Pam Richter
On Friday morning, sports talk shows across the nation went crazy trying to figure out who was to blame for Thursday night's loss for the Orlando Magic in game four of the NBA finals.
Jameer Nelson did play poor defense on Derek Fisher. Hedo Turkoglu and Dwight Howard did miss key free throws down the stretch. In a game like Thursday night's NBA finals, it's easy to point the finger and play the blame game.
In the days filled with one-on-one isolation plays, it's difficult to remember sometimes that basketball is a team sport. And the entire Magic team is too blame for Thursday's loss.
The third quarter is where you win or lose a game. That statement was echoed by my travel basketball coach growing up. He usually yelled this as we were breaking from our halftime huddle. The third quarter will give you momentum for the remainder of the game.
In my experience, I learned this quickly. The team who won the third quarter, usually went on to win the rest of the game.
Thursday night, the Magic learned this all too well. The Lakers outscored the Magic, 30-14 in the third quarter. It was the only quarter (with the exception of overtime) that the Lakers won. Yet, the Lakers still captured the victory.
Yes, the fourth quarter is important. You will hear coaches continually yell, "It's fourth quarter time." Or, "The fourth quarter is where champions are made."
Thursday night's lopsided third quarter performance proved the third quarter may be in fact where champions are made. The Lakers are now up 3-1 in the series on their way to yet again, another championship.
Let's rethink the idea that the fourth quarter is the most important one in basketball.