There’s no place like home. The comfort of your own bed, the known faces, the smells, the tastes…. Or even familiarity of playing in your own court. Orlando Magic, who had looked out of sorts in the first two games against Los Angeles Lakers in LA, were a different side on Tuesday. They beat the Lakers 108-104, playing with a lot of tenacity and resilience to get back in to the best of seven final, after two away defeats. LA Lakers still lead the championship 2-1, but going by what they saw on Tuesday night at the Amway Arena, Phil Jackson’s men have a fight on their hands.
Dwight Howard and Co. were egged on by a very vocal and passionate crowd, clearly ecstatic at seeing their team play in a NBA final championship for the first time since losing 0-4 to Houston Rockets in 1995. Being here means a great deal to the Magic fans and their energy, it seemed, revitalized the team.
The Magics rarely missed shots in the first half, unlike the first two games in LA, and were pretty precise even in the second. In the end they had shot an NBA finals record of 62.5 percent, which shows what a remarkable come back it was by a team that lost the first game by 25 points and suffered a heart-breaking loss in the second. “We didn’t allow being down 0-2 to discourage us. We’ve come a long way and we want to win a championship,” said Dwight Howard.
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy too looked a more relieved man. With one win in his pocket, and two more home games to go, he might even be visualizing a 3-2 lead. “Ball was going in the basket. That always works. That is a tried and true formula,” Gundy said.
Lakers managed to run the game really close, despite most of their players having an off-game. Pau Gasol, Lamaar Odom and Andrew Bynum weren’t as effective as they were at the home.
Orlando were never behind in the second half but Lakers came back from a nine-point deficit to tie the game 99-99. If the last few minutes were tense for the fans, they were even more excruciating for Gundy who was pacing the line back and forth, yelling and throwing his hands up in frustration.
Magic managed to keep their cool till the end, and won the game by four points. “The sad thing is we shot 62.5 percent and nearly lost the game,” said Rafer Alston, putting things in perspective for the Magics.
Kobe Bryant, despite finishing with 31 points, didn’t look at the top of his game. He missed 10 free throws. But then, lest we forget, he’s human too.
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