I say "steal" cause it was in Minnesota, so now the Lakers have homecourt advantage for this series. LA trailed a bit early, but led for most of the night, and even in the 4th quarter with 2 minutes left and the Lakers only leading by 4, I never really had any worries about the outcome of this game. Sure enough, Fish hit a 3 and the Wolves basically collapsed on offense and that was all she wrote. As I said, I really wouldn't be surprised to see the Lakers sweep this series. They are just too good for the Wolves right now, especially with Sam Cassell of Minnesota being really limited by injuries. LA was rusty in the 1st half, otherwise this might have been a laugher for most of the way. Game 2 is Sunday, and really I'll be surprised if the Lakers lose that game. Any time the Lakers play a team in a series where the other team has abosolutely no answer for Shaq, the Lakers usually dominate. Shaq had 27 points and 18 rebounds tonight, and it's not unthinkable to expect those kinds of numbers in every game in this series. If LA wins Game 2 on Sunday, this will be a sweep and by Thursday night LA will be sitting around waiting for their next victim as the Pacers and Pistons slug it out (I expect that to be a hard fought series).
In a related story, Marcus at work owes me a burrito cause he backed the wrong horse :lol