I'll update it if they do.
Mason's shot stuns Lakers
Jeff McDonald
Roger Mason Jr. strikes again.
Mason's 3-point play with 10.5 seconds to go lifted the Spurs to a stirring 112-111 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night at the AT&T Center.
It was a wild and crazy rematch of last season's Western Conference finals, as thrilling at the start as it was at the finish.
Manu Ginobili, who was a s of himself in the playoff series, was back to normal in the rematch. He matched a season high with 27 points, including 19 in the first half, to lead the Spurs (25-12).
Tony Parker and Tim Duncan each added 20 points, with Duncan also contributing 10 rebounds and eight assists.
Mason, who has now thrice hit game-winning baskets for the Spurs this season, finished with 18.
Kobe Bryant had 29 points and 10 assists to pace the Lakers, who were playing a night after winning at Houston and were without three key injured reserves (Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton).
The Lakers (31-7) took their first lead of the second half — 106-105 — on a Pau Gasol jumper with 2:10 to go. The Spurs pulled ahead on back-to-back baskets from Duncan with 28.9 seconds to go.
Bryant answered with a cold-blooded shot that was pure Bryant, burying a 3-pointer in Mason's mug with 12.9 seconds to go.
Mason, however, would have the last laugh. The Spurs were inbounding near midcourt, and Matt Bonner was having trouble finding an open receiver.
The official's count was at four before Bonner released the ball, to Mason in the near corner, with Derek Fisher draped all over him. Mason caught and fired in one motion, while Fisher bumped him in the back.
The basket tied the game at 111. The foul shot gave the Spurs the victory.
The Lakers had a final chance, but a double-teamed Bryant gave up the ball to Trevor Ariza, who traveled.
The first thing that I thought when Mason hit the shot was that it was taken too early.
Kobe hits the 3 with 12.9 left on the clock.
Mason hits it with 10.5 left on the clock.
I thinking that is way too much time on the clock in the NBA and especially if you have a player like Kobe.
I was sweating that one out.
Luckily Fish fouled RMJ and he converted the FT.
What a fantastic game tonght!
I was yellin' like Billy Mays trying to sell another steamer on TV.
Bryant will think twice before doing the big ball dance again in SA.
I woke up half my familyits 3 am over here
We were down. If it was a tie then you'd hold for last shot. Regardless in Mason's case if he feels it you let him shoot whenever he wants lol. Mason has the greenlight all day.The first thing that I thought when Mason hit the shot was that it was taken too early.
Kobe hits the 3 with 12.9 left on the clock.
Mason hits it with 10.5 left on the clock.
I thinking that is way too much time on the clock in the NBA and especially if you have a player like Kobe.
I was sweating that one out.
Luckily Fish fouled RMJ and he converted the FT.
What a fantastic game tonght!
Updated.
Mason's three-point play stuns Lakers
Jeff McDonald
Roger Mason Jr. was there in the Staples Center last June, and he saw it all.
The confetti. The streamers. The Lakers' celebration.
Still technically employed by the Washington Wizards at the time, Mason was just a basketball fan hanging out in Los Angeles, wanting to catch a game.
So he watched the Lakers oust the Spurs in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals from the cheap seats.
“It was just a fun game to watch,” Mason said. “I never dreamed I'd be in the midst of the rivalry like this.”
Yet there Mason was Wednesday night at the AT&T Center, in the silver and black of the Spurs, setting off a celebration of his own.
Mason's bucket-and-the-foul with 10.5 seconds left lifted the Spurs (25-12) to a 112-111 victory over the conference-leading Lakers (31-7), in a thrill-a-second rematch of last season's playoff meeting.
The Spurs, after leading for most of the second half, were down 111-109 after Kobe Bryant had drained a 3-pointer over Mason moments earlier.
After a harried inbounds play at midcourt, Mason took a thread-the-needle pass from Matt Bonner in the corner, then knocked down a jumper and drew a foul on Derek Fisher.
The ensuing free throw — and one more defensive stop, gained with a disputed traveling call on Trevor Ariza — gave the Spurs a victory to cherish, even as it came against a short-handed Lakers team playing on zero days rest.
It was Mason's third game-winning shot this season, joining the Christmas Day buzzer-beater to beat Phoenix and a late 3-pointer to beat the Clippers on Nov. 17.
“I've just been in the right place at the right time,” he said.
For a while, the Spurs appeared poised to be led by a player who might as well have watched the conference finals from the cheap seats, too.
Manu Ginobili was severely hobbled with an ankle injury the last time these two teams met. Wednesday officially marked his comeback performance.
He finished with a season-high 27 points, including 19 in the first half.
Ginobili got his first points of the game on a steal and a dunk from Bryant. Thirty seconds later, he zipped past Ariza to finish a layup over Pau Gasol.
This was the Manu missing from last season's playoff meeting.
