NBA Finals Game 4: The Accidental Hero

Derek Fisher schools Jameer Nelson on clutch playing.

Experience is always the best teacher. The Los Angeles Lakers know that, the Orlando Magic just about experienced that. Down by 12 points at the half after getting mugged on defense by the Magic, the Los Angeles Lakers turned to an unlikely hero in the third quarter, Trevor Ariza! Ariza scored 11 points in the third quarter as he sparked an 11-0 run for the Lakers to get back in the game and eventually stay in it for them to eke out a 99-91 win in overtime to put the Lakers to a game of winning their 15th NBA title as they take a commanding 3 -1 series lead.

Trevor Ariza was unconscious in the third quarter

The Magic led by 12 points at the half as Orlando's Superman Dwight Howard flexed his muscle on the defensive end by grabbing 14 first half rebounds and swatting away 5 shots. The defensive intensity was not matched by the Lakers as they Magic turned to Hedo Turkoglu'15 first half points to close the half with a 49-37 lead and it looked like the Magic are poised to even up the series until Trevor Ariza owned the third quarter.

Dwight and Kobe let the others decide the game

The Magic started the third quarter on the wrong foot as their defensive internsity in the first half was probably left in the locker room. Before you know it the crowd was silenced and the Lakers were up by two at the end of the quarter. The Magic had covered Kobe well but left Ariza open for unmolested lay ups and free threes all of which he sank. At the same time, the Magic were to loose in their passes that Ariza took advantage by anticipating a pass to Turkoglu which he turned into a basket.

Jameer Nelson gave some nice passes was a dud on defense

The most telling blows for the Magic came in the last minutes of the fourth quarter! Hedo missed three free throws, Rashard Lewis misses from all over and Dwight Howard missed the two most important free throws in the last 11 seconds while Jameer Nelson gave Derek Fisher an opening for the game tying triple. All these were the factors that led to the Lakers comeback after Hedo Turgkoglu single handedly gave the Magic a five point lead after a three pointer and a floater.

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Rafer Alston was benched in the fourth quarter

In the overtime, it was Kobe Bryant time as the captain turned it on at the right time to stem the tide while the rest of the Lakers chipped in to put the Lakers offense to overdrive while the Magic simply self destruct. It looked like the Lakers were in a disadvantage for the overtime as Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher all had 5 fouls with Gasol having four, unfortunately for the Magic none of them fouled out. Kobe Bryant spread his 32 points in the four quarters and overtime as he also handed out 8 assists and 7 rebounds. Dwight Howard on the other hand almost had a quadruple double as he was just one block and three turnovers shy of the feat as he also scored 16 points and had 21 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 25 points but missed the scoring sock of Rashard Lewis who scored only 6 points.

Bynum is still looking for the Kryptonite that will stop Dwight

A lot fans are saying the ghots of the 1995 team still haunts the Magic as Nick Anderson's missed free throws might have been the inspiration of Dwight Howard's fluke while Derek Fisher's three is reminiscent of Kenny Smith's three back then. The only way these talks will end is if the Magic comeback from 3-1 to win the title which is a possibility that we believe will most likely not happen.