So I made it to Los Angeles. After a long! cab ride to the Staples Center, I picked up my media credentials and went into the arena at about 2:30 .. and never left it until about 10.30 local time. Yes, I spent seven hours in a basketball gym. And it was worth it!
After meeting Henry Abott from ESPN’s truehoop (Henry, please send me the email for the pick up at USC!), I just ran around the arena, looking for interesting things. I felt like a little kid fulfilling its biggest dream – still, after being to last years NBA finals, the All Star game, the Euroleague final four – this is something special. You can see all the interesting people I met, such as David Beckham, Magic Johnson and many more prior game 3 in the gallery at the bottom.
What about the game?
It started off horrible. Many missed shots. Many turnovers, but in the end a Lakers victory. I won’t go into game details, our friends from the U.S. like here, here or here, do a much better job with that, but I want to talk about the Euros on the Lakers team – since there aren’t any on the Celtics.
Sasha Vujacic was one of the main factors for the Lakers’ win. Coming off the bench, Sasha made 7-10 shots from the field, 3-5 from the three point line and 3-4 free throws.
Let us take a look at Pau Gasol. Looking at his stats and especially the game he looked horrible. Missed dunks, scared to post up and many turnovers. Normally you would not want a guy like him on the floor right? Well Phil Jackson knew and knows better. You do need Pau Gasol in this series. Taking him off the court takes away all of his confidence, even if another guy might have a better game this day. Phil Jackson was sure the Lakers would win this game, so he kept Pau in the game. Good decision – in the end the Lakers won, Pau made some crucial points in the fourth quarter and grabbed some even more important rebounds.
We are at 2-1 Celtics now, but I am pretty sure game four will be even more important for both teams. The Lakers HAVE to even the series, while the Celtics want to go ahead 3-1. I am really glad to be here in L.A. for this game, too.
For now, here is the gallery with pictures from last night. I am off to Beverly Hills, talk to you later.
