Game 5 of the 2004 Semi-Finals (0.4)

Anklebreaker702 · Post #1 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 7:42 am

This was a great series. After falling behind 0-2 to the Spurs all the sports writers were writing the Lakers off & saying picking up Malone & Payton seemed to be futile. Tony Parker was just having his way, getting lay up after lay up & just killing us. The turning point of the series came after starting the series on the road the Lakers come back to Staples & the first time Parker drove to the hole, Shaq & Rick Fox crashed him to the floor & he was never the same & the Lakers smoked the Spurs in both games to tie the series @ 2. The Lakers were all over the Spurs in Game 5, being up by as many as 16 in the 3rd quarter & being up by 9 to start the 4th.
As the Spurs began to chip away I remember feeling nevrvous because Game 5 is always the pivital game in a series tied at 2. The Spurs took a 3 point lead with 2:12 left in the game so the Lakers had to fight back. Kobe hit a jumper with 11.2 left to give the Lakers a 1 point lead. The Spurs had possesion with what would be the last possesion of the game. Fish commited a foul with 5.4 to play so the Spurs in bound the ball to Duncan Shaq plays awsome "D" on him, he has to throw up a prayer from the top of the key to not only beat the game clock but at the same time keep Shaq from blocking the shot & hits a running fade away all net!!!! One of the luckiest shots I've seen in that situation.>>>>>>>>ENTER DEREK FISHER.
With 0.4 seconds to play, Payton gets the ball into Fisher right in stride & SWISSSSHHHHHHHH! With Ginobli drapped all over him!!!!!!!!!!The Spurs stood there stunned as the Lakers ran into the locker room as Phil Jackson slowly walks towards the locker room with a smerk on his face! lol! I was jumping up & down & yelling from the top of my lungs!!!!!!!!!!!! Shaq, in the post game interview dubbed it "One lucky shot deserves another". but if you look at it again Fisher was on the left side of the court & he is left handed.
So as he curled around to get the pass he was right in stride. A righty probably doesn't get the shot off in time or even if he does has to shoot it going back across his body. Another great moment in our storied history, THANKS D-FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ReaListik · Post #2 » by **ReaListik** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 7:50 am

I thought for sure we were going to win it all in '04 because of those kind of moments that we had a long the way. .4 was incredible. I have never liked the Spurs and seeing them celebrate and go crazy for Duncan's falling sideways shot pissed me off, then seeing them in total shock after D-Fish nailed it....the only word I can use to describe that is "owned."

Great times not too long ago, and I'm looking forward to some more great times this year.

Anklebreaker702 · Post #3 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 7:59 am

ReaListik wrote:I thought for sure we were going to win it all in '04 because of those kind of moments that we had a long the way. .4 was incredible. I have never liked the Spurs and seeing them celebrate and go crazy for Duncan's falling sideways shot pissed me off, then seeing them in total shock after D-Fish nailed it....the only word I can use to describe that is "owned."

Great times not too long ago, and I'm looking forward to some more great times this year.

Without a doubt. After the series with the Spurs & Kings I thought we were battle tested & ready, I thought we would handle Detroit but it was not to be. After Malone re-injured his knee it was over. But going back to your point about the Spurs I was just like you. They were celebrating & smiling, even Doc Rivers had already started saying they were up 3-2 & he was saying I don't know why they are calling time outs I can already tell you what they're going to do, they're going to Kobe Bryant! When D Fish hit that shot..............Spilling your drink on the carpet $75, Needing tea to get your voice back $5, the look on the Spurs face...................PRICELESS LOL!

shobe_81 · Post #4 » by **shobe_81** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 9:22 am

I remember it like it was yesterday

I was living in apartments with my television in my room, and Duncan had just hit that crazy fall-away shot that I for sure thought wasn't going in. Then came the cheers from a far away apartments.

They call timeout and I'm like: "this is over... 0.4 isn't enough time man

"

And then "Fisher gets it off, bang"

I started screaming like a little girl, really loud and then quickly stopped to see if they would count the shot. And then started screaming like a MAN really loud with my throat hurting.

I then called my brother who was watching it at a store.