“I was aggressive, I was feeling good,” Ginobili said. “It helped that I made the first couple of shots to get me going.”
Later, Ginobili closed the third quarter with a play that was pure Ginobili, taking a pass near midcourt after a Lakers basket, whipping the ball around his back to avoid a defender, and then launching a standard, garden-variety running 29-footer that swished through the net at the horn.
That gave the Spurs a 95-87 lead entering the final frame, as well as momentum they would eventually squander by falling behind by three entering the game's final 90 seconds.
The game ended, fittingly, with what Bryant would later call “typical Spurs-Lakers stuff.”
Tim Duncan, who had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, had given the Spurs a one-point lead on a jump hook with 28.9 seconds to go. Bryant followed with a 3-pointer, buried directly in Mason's mug, to put L.A. back on top with 12.6 seconds left.
Bryant ended with 29 points, and — had it not been for Mason's ho-hum heroics — would have ripped the Spurs' hearts out.
The game-winning play went haywire from the beginning. Ginobili was the first option, but he bumped into a teammate and eventually flared instead of cutting.
Bonner, attempting to inbound, couldn't find him. This was a problem.
“There really wasn't a Plan B,” Bonner said.
Meanwhile, time was ticking toward a five-second violation. Out of options, Bonner rifled a pass to Mason in the near corner, with Fisher draped all over him.
Mason caught the ball and let it go just inside the 3-point line, pausing long enough for Fisher to bump him.
The last time the Lakers were in the building, they walked away a Game 4 winner after Fisher wasn't called for a foul on Brent Barry. This time, the Spurs got the whistle they wanted last June.
Mason's shot went through the net for the tie. He made the free throw for the go-ahead point.
No confetti. No streamers. But, soon, the celebration was on.
There in the middle of it, on the court instead of in the stands, was Mason.
“I could never imagined something like this,” Mason said. “But it's the type of thing you hope for.”
I got a chance to go to this game, the stadium was sold-out and got playoff level loud during the last minutes of the 4th.
It was the first time I got to see the Lakers play in person and it was an awesome opportunity to fully appreciate the likes of Kobe Bryant as an opponent - that guy is cold blooded.
Also surprised to see the amount of Lakers fans in a sold out regular season SA game --- they actually competed pretty well in terms of cheering; and at particular stretches seemed to takeover!
Its great to see Ginobili taking over again but clearly his teammates aren't used to it yet -- Duncan and Bonner weren't even expecting Manu's quick passes.
I hope Mason will be clutch in the playoffs! Anyone know what his playoff stats are like?
I'm pretty sure he was solid last year against Cleveland, but one round isn't too great a sample size.
Decent stuff by JM.
IIRC his numbers were pretty poor.
Really? Idk, I didn't follow that series. I just heard somewhere he did alright. Seems like with Tony, Manu, and Timmy, he'll did much year in this years POs.
Thats a sign of classlessness.
Make the shot, go back to your damn huddle.
And Laker fans wonder why other teams fans hate Bryant.
I've never hated him because of his talented, I've hated him because hes a complete bag asshole.
So Kobe celebrated a bit, big deal, it's an emotional game. But if that's a sign of classlessness, then your whole team is classless. Acting like they won the game when Mason made the and-1 with around 10 seconds left in the game with Bonner jumping in circles like a kid. Make the shot, go back to your damn huddle, right ?
Can't really give you any narratives, but here are the raw numbers.
Mason:
06-07:
Regular season: 7.9 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 33.0% FG, 32.4% 3PT
Playoffs (4 games): 14.0 mpg, 6.0 ppg, 43.8% FG (7/16), 50% 3PT (5/10)
07-08:
Regular season: 21.4 mpg, 9.1 ppg, 44.3% FG, 39.8% 3PT
Playoffs (6 games): 21.5 mpg, 8.0 ppg, 40.4% FG (19/47), 23.5% 3PT (4/17)
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/roger_...eer_stats.html
He jumped in a circle, he did grab at his nuts like a 15 year old punk like Bryant did to the crowd.
learn the difference sir.
He stole it from Sam Cassell.
Yeah he did it a lot with paul pierce....
When I opened it I thought the article was led "Mason's Shot Suns Lakers"
Yeah, that's a foul. You can't put your junk on players when they're shooting.
Nice pictures. Does Mason extend his legs to exaggerate the contact? Yes. However, Fisher's chest is already making contact with Mason in his natural shooting posture.
Then I guarantee you that's not Kobe being a punk to the crowd, it's the other way around. When Kobe mocks the crowd, it's almost ALWAYS because he was being heckled by the fans during the game. It's his way of getting back.
But I still think it was just innocent celebration.
Awww, he was getting heckled.
Then be the bigger man and let your game do the talking. Not your goddamn hands and stupid actions.
BTW, Mason moved his legs AFTER he was bumped.
Afraid to break it to ESPN, but there is no "end of game controversy"
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