Good ending to game 5

[Its me, SPURSX3]

I didnt watch most of the game, I think I got myself all pissed off from the days talk about Nick Berg and felt really disgusted.  Had to shake it off for the most part becuase it is my wedding anniversary and spent time with the wife enjoying our occasion.  caught the last two minutes of the Spurs game, couldnt believe the scoring was soo low, then so them claw back and Duncan hits that miracle shot, 0.4 seconds and fish hits his own miracle shot (ahem see you later gary!) looks like the Lakers experience and poise realy came through tonight, we had it in our grasp and it slipped through - looks like LA made up for last years game 5.  good job LA, you took the series as far as I am concerned, we needed to protect the home court and didnt.  I think you showed us and the rest of the NBA who the better team is.  maybe my fellow Spurs fans dont agree, but i see LA closing it in the next game.  Props to them.  You better win it all because We will be taking it back next year!  

 :cheers:   good series!!   B)  

[westkoast]

Mucho props to you Spursx3.  I know that was real tough for you and the rest of the Spurs fans. I really thought Duncan sealed the deal with that last shot.  Lucky for us (yes keyword LUCKY) D. Fish came thru at the end and nailed the shot.  Manu played Fish as perfect as you could on that play.....he def. could not have done anything else.

The Spurs came again with that hard 4th quarter defense.  Hats off to the whole team.  They knocked the Lakeshow into their kind of ball and really should have won this game.  Great defense got them in striking distance.....Only great teams hold opponents to 11% (thats the last stat I saw about the shooting) in the 4th quarter in such a huge game.

[WayOutWest]

It looked more like an old tired Laker team getting run down from behind by a much younger and hungrier Spurs team until Fish hit that miracle.

I could not believe how badly the Lakers folded under the Spurs defensive pressure.  Some of that had to do with Kobe being too tired to do anything but jack up weak J after weak J but still the other Lakers were held in check, including the Diesel.

That shot by TD in Shaq's face was incredible.  I honestly felt at that point the game was over.  There was a tiny sliver of hope for Kobe to hit a miracle shot but once I saw the Spurs defensive pressure on Kobe I was sure the Lakers would notn even get a shot off.

That was the most incredible FINISH I've ever seen in any b-ball game, including the NCAA tourny.

[Laker Fan]

Thanks X3, I wouldn't say it's over yet though, Spurs showed their mettle in the 4th defensively as I got angrier and angrier at the stupid decisions LA made under the Spurs defensive pessure.

What a game! I will rant tomorrow about how much I dislike Doc "allow me to state the unbelievably bloody obvious" Rivers as the color commentator, but for tonight, I will sleep the sleep of the exhausted, you would think I played 48 minutes out there the way this game drained me.

[gaither]

I agree with SpursX3, this series was decided last night.  

[spursfan101]

It appeared that Pop had shed some tears after the game. I've never seen Tim so distraught, he said it was the most devastating loss of his career.

Shaq summed it up, "one lucky shot deserves another" it was the truth.

Spurs filed a protest, 4/10 of second, it's physically impossible to get a turn around and get a shot off in the short amount of time.  Irrelevant point, as the clock is run by a human, and humans can only do the best that they can.  We're not playing in the Matrix here.

Spurs are devastated, so is the city. I was really reserved after the game, I put myself into "basketball fan" mode vs Spursfan mode. Have to, been devastated too many times.  I'm a former Oiler fan.. AGHHH!!  

Great win, deserved. Lake show took it to SA the WHOLE game. (Except the 4th, when LA ran out of steam. :eek2:  

[Lurker]

What a bunch of  :puke: .  We finally get decent fair refs and the frickin' official clock operator goes Laker on us.  There is no way Fisher can catch, turn & shoot in 0.4 seconds.  The league has now given the Lakers two MAJOR gifts this year.  First the win in Denver that gave the Lakers the #2 seed and now last night.  If there ever was any proof of conspiracy this year is surely it.






















