To say that the Magic have transformed downtown Orlando would be an understatement, so in the interest of being understated: the Magic have transformed downtown Orlando. Downtown Orlando has abandoned the normal stylings of a business hub in favor of what seems to look much more like the queue of a Disney ride. There are televisions on every wall, in every bar, in every restaurant, store, and pizza shop. All of them, as if Big Brother were in control, tuned to the exact same programming. The flashes of light against the faces of people downtown were all in synch, the voices of the ABC commentators rang out through every street, Dwight Howard’s Stan Van Gundy impression induced giggles throughout the few square blocks that make up the bar and club section of downtown.
It would be very difficult to say how many people ventured downtown for the game, but I would estimate that there were, roughly, 14,000,000 people. All but a few of them dressed in royal blue. Many of the young men in offensive shirts “Kobe Cheats (just ask his wife)”, “[expletive] the Lakers” in big bold capital letters, etc.
The entire crowd pumped with beer and other libations, yelling louder and louder with each possession. As I took in the wonderful rhythm of the city, I could only help but wonder, “What happens if we lose?”
0, -5, +7, -2. Those were the point differentials during the four quarters. They provide a powerfully accurate description of what took place. Except for quarters two and three, both team were almost equal. The Lakers had a great second quarter where Andrew Bynum scored his only points of the game, five, and the Magic missed six three-point attempts.
The Magic had a great third quarter where the Laker five-point-lead was eliminated in less than two minutes after two Derek Fisher turnovers. For the rest of the third and fourth quarter, the teams battled blow-for-blow.
The game was tied at 88-88 when Courtney Lee missed a layup. Lamar Odom grabbed the rebound and called time out. Every single person watching the game on Wall Street and throughout downtown knew what was coming, the Black Mamba.
A game tied with ten seconds remaining gave Kobe the perfect opportunity to make amazing happen.
As the clock wound down, Kobe pulled up for the shot and was blocked from behind by Hedo Turkoglu who then immediately called a time out leaving the Magic with the ball and .6 seconds steal home court advantage and the win.
Turkoglu sailed a pass toward the basket where Lee would have the chance to put up a quick layup. Unfortunately the rookie failed and the shot clanked ineloquently off of the rim. Overtime.
The collective unconscious of the Orlando fans was probably more due to the alcohol than to a lack of self-awareness, but even they knew JJ Redick was the worst person to have on the court during the NBA Finals overtime. Sadly, Van Gundy had no idea.
In 22 minutes of regulation, all that JJ managed was to miss three times. But still, Van Gundy passed over Jameer Nelson in favor of Redick. In five minutes of overtime, JJ managed to miss two crucial three-pointers and commit the turnover that probably gave the Lakers the win.
The fans can be angry at JJ, but they shouldn’t be. It is not JJ’s fault that he is turrible (SIC), it is Van Gundy’s fault for letting him out of his warm-ups. If Van Gundy keeps making brilliant moves like this, all of those TVs downtown will have to entertain us with The Hills or perhaps So You Think You Can Dance by then end of the week because the Magic won’t be playing basketball anymore.
I think we all need to drop Stan a quick note: “Don’t Play JJ.” Maybe we should put that on a t-shirt.
