Silver Lining in Lakers' Game 3 Loss

(myFOXla.com) - Wednesday, June 10

The Lakers may not be done "till the fat lady sings," but the Magic just keep on winning as long as that 7 year old kid keeps singing.  Orlando is now 7-0 in games that  Gina Marie Incandela performs the National Anthem.  Rumors abound that Jeffrey Osborne and American Idol winner Chris Allen have both mysteriously disappeared.  Might they be replaced with Gina Marie at Staples?  Inquiring minds long to know. There is however no truth that the Magic plan to play Gina Marie in place of Jameer Nelson. Meantime "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!"  Jack Torrance, aka Jack Nicholson is actually "doin' work" as he berates the refs, opposing players and coaches.  He may just be more crazed as a Lakers' fan then even me.  That is somewhat debatable, however, and I hate like hell to bequeath that dubious distinction, even to an Academy Award winner of his renowned stature.  But, before I get into the nitty gritty, did anyone see Vanessa Bryant in the hallway leading to the locker room following game 2?  I assume it was her because, Kobe kissed her on the lips, following his perfunctory hugs with his daughters.  Assuming that was Vanessa, she is either pregnant again, or spending far too much time at Fat Burger.  Looks like she gained about 35 lbs.. Hmmm....ok now that I got all my attempts at humor out of the way...here goes.
 
 Is there such a thing as a "good loss?"  I believe there just might be.  No Kobe did not choke game 3.  Sure he missed a bunch of freethrows and turned the ball over at critical times, but he did not choke.  He simply was "Crunch time Challenged!" I do not believe, however that he was under the influence of performance diminishing drugs at the time. Too bad Kobe is not a hybrid.  When he ran out of gas, he could have just switched over to battery driven.
 
This game 3 might go down in the record books officially as a loss, but there were a lot of positives to take from this game that believe it or not, for me, was a "good loss!"    I will get to those positives in a moment, but I would be remiss if I did not tip my hat to the Orlando Magic first.  They are a team to contend with.  They are not just resilient, they are damn good as well.  Think about it.  They took the Lakers to overtime in game 2 in L.A.. Had they won that one, they would now have home court advantage and a chance to close the Lakers out 4-1 by winning the next two in Orlando and preventing the Lakers from ever returning to Los Angeles for games 6 and 7.  The fact that they shot 75% in the half to set an NBA Finals record for a half and then followed that up with shooting 63% for the game, to set yet another NBA Finals' record for highest field goal percentage in a game, is not just exemplary, it is downright incredible.  As such, if you are the Lakers, losing a game like this is not something you hang your head about and beat yourself up over in the locker room.  You accept it, are thankful that it was not a 30 point whooping, and prepare for game 4. Props to the Magic for their first franchise Finals win in their history! 

Now for the silver lining.  The Lakers allowed an opponent to shoot 75% for the first half and only trailed by 5 at halftime.  Most teams allowing an opponent to shoot  that astronomical percentage would be trailing by at least 20!  Losing the game by just 4 points when you allow 63% shooting for the game is something to build on.  The fact is, Orlando probably cannot play one iota better than this on offense and most likely never will again in the future of their franchise.  Having said that, the Lakers were not exactly chopped liver.  They shot a very respectable 51% for the game.  With just 2:40 to play in the game they were tied at 97!  The game was there for the taking.  You win this game and you rip the heart out of your opponent, their fans, their city, and remove any semblance of hope.  When you are playing against a team with their backs to the wall, trying to salvage some hope and pride in front of their home crowd, it is very tough to close them out, even in a non-close out game 3. 
 
The only aspect that definitely had no silver lining, in fact it sported a black storm cloud, was the Lakers' dismal free throw shooting.  Kobe Bryant proved he in fact is human after all.   Kobe shooting around 90 % at the line for the playoffs, incredibly missed half of his freebies.  Not sure I can remember him ever going 5-10 at the line.  To make matters worse L.A. as a team missed 10 free throws for the game.  That is really unacceptable and an area that absolutely must improve if they are going to garner a ring. Despite shooting a respectable 35% from beyond the 3 point arch (8-23), they need to concentrate on penetration rather than the long bomb.  Why did Orlando shoot such a high field goal percentage?  Among other things, a 3 point shooting team; in fact the premiere 3 point shooting team, wisely discarded their reliance on the quick fix and cleverly moved the