Orlando wins Game 3, 108-104

Couldn't blame them if they spilled confetti on the floor a little too early.After all, the Orlando Magic waited all of their 20 years for their first NBA Finals victory.Even though a few more milliseconds were put back on the clock and players were kicking up the shiny ticker-tape, the Magic were not about to be denied Tuesday night.The Magic held off the Los Angeles Lakers 108-104 in front of a frenzied sell-out crowd at Amway Arena.They not only slowed the Lakers' parade planners and made Kobe Bryant look mortal, but the Magic jumped back into the best-of-seven series, trimming L.A.'s lead to 2-1.The Magic at last won a game in the NBA Finals after seven tries, and this one meant more to the present than the past.They not only found their shooting touch after going cold in L.A. --- 29.9 percent in Game 1 and 41.8 in Game 2 --- the Magic set an NBA Finals record 62.5 percent (40-of-84).They also held off a Lakers' charge after building a nine-point fourth-period lead."I've said it throughout the season and throughout these playoffs," Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "The one thing that you can't question about our team is their resilience in situations like that, whether it's from game to game, minute to minute… our team will keep playing."Strangely enough, Bryant ended up wearing rare goat-horns, missing a free throw with the Lakers trailing by three and then turning over the ball, dribbling it off his foot.Pau Gasol picked up the loose ball, but Mickael Pietrus stole it and was fouled, hitting two free throws with 28.7 seconds left.Bryant it a lay-up with .5 seconds left, and the Lakers fouled Rashard Lewis. The clock read no time left and confetti started raining from the rafters. Hold the phone. Officials reinstituted 0.2 seconds, but Lewis made it academic hitting both free throws.Bryant led all scorers with 31 points, but the Magic had the balamce, with five players scoring at least 18.Dwight Howard rebounded with 21 points and 14 boards, Lewis added 21 and point guard Rafer Alston finished with 20 after jump-starting the Magic. Pietrus and Hedo Turkoglu each had 18."We were taking better shots tonight," Howard said. "We didn't rush. We attacked. That allowed us to get some easier shots. Instead of us shooting the ball with a big guy --- Lamar Odom --- or Gasol in our face, we did a good job of getting to the rim. Skip (Alston) did a good job of attacking and allowing guys to get open for free shots."The win was particularly uplifting for Alston. Alston was basically benched along with Jameer Nelson by Van Gundy in Game 2 as the Magic played down the stretch with no point guards. Alston had also complained after a poor shooting effort in Game 1 that Nelson's return had disrupted his flow. CONTINUE READING..