LA Times: Ariza puts himself back into the spotlight

Mamba · Jun 12, 2009

Reporting from Orlando, Fla. — Trevor Ariza glided down the hallway in his typical looping gait, his head down, his eyes darting, his normal demeanor after a game.

His shining moment in Game 4 of the NBA Finals had brought attention to Ariza, something he prefers not to have.

But he was in the spotlight now after his third-quarter barrage helped give the Lakers a big jolt and pushed them to a 99-91 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Thursday night at Amway Arena.

Ariza had been to the postgame interview room for the first time during the best-of-seven series the Lakers lead, 3-1. He had been asked to explain his 16-point, nine-rebound performance.

Ariza fidgeted while answering.

Then he came down the hallway and was asked about scoring 13 of his points in the third quarter, about what got him going, about why now he was in the moment.

"I was just ready to play," Ariza said. "I just came out aggressive, not a worry in the world, just ready to play."

But the thing was that Ariza had missed all six of his shots in the first half and was scoreless.

Instead of going into a shell, instead of not looking to shoot, Ariza came out firing.

"They always tell me that you don't worry about the last shot," Ariza said, smiling. "Forget about it and that's what I did and I came out ready to play."

Ariza was five for six from the field in the third, two for two from three-point range.

"They ran J.J. Redick on him out there and we said let's take advantage of that, put him in the post and run a couple of things for him," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "That got him started."

Ariza in the low post?

"I kidded him, I said, 'Can you score in the post?' " Jackson said, smiling. "We had to take advantage of that."

Ariza scored almost half of the Lakers' 30 points in the third.

His play in that quarter helped the Lakers turn a 12-point halftime deficit into a 67-63 Lakers lead heading into the fourth.

He rattled in a big-time three-pointer to beat the 24-second shot clock with 2:36 left in the fourth, tying the score at 82-82, another of his big plays.

"As long as we won, that's all that matters," Ariza said. "I just know that usually when I get started pretty early, it kind of gets our team going. That's what I tried to do."

Said Jackson: "We needed someone else to score besides Kobe [Bryant]. Trevor was big for us."

Only eight teams have ever overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a best-of-seven series. No team has accomplished that feat in the Finals.

That gives the Lakers hope as they close in on the franchise's 15th NBA championship. Game 5 will be here Sunday. Games 6 and 7 would be back at Staples Center next week.

As for Ariza, he tried to conceal his emotions about a championship that's within his grasp.

He's in the final year of a contract that pays him $3.1 million. He'll be looking for a big payday this summer, hopefully from the Lakers.

First, however, Ariza wants to bring home a title to Los Angeles.

He's one way away from that championship, which would be his first since winning back-to-back California state championship at L.A. Westchester High in 2003.

"It feels good, but I'm not going to know exactly how I feel until we win it," Ariza said. "I've got to stay even, stay cool, stay calm until we win it."
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-lakersweb13-2009jun13,0,1867426,print.story

Mamba · Jun 12, 2009

Fish hit those big shots last night, but Trev was the one who gave him the opportunity to do that. His 3rd quarter was huge for this team. It sparked our comeback and lead to our victory.

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LA Times: Ariza puts himself back into the spotlight

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LA Times: Ariza puts himself back into the spotlight

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