Defense is almost never considered when talking about "great play". This was proven again by the analysts after Game 3 in the NBA Finals, when Jon Barry declared that the game was full of excellent play from both teams despite the fact that one team broke the NBA Finals record for highest field goal percentage ever and the other also shot over 50|PERCENT|. As Sir Charles might say, the Bad Boy Pistons and last year's Celtics are rolling over in their graves right now.
That was a hugely entertaining game, with big shots being made on both sides all game. There were fast breaks, dunks, 3-pointers galore, and a down-to-the-wire finish that kept fans of both teams on the edge of their seats. But the defense played was suspect at best, on both sides. With the exception of Kobe Bryant in the first quarter (who was in a ridiculous zone, by the way), the vast majority of the scoring was not done in the face of superb pressure. Rafer Alston was getting into the lane at will, Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus were often given driving lanes along the baseline, Rashard Lewis was often wide open on the 3-point line after ball movement, and Dwight Howard was allowed to get just about whatever post position he wanted in the paint. On the other side, I thought the Magic did a slightly better job of containing the Lakers while making Kobe take tough shots, but even still Derek Fisher and Trevor Ariza got way too many open looks from downtown. If they were just a little bit hotter it could have opened up the middle even more for Kobe, Pau Gasol, and (late in the game) Lamar Odom. Plus, the Lakers killed them on the offensive glass in important situations. Offensively, both teams did play very fine games. But defensively, both teams would presumably like to have this one back. But since defense is hardly ever given anywhere near equal weight with offense, it is not surprising that the prevailing thought after the game was that both teams played excellent. Other thoughts on Game 3...
1) Following the game plan. In Game 3, the Magic (either on purpose or accidentally) touched on just about all of my keys for How the Magic Could Win: Howard dominated the inside ("only" 21 points, but done on only six shots...he was collapsing the defense and drawing fouls), their point guard torched the Lakers (Alston with 20 points on 12 shots), the shooters hit their shots (NBA Finals record 62.5|PERCENT| team FG|PERCENT|), Kobe was in attack mode early (When he had 17 points on difficult, acrobatic shots in the first quarter I got more confident that the Magic would win), and Pietrus/Lee stepped up their aggressiveness on defense in the second half against Kobe. When these things happen, the Magic can win...the question is whether they can happen consistently enough for Orlando to win three of the next four games.
2) Courtney Bell? There is a good article on TrueHoop this morning about how Lee really stepped up the physicality and aggressiveness against Kobe in the third quarter of Game 3. Lee decided not to back down anymore, stopped worrying about fouls, and started really putting his body on Kobe. The chippiness also rose a bit, with elbows and shoving starting to get involved. This is the kind of defense that Raja Bell often played on Kobe, and Kobe has always shown a tendency to want to show up the player that guards him like that. It is worth keeping an eye on moving forward, because as I said before the Magic want Kobe in attack mode, they want him taking difficult shots and trying to show up his opponent. Plus, Kobe has five technicals this postseason, so if he and Lee were to start getting double technicals on each other it could potentially lead to a huge one game suspension.
3) Will Kobe's fumbles late lead him to explode in Game 4? Last year in Game 5 of the 2008 NBA Finals, Kevin Garnett missed three key free throws late at a crucial point in the game. The Celtics went on to lose that game, and Garnett beat himself up and blamed himself. He didn't sleep after that game and instead went to the gym to shoot all night. In Game 6 Garnett exploded, making more field goals in the first half than the entire Lakers team and just putting his foot on their throats to touch off one of the most lopsided massacres in Finals history. This year, Kobe's miscues in Game 3 likely cost his team the chance to win. He missed five free throws (including several in the fourth quarter), had a crucial turnover with less than 30 seconds left, and missed the last ditch 3-ptrs that could have given the Lakers a chance in the final seconds. After the game Kobe was inundated with questions about how a "closer" like him could mess up like that, and even Lakers fan J.A. Adande wrote a big article this morning about how Kobe fumbled this one away. Will Kobe be able to use this disappointment in a similar way to how KG did, channeling the frustration and energy into a dominant performance in the next game that causes the opponent to submit? Or will it go the other way, leading Kobe to try to force it and ultimately costing his team? Or maybe he just puts it behind him and comes out and plays in Game 4, with no effect whatsoever? In any case, it makes an interesting storyline to follow going into the next game.