NBA Playoffs Rundown

LA Lakers 93 San Antonio 91: The LA Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead over the Spurs, after their somewhat controversial Game 4 victory last night. Down by two with 2.1 seconds left, the Spurs inbounded the ball to Brent Barry and Derek Fisher made contact with Barry as he was looking to shoot. However, instead of going straight up with the shot when he felt contact, Barry instead pulled away and then threw up a wild shot from three that never had a chance. The Lakers won the game and now look to be headed to the NBA Finals.

While, there was definitely contact on the last play, Barry should have jumped into Fisher as soon as he felt the contact. Since he pulled back away from the contact, the foul didn't look as bad and it wasn't called by the officials, but it was still a foul regardless. Neither team felt like it should have been called a foul because it was as they said "the Western Conference Finals and not the regular season."

Uhh, this is why the NBA is garbage sometimes. In what sport do you see something called differently because it's the playoffs other than the NBA? In baseball, you don't see an ump saying that a close pitch is a ball because "this is the playoffs." A strike is a strike no matter what. If you grab a guys face mask in the NFL playoffs then you are getting called for it but apparently in the NBA you can foul a guy but since it's the last play of the game and it's the playoffs, then we'll just decide to change the rule book because we are the NBA. I really think it's ridiculous and the fact the players go along with it is even worse. No wonder why they think they never foul anyone.

That being said, I think the Spurs shouldn't be inbounding the ball to Brent Barry in the first place. Yeah, he played well and finished with 23 points but he's still Brent Barry. I think you have to give the ball to Ginobili or Parker in that situation no matter how they are playing at that point in the game. Hell, I'd even let Tim Duncan hoist a fade-away from 18 feet and try to bank one off the glass before I let Brent Barry decide my playoff fate.

Duncan, by the way, had a great game in this one finishing with 29 points, 17 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Tony Parker played good in this one as well, finishing with 23 points and 9 assists. Manu Ginobili, on the other hand, struggled again for the third time in this series, shooting only 2 for 8 and finishing with 7 points. Brent Barry stepping up and scoring 23 points was definitely a pleasant surprise for the Spurs but in the end they just didn't have enough offense to win the game.

For the Lakers, this was a tremendous win for them and they now get 2 of the next 3 games at home to try and win one game to close out the series. Kobe Bryant was great once again, finishing with 28 points and 10 rebounds, leading a starting five that all played well in this game. Lamar Odom stepped up big time down the stretch as well becoming more aggressive offensively and he finished with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Pau Gasol has a solid all around game finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 assists. The other two starters, Derek Fisher and Vladmir Radmanovic, each had solid nights as well in support of the Lakers main three.

It certainly looks like the Lakers will be headed to the NBA Finals. I am not surprised that the Lakers are going to win this series. San Antonio might have a chance to push it to 7 games but I do not think they have any chance to win 3 games straight and take the series unless something catastrophic happens, like Kobe Bryant getting hurt. I'm sure the Lakers would love to close this series out in 5 games and get some rest while Detroit and Boston continue to beat up on each other.