Bob Ryan has some interesting comments about game 2 and the effect it will have on the upcoming game 3.
Fine. But will the Lakers win Game 3? Almost undoubtedly. They're a bunch of sorry Tinseltown suckers if they don't. I'm sure they have pride, and I keep assuming that Kobe will erupt for 40 and the Staples Center crowd, by all accounts, is actually legit, more like an Eastern or Chicago crowd than the old arrive-late, leave-early traffic beaters of yore.
Here's your mortal lock cinch: They'll get calls. Kobe might need to borrow a sleeve for his right arm from Allen Iverson or Ray Allen before the night is through because he will spend a lot of time shooting those uninterrupted freebies from that stripe 15 feet from the basket.
We all know what's going to happen now. The Lakers will be extremely aggressive and they will be rewarded. The league has worked this way for 62 years and it's very unlikely there will be a sudden climate change inside the Staples Center tomorrow night. If it's 38-10 the other way, Doc can't say boo. He'd just better hope they miss a few.
This may be hyperbole and exaggeration, but you can bet this is exactly what was on Phil's mind as he addressed the media after game 2. Always thinking of himself as the Zen Master, he is grasping for every Jedi mind trick he can throw at this 2-0 hole he's found himself in. Will it work? I don't know, it might.