Sports fans, we've got a bunch of series here. Most of this has to do with Lakers-Rockets, and I won't waste time talking about homerism or jinxes or any such boxscore-ish platitudes. Let's just get right to it. First, Celtics-Magic did their jobs at making it 1-1. Nice passing by the Leprechauns, especially for a huge dunk by Rondo (at the 1:35 mark or here). Also, it's great to see the white, American guys getting back into it. JJ Reddick and Scalabrini, much maligned in the past, have been making their play felt. The Celts also got a big game from Eddie House Wednesday night. The Rafer Alston slap to House's head documented at the 1:57 mark or here just looks weird. It was almost like Rafer went to slap Eddie's butt on the nice shot, but got his melon instead. House's first reaction is spot on: he's shocked. The look on his face doesn't say "I'm pissed off," but rather "did you really just do that?!?"
In the late show, Ron-Ron got all up in Kobe's grill. But for what it's worth, Artest looked quite calm, as if he was really trying to explain himself. Post-game, he cracked, "I went there with intentions of just telling Kobe, 'You gotta relax. You hittin' the wrong person! Don't you know you hittin' Ron Artest?'" My guess, though? I think he was just saying over and over, "Yeah, B-Roy's better than you! Yeah! B-Roy!" The real highlight of Wednesday's fight night, though:
D-Fish laid Luis Scola out. Let's not beat around the bush with that. What I think gives this moment legs is Fish checking his dome after the hit, as if to see if non-existent hair had gotten mussed, or if that rogaine finally kicked in. Also, the moment contains the added juice of having been uploaded by a Blazers fan. Was this a dirty play? No, I don't think Fish had any intention of really hurting Scola. But, championship battle-tested vet that he is, Fish did send an unmistakable message. The brilliance of it was that he was able to plausibly explain it as a legitimate mistake. Now, anyone who's ever lied knows the heady, reeling sensation that comes with a successfully extensive fabrication. With his incredibly detailed diagrammatic description of the dynamics of turning, you'd think that Fish has a future in law. Or, at least, that he'll have a hand in quelling the rumors of a 2011 lockout.
Derek Fisher has always struck me as someone with a bit of a repressed dark side. He loves getting under other players' skin by taking charges, and you've got to wonder why Jazz fans revile the Kingfisher so grossly. I mean, yeah he left them high and dry, but his daughter's name is Tatum. It doesn't get more endearing or sympathy-evoking than that. At the same time, it did seem like he opted into a too perfect situation. There's got to be some Lord Voldemort under this Harry Potter exterior, right? I mean, he's a stone cold killer when there's 0.4 seconds left in a game, beli' dat. You can't discount his good side, though. Fisher has been the player's association prez. He always reminded me of Terry Mills, with a little more gravitas. He hasn't gotten into any memorable tussles prior to this. I would dub this the anti-Willis Reed moment, and I love it. We see it from coaches all the time, getting ejected to fire up a team. I think Fish worked it to perfection.
On a less Clubber Lang note: now we know where Jordan Farmar has been. Living life to the fullest! From this bedroom report, we see Farmar's voice is no longer connected to his body. Apparently living life to the fullest = "don't wake me, I plan on sleeping in..." and swearing every other word. Jordan, who writes for Playboy, has either been playing too much or too little. Hard to tell.
Amidst all this, let's not forget that some real basketball was played Wednesday night. I love this alley-oop kobe scooped to himself in the fourth. On second thought, that's not real basketball. That's just insane.
