NBA FInals Game 5: Lakers 99 Magic 86
Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, who won their 15th championship in franchise history, and Lakers' coach Phil Jackson, who won his tenth championship as coach, the most in North American pro sports history. Kobe Bryant was named the Finals MVP.
The Magic started out fast, as they jumped out to a 19-10 first quarter lead, but the Lakers cut the lead to 28-26 after one. The tide really turned against the Magic in the second quarter, when the Magic had a 40-36 lead. The Lakers proceeded to score 16 points in a row to go ahead 52-40, and made eight of their last nine shots in the quarter to lead 56-46 at the half. The Magic made just two of their last twelve shots of the half, and committed four turnovers in that span.
The Magic looked like they would come back and be competitive in the second half, as they cut the Lakers' lead to 58-53, but the Lakers outscored the Magic 18-8 the rest of the quarter to lead going into the fourth 76-61.
The Magic tried to make a run starting the final quarter, as they came within 80-67 with just under ten minutes remaining, but the Lakers went on to their largest lead of the game at 91-73 with just over four minutes remaining. The Magic, who shot miserably from three point range, made three three pointers in the final four minutes to come as close as 95-84, but it was too little, too late as the Lakers celebrated their title on the Magic home court with the 99-86 win.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 18 points (6 of 19 field goals, 3 of 12 three point field goals), 10 rebounds, 4 assists
Hedo Turkoglu: 12 points (4 of 8 field goals)
Rafer Alston: 12 points (5 of 15 field goals, 1 of 6 three point field goals), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Courtney Lee: 12 points (5 of 11 field goals), 4 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 11 points (5 of 9 field goals), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks
Los Angeles leading scorers
Kobe Bryant: 30 points (10 of 23 field goals, 8 of 8 free throws), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks
Lamar Odom (bench): 17 points (5 of 12 field goals), 10 rebounds
Trevor Ariza: 15 points (5 of 12 field goals), 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Pau Gasol: 14 points (6 of 9 field goals), 15 rebounds, 4 blocks
Derek Fisher: 13 points (4 of 7 field goals), 4 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: LA 43.8% (35 of 80) ORL 41.5% (34 of 82)
3 PT FG%: LA 50% (8 of 16) ORL 29.6% (8 of 27)
FT%: LA 75% (21 of 28) ORL 62.5% (10 of 16)
REB: LA 47 (13 offensive) ORL 36 (6 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 20/13 LA 13/12
BENCH: LA 21 ORL 21
Other game notes and stats:
-The Lakers dominated most statistical categories as they outshot the Magic from the field, three point line and free throw line along with outrebounding the Magic and one less turnover
-The "Big Three" of the Magic (Howard, Lewis, and Turkoglu) combined to score just 41 points
-Lewis and Turkoglu combined to shoot just 10 of 27 from the field
-Alston and Lee combined to shoot 10 of 26 from the field
-Lewis, Lee, and Alston combined to shoot 4 of 20 from three point range
-J.J. Redick led the Magic reserves with 8 points on 3 of 3 shooting
-Other than Redick, the Magic reserves shot a combined 6 of 17
Congratulations also to the Magic. who had arguably their best season in franchise history. Absolutely no one predicted the Magic to make the finals before the season started; all the talk in the East was Cleveland/Boston. The Magic shocked Boston in Game 7 in the second round, and shocked Cleveland in six games to win the Eastern Conference Title to advance to the finals.
Here is the complete recap from nba.com
Here is the complete box score from nba.com
The Magic started out fast, as they jumped out to a 19-10 first quarter lead, but the Lakers cut the lead to 28-26 after one. The tide really turned against the Magic in the second quarter, when the Magic had a 40-36 lead. The Lakers proceeded to score 16 points in a row to go ahead 52-40, and made eight of their last nine shots in the quarter to lead 56-46 at the half. The Magic made just two of their last twelve shots of the half, and committed four turnovers in that span.
The Magic looked like they would come back and be competitive in the second half, as they cut the Lakers' lead to 58-53, but the Lakers outscored the Magic 18-8 the rest of the quarter to lead going into the fourth 76-61.
The Magic tried to make a run starting the final quarter, as they came within 80-67 with just under ten minutes remaining, but the Lakers went on to their largest lead of the game at 91-73 with just over four minutes remaining. The Magic, who shot miserably from three point range, made three three pointers in the final four minutes to come as close as 95-84, but it was too little, too late as the Lakers celebrated their title on the Magic home court with the 99-86 win.
