In case you missed it, (and undoubtedly the entire east coast did unless you work in a 24 hour parking garage or something) the Suns and Lakers played a triple-overtime classic last night as the second half of a rare March Madness forced TNT Tuesday night double-header.
As regular season NBA games between a 2 and 10 seed go, this game was about as good as it gets. The funny thing is how unlikely that seemed earlier in the evening. After Kobe hit his second straight three, the Lakers were up 21 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the third and it looked like another ho-hum, post all star break beatdown for L.A. Except Nash and the Suns showed they still have a little bit of the 7 seconds or less explosive offense left in them. The lil Canadian (who seems to be playing as well as ever) hit 3 straight threes and before you could say "Tim Thomas" it was like the 2006 playoffs all over again.
Behind big baskets by the suddenly Reggie Miller like Channing Frye, and the recently acquired water bug Aaron Brooks, Phoenix rallied back to tie the game after Pietrus was fouled on a 3 point attempt (this would be a theme of the night). Both teams hit shots that seemed to be nails in coffins only to see the other come right back (I'll refrain from using the tired boxing references; "Each team traded body blows like a heavyweight fight!"). Just when I thought I could go to bed, someone else had to hit another big shot. As Kevin McHale and Harlan pointed out during the broadcast, the game meant much more to Phoenix who's battling for a playoff spot, and they showed their desperation.
After Odom's three-point play gave the Lakers a 9 point lead late in the 4th it looked like the game was all but over before another Suns comeback capped off by a Grant Hill game-tying three (take that Jalen). Los Suns even had a chance to win it in regulation but Vince (as McHale would call him "three quarters man, one quarter amazing") Carter bricked the potential game-winner. The teams then traded baskets through out the overtime until an Artest three gave L.A. a lead (complete with kisses blown to the crowd) and it looked like the Lakers finally would pull it out. That is until Odom fouled the new Reggie on a 3 point attempt. Now, I know it's most NBA coaches' strategy to foul intentionally with a 3 point lead late in the game, but I've seen so many instances where the player is already in his shooting motion when the foul occurs in recent seasons. I think players have caught on to the strategy and are just too quick to foul on the floor. Either way, Mr. Clutch (who scored a career high) hit all 3 and I was destined to be tired in the morning.
Double O.T. saw more up and down play from both teams (particularly the vets) but the
old guys (Nash and Kobe) each had ridiculous falling out of bound passes that set up big shots in the final 30 seconds (Nash behind the back to Gortat who found Frye, and Kobe somehow getting it to Pau for even more game tying free throws). The Third O.T. was pretty silly. I was either dreaming or Artest stole the ball from Nash (who otherwise had a crazy game, 19 points and 20 assists) and ran the length of the court for a dunk. Kobe did the big shot and under bite thing (big game from him, scoring a season high 42 and falling an assist short of a triple double) and eventually everyone would go home (or to bed) happy sometime after 2 a.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Despite some sloppy play at times by both teams, this game has to rank amongst the best regular season games of all time, even getting usually sedate Laker fans to act like it really was a playoff game. And there weren't even free Jack in the Box tacos involved. If you have money on the Raptors tonight vs. Phoenix, you lucked out.
Now if anyone needs me, I'll be napping under my desk Costanza style.
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