DENVER -- The next time we look at the replay of LeBron James' game-winning shot, it won't go in. Phil Jackson will be on TV saying that the officiating was just peachy. Chris Andersen will have no tattoos, Kobe will say LeBron's the greatest, and Adam Lambert will win American Idol.
That is how upside-down the world is after the Lakers -- the soft, disinterested, no-defense-playing Lakers -- went up 2-1 in the Western Conference finals by making the most important play of the game on defense.
For the second time in the series.
The same play.
By the same guy.
"Nobody really talked about his absence last year," Derek Fisher was saying in the Lakers' locker room Saturday night after Trevor Ariza stole a sideline inbounds pass with a half-minute left for the second time in the series, assuring the Lakers of a 103-97 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 3. "All the focus was on us not having
A year ago, Ariza missed the first two rounds of the playoffs with a broken foot and didn't contribute much once he came back. Now, he's the reason the Lakers recaptured home-court advantage Saturday night. He's the reason there was home-court advantage to recapture in the first place.
Well, Ariza and Lamar Odom, who disrupted the inbounds passer again; Kenyon Martin played the role of Anthony Carter this time. And Kobe Bryant. Remember him? The guy with the three championship rings, five Finals appearances, two scoring titles, an MVP trophy, and 113 points in the first three games of this series? Yeah, him.
With the world still enraptured with LeBron-a-Mania after his incredible game-winner Friday night against Orlando, the reigning King had something to say. First, in a text message addressed to LeBron that said, "Hell of a shot." Then, with 41 points, including a dagger 3-pointer over J.R. Smith that gave him 36 points and provided the Lakers with a 96-95 lead they would not relinquish. Bryant, in the Mile High City, elevated over Smith and had to give the shot a little extra push when Smith hit the ball, his hand, or both.
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| Trevor Ariza steps up for the Lakers by providing his second game-changing steal in the Western finals. (Getty Images) |
It went in, and so did one of two free throws from Bryant on the Lakers' next trip, making it 97-95 with 38.3 seconds left. The Nuggets had a sideline out-of-bounds play, looking for a quick basket from their star-in-the-making, Carmelo Anthony. Oh, the delicious similarities to Game 1. We left Hollywood behind in this series, but somebody brought the script writers.
The Lakers led 101-99 with 30.5 seconds left in Game 1, you may recall, when Ariza closed on Chauncey Billups like a nickel back and intercepted Carter's lob pass from the sideline. The Lakers hit their free throws and never trailed again.
This time, Nuggets coach George Karl went with Martin as the inbounder to combat Odom's 6-10 frame and long wingspan. K-Mart sputtered on the first attempt and called timeout. On the second try, Ariza baited him into thinking Anthony was open as he broke to the middle of the floor. Just as important, Odom forced him to lob the ball again as opposed to making a straight-line pass.
• Kobe, Lakers reclaim home-court edge | West finals: Lakers 2, Nuggets 1
"We probably should've called another timeout," a crestfallen Karl said.
Ariza described the circumstances as "funny."
"Pretty much the same thing," he said. "Different players involved. But we got the steal. We got a win."
Now, one could argue, the Nuggets have the Lakers right where they want them. L.A. led 2-1 after dominating the Rockets in Game 3 at Houston in the conference semifinals. They sort of forgot about this little matter of Game 4, and had to work a lot harder than they should have to finish off the Rockets -- without Yao -- in seven games. They cannot afford to do that again.
"Hopefully we learned from that last series," reserve Luke Walton said, "so we don't win Game 3 and then come out and lay an egg in Game 4. We were already talking about that after the game, about staying focused on the task at hand."
It began earlier than that, with Fisher, the maligned veteran who's had a mostly abysmal series -- including missing a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the end of Game 2. With about six minutes left and the Lakers trailing by two, Fisher gathered his teammates during a timeout and told them they were about to be tested and that it was time to respond.
"I felt that something could turn if we went after it," Fisher would say on his way out of the locker room. "I just felt like it was a moment in time. As a team, you often have moments where you can define yourselves when you're on your way to being a champion. I sensed at that moment, that was our chance, and we responded."
They responded with Bryant, who will never, ever admit to feeling the blood pumping a little more briskly after LeBron's heroics the previous night -- but we know better. They responded defensively on Anthony, with Ariza limiting him to 21 points and 1-for-7 shooting from 3-point range. They responded in the area of the game I am thinking about renaming special teams -- the jump balls and inbounds plays that nobody notices, but become magnified in the crucible of the playoffs. There was no game-winning shot, per se, because Odom and Ariza made sure there didn't need to be one.
"I'm often the guy who's inbounding for us," Walton said. "The nerves are building up, and you don't want to make a bad pass. ... Lamar's 6-11, and his arms don't stop. You get pressure on the ball and it's tough to get it in."
Odom said Ariza should get all the credit and denied getting a piece of Martin's pass. Jackson credited Ariza's sneaky acceleration, which allows him to "really make one step and be at full speed. So those passes that are up for grabs, he's exceptional at it."
Now, the Lakers will have to find other ways to be exceptional in order to truly take control of this series. Having ended the Nuggets' 16-game home winning streak, which began all the way back on March 11, they couldn't possibly win a third straight game with a defensive play. Could they?
"Well, you know, the thing about getting to the championship and losing is, you can't get to the championship without playing defense," Odom said. "At least when you need to."
Earlier on Saturday, at the Lakers' shootaround, Bryant proclaimed that Game 3 would be the ultimate test of his team's psyche. I disagree. I think it's Game 4. That is the game that will either swing the momentum in the series dramatically in the Lakers' favor or drag them right back into a fight.
"I rank this right up there with some of the biggest road wins we've had since I've been a Laker," Bryant said. "In the past, we always had guys that had a lot of experience; Robert Horry, Rick Fox, Ron Harper, they've all been through this stuff before. For our guys, this is brand new. Last year, we weren't tested like this."
Didn't win like this, either, with a defensive play when they needed one.
"These championship windows," Walton said, "we know they don't stay open for long."
The window is open. Now we see if the Lakers can climb through it as deftly as Ariza darted for that inbounds pass and with as much oomph as Kobe used to hoist that 3-pointer.
"This is where you're tested," Bryant said. "To be a champion, you've got to respond."