And then came the stupid Detroit series

Watching those after timeout backdoor lobs still give me nightmares

Anklebreaker702 · Post #5 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 4:42 pm

Yeah we bombed in the Detroit series but this series against the Spurs were memeroable. When we went down 0-2 everyone wrote us off. Me & a homie of mine said even back then, a series doesnt start until the home team loses a game. And there we went 4 straight. In game 6 you could see the Spurs were done, no one came to push a game 7 except Duncan. The rest of them knew it was futile!

lakersfanatic · Post #6 » by **lakersfanatic** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 9:02 pm

Shaq said it best

One lucky shot deserves another

These words are etched in my brain. I was awe strucked and even felt more enlightened by that phrase. Awesome game.

Post #7 » by **Slava** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 9:27 pm

^^ Yep same with me. Shaq played near perfect defense on Timmy before that shot. The looks on Duncan, Bowen and Pop's faces were priceless.

kobe#8 · Post #8 » by **kobe#8** » Mon Dec 8, 2008 9:41 pm

it was 5 or 6am in belgium i didnt scream because everbody was sleeping that time, me jumping up and down man what a moment that was..

Anklebreaker702 · Post #9 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 3:20 am

lakersfanatic wrote:Shaq said it best
One lucky shot deserves another
These words are etched in my brain. I was awe strucked and even felt more enlightened by that phrase. Awesome game.

Very awsome. So do you think D-Fish's shot was lucky or was it a good look or both?

Anklebreaker702 · Post #10 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 3:22 am

j-far wrote:^^ Yep same with me. Shaq played near perfect defense on Timmy before that shot. The looks on Duncan, Bowen and Pop's faces were priceless.

Yeah J-far, they looked as if they had seen a ghost! LOL it was the ghost of Fisher past!!!

Anklebreaker702 · Post #11 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 3:28 am

kobe#8 wrote:it was 5 or 6am in belgium i didnt scream because everbody was sleeping that time, me jumping up and down man what a moment that was..

Man I hate you couldnt get your yell on but jumping up & down is always the next best thing

ronnymac2 · Post #12 » by **ronnymac2** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 4:59 am

haha damn, that series was insane. I remember all of those games. I remember game 3 so well....the lakers showed so much passion in that game. IIRC, both shaq and kobe dove on the floor for loose balls in the first quarter, and the announcer said something like "the team has to play with its heart when the 2 leaders bring it like that and want it that bad." Karl Malone played great defense on prime duncan, too.

Wow, game 5. I remember being so into that game. Kobe's shot was awesome. He looked so calm when he hit that 20 footer. Then, when Duncan shot the ball with Shaq literally all over him, and I thought no way that shot goes in. Then bam!!! lol I saw .4. I thought maybe a miracle shot by kobe or a lob to shaq. But I was also thinking about the chances of the lakers winning game 6 and extending the series to 7.

Then Payton finds Fisher, and in about .2 seconds, I thought "this is going to end like those plays when the team doesn't have enough time to get it to their superstar, so they give it to a role player who may or may not get a shot up, and will def miss if he does." Don't get me wrong, I'd trust Fisher in a game-winning situation....just not that one. lol But the ball went through. I put my hands on my head and didn't even move. I kind of just stood there waiting for the basket to be taken away. I didn't want to get too high about it all just to see it wasn't shot quick enough. But then they said it was good, so it was all coool. lol I'll always remember that shot.

Anklebreaker702 · Post #13 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 5:23 am

ronnymac2 wrote:haha damn, that series was insane. I remember all of those games. I remember game 3 so well....the lakers showed so much passion in that game. IIRC, both shaq and kobe dove on the floor for loose balls in the first quarter, and the announcer said something like "the team has to play with its heart when the 2 leaders bring it like that and want it that bad." Karl Malone played great defense on prime duncan, too.

Wow, game 5. I remember being so into that game. Kobe's shot was awesome. He looked so calm when he hit that 20 footer. Then, when Duncan shot the ball with Shaq literally all over him, and I thought no way that shot goes in. Then bam!!! lol I saw .4. I thought maybe a miracle shot by kobe or a lob to shaq. But I was also thinking about the chances of the lakers winning game 6 and extending the series to 7.

