NBA Finals Game 3: Glass Half-Full

The momentum swings in an NBA playoff series are off the charts. Teams have to ride the emotional rollercoaster that comes with every win and loss in the postseason, especially the NBA Finals.

After Orlando's 108-104 Game 3 victory on Tuesday night, it'd be very easy for the Magic to rest on their laurels heading into Game 4. After all, the made history offensively Tuesday night. However, the fact remains: the Magic still trail the series two games to one.

For the Lakers, it's be just as easy to get down on themselves after such a poor defensive performance in Game 3 after putting the clamps on Orlando in the first two games of the series.

Ever the optimist, I like to believe that the glass is half-full for both teams. I believe in the power of positive thinking, and here's what I took away from Game 3 for each team.

Orlando Magic

The glass is half full for the Orlando Magic because the fixed the one problem they had in both games in LA: they made shots.

After shooting just 35.8% from the floor in Games 1 and 2 combined, the Magic shot an NBA Finals record 62.5% from the field in Game 2. Rafer Alston, who was a brutal 3-of-17 in L.A., bounced back in a big way, hitting 8 of his 12 shots from the floor, finishing with 20 points. The last time he played that good Fat Joe was the opposing coach.

Mickael Pietrus, 6-of-16 in the first two games, connected on 7-of-11 attempts, including a wide array of circus shots (sign him up for a rousing game of G-E-I-C-O!).

Rashard Lewis continued his clutch 2009 playoffs run with a dagger three with just over a minute left that whipped the crowd into a frenzy (it was changed to a two pointer after review, but the damage was done).

Even Tony Battie got in on the action, burying a 19- and 18-foot jump shots in the first half.

Quite simply, Orlando couldn't miss in Game 3.

A lot of credit has to go to Stan Van Gundy and the rest of the Orlando Magic coaching staff. You would expect that the Magic would shoot better on their home floor, but a 27% increase in field goal percentage is crazy. You could tell the Magic had a renewed focus on executing every possession offensively in Game 3, and for that, you have to credit SVG and his staff.

Meanwhile, defensively, the Magic finally found a way to contain Kobe Bryant in the second half. It looked like more of the same after Kobe came out and scored 17 points in the final five and a half minutes of the first quarter. But after weathering Kobe's first quarter tsunami of buckets, the Magic held Bryant to just 4-of-15 from the field in the final three quarters.

With an apparent epiphany offensively, and the next two games at home, the Orlando Magic have not just gotten themselves back in the series, but must have all the confidence in the world that they can stand toe-to-toe with the Lakers for the remainder of the NBA Finals.

Los Angeles Lakers

The glass is half full for the Los Angeles Lakers for the same exact reason it is half full for the Magic: Orlando shot and NBA Finals record 62.5% from the field! And only won by four points.

Yes, the Lakers need to make adjustments defensively. In Games 1 and 2 they were all over the outside shooters for Orlando, closing quickly and running them off the three-point line. They did not do that in Game 3, and the Magic had the open looks to prove it.

Still, if you're the Lakers, you have to assume that the Magic will come back down to earth in Game 4 and miss some shots. This is a team that was shooting 45% from the floor over the first 21 games of the postseason. It took a record-breaking performance from the field by the Magic to squeak out a four-point win. The law of averages suggests that there's no way Orlando can duplicate their Game 3 performance.

Then there's this: Kobe Bryant played the worst fourth quarter I can ever remember him playing. He missed jump shots, he missed free throws, and he turned the ball over. He was bizzaro Kobe from Games 1 and 2.

Over the past decade, it's been clear as day that there is no way to defend Kobe Bryant. When he's on, he's unstoppable, and he's on a whole lot more than he's off. Orlando made it tough on Kobe, no doubt about it, but Bryant was off in Game 3.

Orlando can defend Bryant the exact same way in Game 4 and he could drop for 40 again. Just like the law of averages tells me that Orlando won't shoot 62.5% from the field again, it also tells me that Kobe isn't going to have back-to-back terrible fourth quarters.

The Lakers probably are and probably should be very disappointed with how Game 3 played out. Nonetheless, it took an historic shooting night and the worst crunch time performance in recent memory from Kobe Bryant for Orlando to barely beat them at home just to make it a series again.

There's no such thing as a good loss in the NBA Finals, but the Lakers should have a glass half-full mentality entering Thursday night's game knowing that it will take nothing short of another brilliant performance from Orlando to even this series.

Visit Sports Central each day after every NBA Finals game to read Scott Shepherd's immediate reaction to the game. You can also follow Scott before, during, and after every NBA Finals game on Twitter at twitter.com/scottosports.