Magic leading scorers
Rashard Lewis: 18 points (6 of 19 field goals, 3 of 12 three point field goals), 10 rebounds, 4 assists
Hedo Turkoglu: 12 points (4 of 8 field goals)
Rafer Alston: 12 points (5 of 15 field goals, 1 of 6 three point field goals), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Courtney Lee: 12 points (5 of 11 field goals), 4 rebounds
Dwight Howard: 11 points (5 of 9 field goals), 10 rebounds, 3 blocks
Los Angeles leading scorers
Kobe Bryant: 30 points (10 of 23 field goals, 8 of 8 free throws), 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks
Lamar Odom (bench): 17 points (5 of 12 field goals), 10 rebounds
Trevor Ariza: 15 points (5 of 12 field goals), 5 rebounds, 2 steals
Pau Gasol: 14 points (6 of 9 field goals), 15 rebounds, 4 blocks
Derek Fisher: 13 points (4 of 7 field goals), 4 rebounds
Overall Game Statistics
FG%: LA 43.8% (35 of 80) ORL 41.5% (34 of 82)
3 PT FG%: LA 50% (8 of 16) ORL 29.6% (8 of 27)
FT%: LA 75% (21 of 28) ORL 62.5% (10 of 16)
REB: LA 47 (13 offensive) ORL 36 (6 offensive)
AST/TO: ORL 20/13 LA 13/12
BENCH: LA 21 ORL 21
Other game notes and stats:
-The Lakers dominated most statistical categories as they outshot the Magic from the field, three point line and free throw line along with outrebounding the Magic and one less turnover
-The "Big Three" of the Magic (Howard, Lewis, and Turkoglu) combined to score just 41 points
-Lewis and Turkoglu combined to shoot just 10 of 27 from the field
-Alston and Lee combined to shoot 10 of 26 from the field
-Lewis, Lee, and Alston combined to shoot 4 of 20 from three point range
-J.J. Redick led the Magic reserves with 8 points on 3 of 3 shooting
-Other than Redick, the Magic reserves shot a combined 6 of 17
Congratulations also to the Magic. who had arguably their best season in franchise history. Absolutely no one predicted the Magic to make the finals before the season started; all the talk in the East was Cleveland/Boston. The Magic shocked Boston in Game 7 in the second round, and shocked Cleveland in six games to win the Eastern Conference Title to advance to the finals.
Here is the complete recap from nba.com
Here is the complete box score from nba.com
posted by Mike from Illinois @ 12:40 AM
16 Comments:
At 1:10 AM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Well, no excuses here... the Lakers were the better team and deserved to win the series, even though two of the games the Magic lost went to overtime and could have went the Magic's way. The Lakers showed why they are the new NBA Champs; they did what they had to do to win.
I am very surprised and disappointed the Magic did not play better in Game 5. The stats say it all for the Magic... 41.5% FG shooting, 29.6% three point shooting, 62.5% free throw shooting, and being dominated on the boards by 11 rebounds.
The way the Lakers played had something to do with the Magic's poor performance.
No question in my mind the turning point was the 16-0 Lakers' run in the second quarter that allowed them to go up by ten. Very poor shooting and ballhandling from the Magic in that span, while the Lakers did everything right.
The Magic tried to make a couple of brief runs in the second half, but the Lakers had an answer for everything.
I had the chance to attend the watch party outside Amway Arena Sunday night before leaving at halftime (I was unable to find any reasonably priced tickets that were being scalped to actually attend the game). It was a great atmosphere to be sure, but it would have been a lot better if the Magic had been able to extend the series.
At 6:15 AM,
Ken said…
I again had to settle for listening to the game on the radio while i was at work. And honestly, I quit listening after the 3rd quarter. I think game 4 kind of took the wind out of the team. I know it did for me. You got to hand it to the Lakers. They did what they had to do. They are the champs and they deserve it.
I couldn't be prouder of our team. They exceeded everyones expectations this year and proved they are one of the elite teams in the NBA. The future of this team is extremely bright. Our core players are signed for at least 4 more years, we have brand new arena being built, and the rest of the country has finally taken notice of us... It feels great to be a Magic fan again.
