Game Time

"We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight
We'll find a way to offer up the night tonight
The indescribable moments of your life tonight
The impossible is possible tonight
Believe in me as i believe in you, tonight"
--Tonight Tonight, Smashing Pumpkins

The Lakers haven't really been in a must-win situation like this since Game 3 of the Spurs series, but tonight is huge. Maintaining the momentum captured by Kobe's shot and the overtime domination will be essential for the overall path of this series.
Karl Malone's presence is in doubt and the lack of a defensive presence on Rasheed Wallace could be pivotal. Slava hasn't even learned the word "defense" yet--he started with "shoot" and has gotten through "foul" and "turnover"--and Luke is entirely too undersized. Remember the Houston series, when Walton played a few meaningful minutes? Van Gundy sent Mo Taylor to the block on every possession, abusing the rookie and forcing Phil to make another move. Brian Cook isn't ready for this stage--witness his one possession in Game 2, losing the ball and getting tied up. Even if Malone can go, he'll be hobbled significantly, and 'Sheed took advantage of the gimpy one numerous times in the second half on Sunday.
Where has Derek Fisher been? Earth to Devean George. Kareem Rush, pick up the white courtesy phone. Somebody other than Shaq and Kobe absolutely MUST have a good game tonight, shoulder at least a small amount of the scoring load. This won't continue to work:
Game 1 - Shaq 34, Kobe 25, rest of team 16 (nobody over 5--that's awful)
Game 2 - Kobe 33, Shaq 29, rest of team 37 (much better, but still nobody over 9)
The improvement was noticeable in Game 2, as Walton had a big game, Fish did make two big threes and Devean had a couple nice buckets, but more will certainly be required from that supporting cast before it's all said and done.
Met a guy who lives in Kenya last night at bible study, an individual that helped give a little perspective to life at the moment. He has spent much of his life living day-to-day moneywise, not knowing where the next meal was going to come from or how he would be able to help take care of his family. He's got some pretty amazing stories of faith and he's come a long way--he now helps run a school for like 80 kids just outside of Nairobi and personally tends to 22 of the kids by himself (most of which are AIDS victims), with financial help from individuals in the United States. I get worked up over the Lake Show all the time, maybe not quite equating it with life and death, but I certainly lose perspective far too often with my immersion in the world of sports. Life is much bigger.