in this situation. If Bryant shoots better than 4 of 9 from the FT line, this game could have turned out different.
The Magic were clutch at the line in the fourth, making 9 of 10 from the line, and did what they had to do to win the game.
Gasol was outstanding offensively; I would think the Lakers would try to get the ball to him more the next game.
This is a series now! This win should give the Magic much confidence, and they can tie it up Thursday night.
At 9:26 AM,
WeRDevos said…
Biggest victory in the teams history.
At 9:34 AM,
Anonymous said…
"biggest win in teams history" Well considering that it was the only Finals win in Team history, its not like it was that good of a win. Lakers missed their free throws, Orlando did not. game over. Orlando needs to win all 3 at home, as they cannot win both game 6 and 7 on the road.
At 11:43 AM,
Big Figure said…
Not that good of a win??? WHAT??? That was a great win! The fact that the magic played tough and didnt let the lakers off the hook by winning the game with defense makes it a good win. Defense wins championships and the magic forced a turnover to win the game,thats the REAL game over. Free throws missed is an excuse. The magic missed a ton of freethrows in game two,but i bet that was a good win for the lakers right? Bottom line,the magic can still play better defensively and if were gonna win game 4 we'll have to.
At 12:03 PM,
Anonymous said…
No it was not a good win the for the lakers (not sure who said it was). Lakers played terrible and did not deserve to win, but since the Magic missed their free throws, the magic did not go and "take" game 2. If anything that should have demorized the Magic knowing how shitty the lakers played and still won the game, will be the series clincher in my opinion but time will tell.
I realize that this was a big win for this franchise/city but for werdevos to say this was the biggest victory ever for the magic isn't saying a whole lot when you have never won a game in the finals. Lakers fans can say this because they have many games/wins in their franchise history so when they say that it actually may mean something. Magic fans cannot say this they have no history and no previous wins.
At 2:23 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Talk in circles all you want. This is the biggest win ever for the City of Orlando short of the day Walt Disney bought up all the cattle farms.
Not to mention that it was just a great game to watch no matter who won.
It's a great day for the City of Orlando. It's a great step forward for the franchise and for the players on this team. Now to play hard again and go win Game 4.
And don't go waving your Minneapolis/LA Lakers history in my face either. I've been a Magic fan since they formed in '87. In '89 when they started playing I switched my allegiance from my college town team of Boston (which I kept while living in LA for 3 years during the Magic/Bird era. That was fun.)
At 2:44 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
The Magic have a secret weapon on their side... they are undefeated when that 7 year old little girl sings the National Anthem; what is it, something like 8-0 now.
I'll be flying down to Orlando later on this evening to house sit for my sister and brother-in-law, who are on vacation.
This came at the perfect time, with the Magic in the Finals. I'm still looking into the availability of a ticket for Game 4 or Game 5.
At 2:48 PM,
Anonymous said…
Thats the difference between our two franchises. We expect to win series to get championships- not to excited over one game. You are so excited over 1 finals game win. Trying winning some series and then you'll get what Im saying, since obviously im talking "in circles".
At 5:17 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Oh bad me for getting excited about THE FIRST FINALS WIN IN FRANCHISE HISTORY.
I'm just not as fortunate as you who live in L.A. Oh poor me... I don't live in a town with 9 NBA titles. Oh wait, I did live in LA once. And Boston that had 16 when I left. They were as nice as any other places I've lived.
BUT LAST NIGHT I WAS ABLE TO WITNESS THE FIRST EVER FINALS VICTORY FOR THE FRANCHISE I ROOT FOR AND WRITE ABOUT.
That was a lot of fun.
At 7:52 PM,
Big Figure said…
Obviously the LA fan doesnt understand the magnitude of the game. The win last night was the biggest win in franchise history because it was the biggest stage the magic has ever won a game on. We won a game in the finals,how couldnt that be the biggest win in our history? And to say that because the lakers played bad,we shouldnt be happy about of first finals win? WE ARE MAGIC FANS!!! After the lakers won game one every lakers fan started coming out of the woodworks calling the series a sweep,who REALLY got excited over a win??? If we were here saying we were gonna sweep because of last nights game then you could say we are overly excited,but the guys here are very sharp and we are merely giving our comments on last nights game/win. I havent seen any comments that are out of line,just happy fans excited that we got a win which is exactly how it should be. You can keep trying to discredit our win by saying the lakers played bad,but the truth is the magic's defense forced kobe into a horrible shooting percentage in the second half and thats a fact.
At 12:32 AM,
Daniel D. said…
Recently wrote an article on Stan Van Gundy's success. Thought you guys would enjoy it. http://www.atlantabravesnews.com/bornabrave/weblog/7585/the-sorcerer--stan-van-gundy.html
At 4:55 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Thanks, Daniel.
Good write-up on Stan Van Gundy; he deserves all the accolades he's getting.
At 11:22 PM,
Anonymous said…
Orlando will not win because it is not a fair playing field. Kobe can do whatever he likes - does not get called for fouls.
The powers that be want the Lakers to win and so it will be. The media is sick with Kobe love - they have him giving his opinion, evaluating the other players and act like the world revolves around him - even when the magic win it is still all about Kobe.Don't assume I am a Laker hater - I grew up in LA and have been a Laker fan since Jerry West played.
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