Finals are once again a magical time for him
LOS ANGELES - As Celtics coach Doc Rivers left his pregame press conference yesterday at Staples Center, he encountered another press gathering. Magic Johnson was holding court, flashing his trademark "Showtime" smile and showing faith in the Lakers.
Ready to walk back to the visitors' locker room to deliver a pep talk, Rivers shouted, "I didn't want to interrupt you."
Johnson replied, "No, I know you're still my man, no matter what happens." Then, he laughed at the oddity of a Lakers legend sharing friendly words with a Celtic, especially during the Finals. But Rivers wasn't the only member of the Boston organization who earned kind words from Johnson. Danny Ainge was also on the list.
"Everybody's so hyped on this series, I've never gotten so many calls," said Johnson, who is a minority owner and vice president of the Lakers. "The last time was when I was playing. This is really fun for the league and fun for everybody. I'm happy for the NBA and I'm happy for Danny Ainge and Mitch Kupchak, who both took a lot of crap for a year or two and now they're both showing the NBA and everybody in basketball how you can turn a franchise around by making quality and good trades."
When asked if he was truly happy for former rival Ainge, Johnson added, "You're happy because the league wouldn't have this type of stage if the Celtics were not in it or the Lakers were not in it. I'm happy because this is good, quality basketball. It's just like when I played. I didn't want to play anybody else but the Celtics. You're disappointed when you don't play the Celtics. And the Celtics are disappointed when they didn't play the Lakers. So, it's good for basketball. That's why the ratings are up. So, I'm happy. Keep on going, Boston. Keep on going, Lakers."
Only Larry Bird more actively enjoying the series would make the Finals better for Johnson. But Johnson recognized Bird has a responsibility: to get the Indiana Pacers back to the Finals.
"I'm sure Larry would want to be a part of this," said Johnson. "We did an interview together and it's great. It's great for him and I to reminisce a little bit. But it's too bad he can't enjoy it like I can. Because his friend is running the team in Danny Ainge, I'm sure he would like to be here with [John ] Havlicek and M.L. Carr and Jo Jo White and Bill Russell and some of the other greats who have made it from the Celtics. Just like the Lakers have got their guys here."
As far as the Lakers are concerned, Johnson, like the rest of the fans in LA, was waiting for the team to put together four solid quarters. With a 21-point lead in the first quarter, the Lakers appeared well on their way to doing that last night. But the Lakers could not close out the Celtics and dropped a devastating 97-91 decision. The Celtics staged the largest comeback in playoff history when trailing after the first quarter.
Fisher contributing
Derek Fisher denied he was in a scoring slump. But the numbers from the first three games of the Finals begged to differ. Fisher was 8 for 23, including 1 for 6 in Game 3. He scored 13 points last night, going 4 for 5 from the floor.
"Scoring for me has always come and gone because it's not the primary role that I play for the team," said Fisher. "At times, it's frustrating that the opportunities are not there as much, but in terms of my confidence and knowing that I'm capable of making plays and making shots for our team, that won't ever go away. Things always kind of come around for me. If I just continue to play hard and make a contribution defensively, do some things that I can do, the shots will come. So, I'm fine in that regard."
On the rebound
There was a lot of pregame talk concerning the struggles of Lamar Odom in the Finals. Lakers coach Phil Jackson addressed those concerns and, once again, talked about the importance of Odom playing well. Jackson knows a productive Odom would produce Lakers success on the court.
Odom had an impact on the first quarter last night, scoring 13 points as the Lakers cruised to a 35-14 lead. But he had just 6 points the rest of the way, although he finished 8 of 11 from the field and had 10 rebounds.