 :jk:
Actually I felt the Spurs didn't show up until the end of the third quarter.  For some reason they were playing like the Lakers....figuring they could flip the switch when needed.  Major props to Devin Brown for showing poise & hustle that normally isn't seen from rookies in big games.  George was on fire for most the game.  This truly was a game of role players as the stars weren't dominating (although if the Spurs had won Duncan's 21-21 performance would have been huge in the media).  

If the Spurs lose on Saturday I can see the possibility of the Lakers sweeping the rest of the playoffs.  The challenge that the Spurs have laid on the Lakers has brought them all together and looking like a team with 4 future HOFs (5 if you include PJ).  The Lakers have taken their game to another level.  However if the Spurs can take what they did in the 4th quarter and apply it for 48 minutes on Saturday I can see a game 7 next week.  IMO the Lakers Big 4 are starting to show the effects of high minutes and games every other day.  I would attribute the Spurs 4th quarter comeback as much to fatigue on the part of the Lakers to anything the Spurs did.

Best game of the playoffs this year.  Congrats Laker fans.   :cheers:  

[WayOutWest]

IMO the Lakers Big 4 are starting to show the effects of high minutes and games every other day.  I would attribute the Spurs 4th quarter comeback as much to fatigue on the part of the Lakers to anything the Spurs did.
 

I agree, the Lakers look spent at the end of games, with the exception of game 3.  If the series goes 7 games it definatlely favors the Spurs.

If it goes 7 the Lakers only advantage is experience.  They've been on the brink of elimination in a game 7 twice and both times pulled it out.

Regarding the clock, I agree that you can't catch and shot a turnaround in .4 seconds but if you watch the replay of TD's shot there was actually .7 seconds left on the clock becuase the "human" clock operator couldn't stop the clock fast enough.  So in the end he gave back the .3 seconds he took from the Lakers at the end of TD's shot and gave it to the front end of Fishers shot.

IMO the Lakers must win game 6, and they will!  :up:  

[Derek Bodner]

time discrepancies or not, that was absolutely one, if not the, most incredible finishes I have seen in my 15 or so years of watching basketball.  I was utterly speachless.

[Reality]

A play like that to possibly end the Spurs.

And of all the people on either team or for that matter the NBA to be by Dereek Swisher.

uuurrrgh.

Nice shot by Kobme for the temp lead. Simple pick n roll.  Phildo has shown flexibility to get out of the Triangle.  
Pops O plan is sad again.
 
Nice hoist by Dunkar for the 2 plus what obviously should have been +1.
Bob Horry missed baddd on that 3ball with like 50 seconds left.


 

[Laker Fan]

Thanks for the props BBF, X3, 101.

I must say while we all no doubt got caught up in the drama of the most amazing (ABSOLUTELY, IRREVOCABLY, FOUL FREE), last minute of NBA playoff basketball I have just about ever seen (Thank you real fans for not making the excuse Duncan was fouled, he wasn't), we forget I think that the Lakers experienced a Spurs defense that was really amazing. They took LA completely out of their game and all I could think was wow, we are going to blow a 16 point lead and go home with our tails between our legs and the Spurs having the momentum to move mountains. I think we also lost track of Kobe's great poise in hitting with 11 seconds left to force the Spurs into a do or die shot.

As amazing and completely satisfying as DEREK FISHER humiliating frontrunning bandwagoners was, the more incredible shot was Tim Duncans. How he made that shot while being PERFECTLY defended by a desperate Shaq and a hard charging Malone in his face just added to the unbelieveablness (is that a word?) of it. It didn't look like he even looked at the hoop as he was throwing up that prayer, falling down, off his left foot, with the wrong hold on the ball on his release, I couldn't believe my eyes, Shaq just shook his head, game over. Yeah, Duncans shot was the more amazing of the 2, Fisher did a simple catch and shoot, what made it amazing was the pressure and time remaining, but Timmy boy, THAT was incredible.

