Noche Latina? Muchas Garacias Los Lakers!!!!!!! Mui Bueno!!!!!!

It was Latin Night at Staples and all I can say is :Third times a charm!!!! Whew!!  That's the first word that comes to mind after that Thrilla in Manilla! The Brawl for it All!!! Well maybe not all, but the Lakers were fighting to keep position in the West and the Sums were fighting to GET position in the West. As I'm still breathing a sigh of relief the morning after Im thinking the only thing that would've made this game better is if we were playing against Boston...I may have passed out if that were the case. I was already on oxygen and had 911 on standby. This was the best game of the NBA to date. The Lakers hadn't gone to triple OT on their home court since Feb 2nd 1969!!!Well for those of you living under a rock who missed the game, or who like my friend (who shall remain nameless D ENZO) decided to go to sleep while we were ahead, or who simply want to relive it..here goes:
It started out as everyone expected, the Lakers coasting through 3 and 1/2  half quarters like they had not a care in the world. Then of course..sometimes true to form the 2nd unit came in and so did the Suns barrage of 3s, oh and Luke Walton. To spare you the gory details we lost a 21 point lead with 4:40 left to go in the 3rd. The Suns scratched an clawed their way back and had the champs on the ropes going on a 20 to 8 run. I'm not sure why the Lakers just decided to stop defending. Going back to slow rotations, getting caught in screens, and at one time the Suns had 46 points in the paint!! I get it Bynum was suspended, but come on! Pau was again playin like he was my sisters height ( that's a whopping 4'11 for those who don't know her)!!!!  As the defense faded away so did the hopes of tacos as the Suns past 100 points midway thru the 4th .All night the killed the Lakers with the Gortat/ Nash high screen and roll. Coming down to the wire it was up to none other than Mr Dependable D Fish who hadn't scored all night to streamline some ice water and nail 2 free throws to tie the game. The game officially went to OT as  Vince Carter missed a 3 at the buzzer . The first OT was pretty sloppy as well. The Suns never letting up. The Laker offense was stagnant. But with Ron Artest behind the arc 18k fans yelling at him not to shoot, he did it anyway..and nailed it blowing kisses in the air soaking up the applause!!!Then true to form Lamar Odum fouled the flaming hot Channing Frye at the 3 point line with 1.1 secs left . The Lakers say the foul happened before the shot but the refs didn't see it that way. Of course Frye sank all 3 baskets and hoped to the bench with his tongue wagging while Lamar Odum remained stunned on the court, later stating he didn't want to face his guys in the loker room after that one. Try me in a dark alley because I was getting ready too..ok where was I...Giving him room for redemption Phil Jackson drew up a play for Odum. He had a good look from a pass on the right wing from Ron Ron, but it clanked off the rim as the Lakers faced Double Overtime. The Lakers still couldn't put away the pesky Suns in 2 overtimes so it took another.We got there by only by the hairs of Pau (make 1 miss 1 at the line) Gasols chiny chin chin. He sank 2 free throws to tie the score at 121 as both weary teams headed to Triple OT. I had to blink and make sure I wasn't back in the 80s!!Looking a bit fatigued with shots not falling and defense becoming stagnant at times, both teams stayed in the fight. The Lakers were 0-6 to start the 3rd Overtime and looked like they had more shot clock violations than they had all year.But after grant Hill fouled out with 2:19 left Kobe took over. He sank a 3 pointer over Jared Dudley to bring the Lakers up by 1. In the words of Kasey B " No matter what the stats are..when Kobe showes his teeth GAME OVER." Alvin Gentry would've loved to have gotten that memo.Then came the Ron Artest show. Yes you read that right. He stole the ball from Steve Nash sprinting down the court with a left handed slam and stood in front of the Suns bench kissing his biceps!!!! Moments later he shot a 15ft off balance fade away with 1:08 left. Kobe Bryant was the first Laker to embrace him at half court. He finished with 7 points in OT. The Suns had nothing left.
Stats for the 63 minute game were impressive Kobe ended with 42 points 12 rebounds and 9 assists. Odom had a season high 29 points, 16 boards, and 5 assists. Even though Pau sank those clutch free throws and had 24 points, and 13 rebounds he was a dismal 9 for 25 from the field. Pau Gasol did have a good post move down low in OT and actually made Channing Frye look like Pau Gasol! LOL. For the Suns, Steve Nash had an expected 20 assist. Channing Frye had a career high 32 points and 5  3 pointers. Gortat definitely showed Orlando why they regret trading him. As a whole the Suns jacked up 41 3 point shots making 17 of them. But the stat that stood out the most was the Lakers only had 6 turnovers for the entire game. That is impressive.
So even though the Lakers squandered a lead, this will go down as one of the best games of the year. Neither team giving in, neither team bowing down, neither team willing to leave. They played as if this was game 7 of the finals and it sure felt like it. So thank you Lakers and Suns for giving us this game, for having thousands of people glued to the TV and on the edge of their seats well into the night. For making the fans at Staples stay until the confetti dropped. For reminding us all why " We Love This Game".