You saw the game. Not a lot more I can tell you about it. What struck me was the sense, in the second quarter, even before the 16-0 run, that Orlando’s spirit finally was breaking. The Magic had come back from seemingly crippling defeats throughout the playoffs, but this time it seemed like they knew […]

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Los Angeles authorities are already concerned about “celebrations” that get out of hand if the Lakers clinch the NBA championship on Sunday. “Riot” is the word that some might prefer. And might be more accurate if it turns into more than a few blocked streets and a few broken windows. Here is a story from […]

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We went out to dinner at the invitation of my sister and her husband, who run a restaurant here in Long Beach, name of Lasher’s. Their son had graduated from middle school and, no, it’s not like getting out of college but it was a good excuse to get together on the patio on a […]

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This series should be all but over. The Lakers could be up 3-0, a deficit no NBA team ever has overcome in the history of the playoffs. But Kobe Bryant cost them Game 3. Yes. Kobe.  The man who has helped the Lakers win so many games over the past decade was awful in the […]

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Kind of old news. But here is the link to the column I wrote for the Temecula Californian out of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. With Game 3 only a few hours away, it seems to me the key will be if the Lakers can match the enthusiasm and intensity that playing at home […]

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By “Magic Fans” I am, in this case, talking about two ESPN.com correspondents who are making a big deal out of Pau Gasol wrapping one finger around the rim on Courtney Lee’s missed layup at the buzzer in regulation in Game 2 of the Lakers-Magic series on Sunday. Point 1: That shot was not going […]

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The Lakers damn near lost this one. If Courtney Lee catches that end-of-regulation lob from Hedo Turkoglu perhaps six inches farther away from the backboard, he scores at the buzzer, the Lakers lose … and the NBA Finals is 1-1 as it shifts to Orlando. Instead … Lee caught the ball a little too deep, […]

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I’ve been thinking about this since Orlando clinched. Lakers or Magic? Magic or Lakers? Back and forth, I’ve gone. Back and forth. And now we’re just hours from tipoff. My first notion is … Magic.

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I know. I know. The Playoff Puppets advertising campaign has problems now, because the inspiration for one of the puppets — LeBron James — won’t be playing in the NBA Finals. Contrary to the putative “these guys will meet in the finals” script. Be interesting to see if Nike pulls the commercials. Probably so. Yes. […]

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It was one of those sublime couple of hours where a good team lives up to its potential. The Lakers spent two months not doing that. They would have a good quarter. Maybe a good half. But rarely more than that. Yeah, they beat the Houston Rockets by 40 in Game 5 of the second […]

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