Well, the Los Angeles Lakers won tonight, beating the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers were led by their usuals, Kobe Bryant and Shaq-fu. The game went to overtime, with the final score being 112-106. The game was tied at 100 points at the end of regulation play.
Personally I am happy the Lakers won. Not because I'm "on the bandwagon" or anything, I usually hate teams that are extrememly popular. I was actually hoping for a historical rematch, Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics, but alas, the Celtics lost to the Nets in 6 games. So it boiled down to something silly, namely the fact I dislike Vlade Divacs. Not the best reason to root against the team, especially when you think everyone else on the team deserves the win, but man, do I hate Vlade. I don't like how he always tries to draw the foul, he over-reacts as much as a teenager's poem is lined with angst.
Back to the game. I'd say the overtime boiled down to 4 people, Mike Bibby and Chris Webber for the Kings and, of course, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal for the lakers. To myself, it seemed that almost all the plays went to these superstars, especially the play of the Kings, who seemed to almost do nothing except run a pick and roll involving said players. Comparing the two pairs, Kobe and Shaq combined for 65 points, and 23 rebounds, whereas their counterparts had 49 points and 15 rebounds. But, then again, the dynamics of the two teams are drastically different. I would not go so far as to call the Lakers a two person team, but they are close. Kobe and Shaq are a dominating duo, and are a Basketball force not to be taken lightly. However, neither are the Kings. The bench of the Sacramento Kings scored 28 points, twelve of which belonged to Bobby Jackson. The Lakers' bench, OTOH, scored a mere 5 points. This usually decisive factor did not come into play, most likely from the dominance of Shaq and Kobe, although one cannot deny the clutch play of Robert Horry, nor the fact that the Lakers hit 5 more 3-point shots and 9 more free throws than their opponents.
I was really glad to see this game go into overtime. These two teams were very evenly matched, and the game could have gone either way. I want to see these two go at it again. I really hope the finals aren't a blow-out, after this good series, it would be a shame.
For those who care, or those who don't, my opinion is not swayed, Beast Ice remains better than Natty as far as cheap beer goes.
Statistics and numbers from www.espn.com because they're cool like that :^)
I know this isn't the best written write-up ever, but i suppose it's better than me saying I slept all day then played Grand Theft Auto 3 and Diablo II