Then Payton finds Fisher, and in about .2 seconds, I thought "this is going to end like those plays when the team doesn't have enough time to get it to their superstar, so they give it to a role player who may or may not get a shot up, and will def miss if he does." Don't get me wrong, I'd trust Fisher in a game-winning situation....just not that one. lol But the ball went through. I put my hands on my head and didn't even move. I kind of just stood there waiting for the basket to be taken away. I didn't want to get too high about it all just to see it wasn't shot quick enough. But then they said it was good, so it was all coool. lol I'll always remember that shot.

Lol good stuff!!! I yelled & jumped right away because I knew he got it off. I was looking @ the backboard to turn red then I looked for the ball that way I knew he got it off & when it went down...................Pandemonium lol

DEEP3CL · Post #14 » by **DEEP3CL** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 5:49 am

Like Freddy Kruger............we gave the Spurs another nightmare...........again ! What's strange is that we've beaten them in 2 straight playoff series, I love mentally punishing this team.

Anklebreaker702 · Post #15 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 6:05 am

DEEP3CL wrote:Like Freddy Kruger............we gave the Spurs another nightmare...........again ! What's strange is that we've beaten them in 2 straight playoff series, I love mentally punishing this team.

Without a doubt Deep3. I don't think they've been the same since. They've won 2 more titles but not by going through us anymore

lakersfanatic · Post #16 » by **lakersfanatic** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 8:05 am

anklebreaker702 wrote:
lakersfanatic wrote:Shaq said it best
One lucky shot deserves another
These words are etched in my brain. I was awe strucked and even felt more enlightened by that phrase. Awesome game.
Very awsome. So do you think D-Fish's shot was lucky or was it a good look or both?

IMO Duncans shot was more of a lucky shot because he just a fade-away tossed it up amd it banked in where as Fishers shot was a quick, good open look shot. Although during that tight time.. luck plays more than anything hehe.

ReaListik · Post #17 » by **ReaListik** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 5:55 pm

[/quote]Very awsome. So do you think D-Fish's shot was lucky or was it a good look or both?[/quote]

IMO Duncans shot was more of a lucky shot because he just a fade-away tossed it up amd it banked in where as Fishers shot was a quick, good open look shot. Although during that tight time.. luck plays more than anything hehe.[/quote]

You know what, I don't think there's really any luck involved in sports. In my opinion, you train so much that certain aspects of your game and senses become second nature to you and muscle memory just takes over. You go through the movement in your mind, you go through the shot all the way to the follow through, and you envision what needs to happen to make it go in. I think that's the case with D-Fish's shot. With Duncan I think he just threw it up hoping for a bank or a foul and ended up getting the shot.

TylersLakers · Post #18 » by **TylersLakers** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 6:06 pm

During the game I was also trying to study for a Social Studies test I had the next day for school. My brother bought me a lime green 7-11 Slurpee at halftime, and I just chucked that thing right into the air when Fish's shot happened.

It was weird, I always get feelings when I know.. "Ah, it's over." I never had one there. Anyone else similar? Some weird feeling in me just told me not to turn the TV off.

ReaListik · Post #19 » by **ReaListik** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 6:21 pm

TylersLakers wrote:During the game I was also trying to study for a Social Studies test I had the next day for school. My brother bought me a lime green 7-11 Slurpee at halftime, and I just chucked that thing right into the air when Fish's shot happened.

It was weird, I always get feelings when I know.. "Ah, it's over." I never had one there. Anyone else similar? Some weird feeling in me just told me not to turn the TV off.

I had that same feeling, but I thought the ball was going to end up in Kobe's hands. When it got to Fish I was like, "omg is that the play they drew up? Oh well no guts no glory" lol but yeah crazy game.

Erik Eleven · Post #20 » by **Erik Eleven** » Tue Dec 9, 2008 7:10 pm

Like Shaq said after the game, "one lucky shot deserves another". It would have been wrong for that game to end with just one of those lucky shots. Good thing it ended with two.

I had the same feeling, Tyler. I knew it wasn't over yet. Too much at stake for the Lakers not to get some kind of look.