LA doesn't need this kind of stress, they looked exhausted toward the end of the 3rd quarter, and the Spurs pounced like wildcats, big time props to them for not rolling over, what a game!

[Reality]

Krishna Extrodinare,

Most, no make that all of the Lakers rooters I've talked to thought it was simply a very close game that could have gone either way.  None of this garbage about how DeReek was planning it all along, ripping their heart out rrrrrraaagh.  More like they had no choice but to throw up a prayer and they did, it fell.  Good for them.   So back away from your incense and altar and realize it was simply in Phils words a desperation shot that fell, and usually those dont.

Did you tape the game?  Actually watch Shaq on Duncan.  No excuses, Spurs still could have won.  Just not Laker Worship.

And it's fitting that you would delight in a flopping DeReek getting bogus calls earlier in the game by flopping against a far superior Manu.

"Anything for a win" mentality shows you are compensating badly for loss elsewhere.

[Guest_Randy]

Krishna Extrodinare,

Most, no make that all of the Lakers rooters I've talked to thought it was simply a very close game that could have gone either way.  None of this garbage about how DeReek was planning it all along, ripping their heart out rrrrrraaagh.  More like they had no choice but to throw up a prayer and they did, it fell.  Good for them.   So back away from your incense and altar and realize it was simply in Phils words a desperation shot that fell, and usually those dont.

Did you tape the game?  Actually watch Shaq on Duncan.  No excuses, Spurs still could have won.  Just not Laker Worship.

And it's fitting that you would delight in a flopping DeReek getting bogus calls earlier in the game by flopping against a far superior Manu.

"Anything for a win" mentality shows you are compensating badly for loss elsewhere.

Just one point -- you're an idiot Reality!

[Guest_Randy]

My son and I were watching the game -- I heard some of the game on the radio and got home for the last 2 minutes of the game.

Kobe put the Lakers up by one and I was confident the Lakers could defend with 11 seconds left and a foul to give.  The foul was taken well and only gave the Spurs 5.5 seconds left to take a shot -- Shaq covered TD about as well as anyone could and TD was way beyond his range and off-balance and yet nothing but net.  At .4 seconds, I told my son the game was over -- it IS possible to get a shot off with .4 seconds left but it's not going to be a good shot -- and it WASN'T a good shot -- just a very very lucky one (of course, it's fitting that it followed TD's very very lucky shot).

The Lakers shouldn't have let the Spurs get back up on them but it was obvious that the Lakers (did you see Kobe) were EXHAUSTED!!!  If this game had gone into overtime, the Lakers wouldn't have had a shot.  The great thing, though, is that this win should give the Lakers a LOT of energy for game 6.

If I were childish I would make my avatar the look on the Spurs face after DFish hit that shot -- okay, I am childish but I still won't do it!  

It was an incredible comeback for the Spurs -- but as a Laker fan I jumped around the room with my son -- we were both screaming and my wife was giving me that look like "act your age."  

The Lakers still have to come out and take care of business in game 6.  And they need to come at the Spurs and never give them a chance to breath.  I have to thank the Spurs for helping the Lakers come together as a team.  The Lakers have been so inconsistent and haven't played as a team until the Spurs had their backs against the wall -- they still need to play as a team but I think they can and will now.  The certainly won't face any opposition as strong as what the Spurs have given if they can finish this series.

PS - It's also nice to see the Lakers win a game when the Spurs had the FREETHROW advantage -- kind of takes away a certain idiotic posters ammunition here (although it's not like he won't come up with another excuse).

[JoMal]

Incredible finish to this game. Major props to the Lakers for winning a game that looked lost to everyone but them.

But that was total exhaustion shown by the Lakers at the end. Put everything they had to curb the momentum and it failed, only to get the final shot to make it all okay again.

The NBA powers were seen rejoicing at the possibility that the finals ratings will reflect a much more favorable team this year then last yeer, when the ratings for the NBA Championship were the worst in recorded history.