Do you believe in miracles??? Never mind... that would be overstating things wildly. Tonight's Lakers win, 73 to 70 over the Dallas Mavericks, was sludgy and gross for all but about 12 seconds. Four of those seconds came at the very end, when Derek Fisher took a pass from Kobe Bryant and dropped in a clutchy intangible three to put the Lake Show ahead (video after the jump) and Vince Carter missed the shot that would've subjected us to overtime. The other eight enjoyable seconds were scattered over the course of the evening and mostly involved Josh McRoberts throwing down a reverse alley-oop or giving hard fouls under the hoop.
For most of the night this game was a prolonged insult to you, me, the sport of basketball and the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Lakers and Mavs are two old, weary teams, and it reflected in every fumbled pass, blown layup and missed three-pointer. Yeah, I know: it's a win, and the Lakers will take every kind they can get. But it's hard to believe anyone came away from this display with faith in the championship hopes of either team.
Still... great shot, Fish. And pretty great D from pretty much everyone in purple and gold. More to come later tonight....