At 8:29 AM,
Anonymous said…
A big overhaul in the coaching staff and free throw shooting may do the work for Magic next year and the years to come. I think the so-called kryptonite is from within.
At 10:56 AM,
Big Figure said…
I can only muster a few things as im really turning basketball off for a couple weeks to get over my disappointment. I cant even watch sportscenter and i refuse to watch any sports channels showing the lakers celebrate. I turned the game off in the third quarter and made that the end of the season for me. (1) Congrats to the lakers,they were sound in almost everything they did. (2) My apologies go out to hedo. I thought all along the magic would never compete for a championship with hedo a member of this team,i was wrong!
At 1:31 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Now that it's over -- what a great year. None of the national press picked the Magic as EC champs. I think we all believed they were still a year away from a serious run at the finals.
Realistically, a positive year was breaking through the second round. Making the finals was great. Doing it by beating a tough team in the Celtics, and by beating Cleveland at Quicken was terrific.
Ken getting his own personal internet stalker: Priceless.
At 2:55 PM,
Anonymous said…
It was a nice run while it lasted. next year Orlando will be where the magic happens. Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxOUOL7gsCk
At 3:19 PM,
Anonymous said…
Magic fans, you need to understand how good of team you have. I don't mean just in skills but in class. Being a Laker fan and losing to the classless Boston Celtics really hurt last year. Boston is a bunch of bad attitude, arrogant thugs. But after following your Magic team thru the playoffs I have the utmost respect for them. I had to tell myself before the finals that even if my Lakers lose it would be OK, the Magic are a class act. Those of us that watched it will always realize how close these 2 teams were. The 4 to 1 victory doesn't tell that story.
We'll see you in the finals next year for a rematch.
With the greatest respect, laker fan.
At 3:32 PM,
WeRDevos said…
Thanks for the kind words Laker fan. Your team accomplished what it set out to do at the beginning of the season.
We Magic fans are all hopeful that our favorite team has learned some valuable lessons from playing the Lakers.
And it wouldn't hurt if the Lakers screw up and don't resign Odom.
At 3:46 PM,
Ken said…
Thanks WRD.. LOL.. I feel honored to have my own internet stalker..
At 3:46 PM,
Anonymous said…
We don't want to lose Odom. Can you imagine if you had him playing next to Howard? Ouch.
Actually if you guys add one more BIG with who is athletic there will be no stopping you. Good luck next year.
At 4:18 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
Nice to hear from some classy Lakers' fans!
Thanks for all the kind words.
At 4:32 PM,
WeRDevos said…
I'd personally like to let Odom know that we have some terrific beaches nearby. And unlike the cold Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic is nice to swim in, and the Gulf this time of year is like a hot tub.
Just saying...
At 4:48 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
...and don't forget about the low Florida taxes, too.
At 5:53 PM,
Matt said…
Congratualtions to the Lakers and their fans. They proved to be the better team, and thus deserving the championship. As for the Orlando Magic we hope that the team would improve next year, and will make it to the finals again with a chance to win it all.
All the best,
Matt
At 7:18 PM,
Life Long Magic Fan said…
Bull Crap!
You have Anthony Johnson sitting on the bench the entire series! The guy plays 13 to 20 minutes a game all year and sit him the entire series. Not a huge scorer, but huge on assists, John Kresse earned defensive skills, and Old Man Leadership. Van Gundy is an Idiot. Johnson was gracious in his comments about the lack of playing time because he is the perfect gentleman. But how can a coach abandon what brings the winning team in the NBA and make that kind of adjustment. Bad coaching, Bad Bad coaching. The Magic should have crushed the Lakers. Keep Johnson, play him, get rid of the Idiot.
Life Long Magic Fan
At 9:09 PM,
Mike from Illinois said…
No doubt Stan Van Gundy made some very questionable coaching decisions in the Finals.
It's going to be an interesting off-season for the Magic, in terms of fine-tuning their roster, but one thing that I can guarantee 100% is that SVG will return as coach, like it or not.
Despite his mistakes, Van Gundy has done a remarkable job in his two seasons with the Magic, as they soundly improved in this, his second season... from 52 wins to 59 wins, and from a second round elimination to the NBA Finals.
Big Figure, nice move on your part admitting you were wrong about Turk. I remember back in January how rough you were on Turk, especially his defense, in several posts.
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