GALE ESCAPES LARIAT'S NOOSE WITH MIRACLE WIN
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Lariats had Game 3 of the Finals all but banked, but the Chicago Gale pulled a last gasp Jesse James and robbed the home team of what appeared to be a sure victory.
The 63-61 win puts Chicago in the driver's seat, going home for the next contest and needing just one win to get the third championship in franchise history.
The Lariats led by 10 going into the final quarter, and Chicago showed absolutely no sign of an offensive pulse as they headed into the final 70 time units. The Oklahoma five held that 10-point lead until halfway into the fourth quarter when Chicago finally came to life. Down by 7 with 27 time units left in the game, Didger A'doo brought Chicago within 4 points with his first 3-pointer of the game. (A'doo had been somnambulant in the first half, scoring just one point and taking just two shots).
Here's how the rest of the game unfolded:
* Chicago's Beezow Bop-Bop fouled out immediately after the A'doo 3-pointer.
* Chicago fought its way back to within 2 with 11 TUs left, but center Max Payne of Oklahoma City scored down low to put his team up 4
* This was followed by a 3-pointer from A'doo with 7 TUs left, bringing Chicago within 1 at 59-58
* Payne answered with a slam dunk over Wayan Garuda's forced miss on the next time unit, extending the Lariat lead to 3
* On the very next time unit A'doo drilled a game-tying 3-point swish from the Netherlands despite a forced miss defensively from Lemon Jell-o.
* A missed 3-pointer from Tubes Mullard of Oklahoma City was rebounded by Orange Jell-o of Chicago, who wrestled it from the grasp of Oklahoma City's Payne.
* It was then Orange Jell-o who scored the game-winner on a slam dunk with 4 time units left in the game.
* Taylor Quackstick had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but his medium jump shot was off the mark, and the entire Oklahoma City crowd vomited simultaneously.
Co-MVPs of this magnificent game were the two All-MBA players in this Finals competition: Didger A'doo of Chicago (his third of the playoffs) and the 7-foot beast of a center Max Payne of Oklahoma City (his second).
A'doo had a game-high 18 points that included 3 rebounds, 4 steals and an assist.
Payne led his team with 17 points and had 5 blocked shots, 2 rebounds and 2 assists.
Two major injuries took place in the game.
--Point guard Walt White of Oklahoma City was hurt halfway through the second quarter and missed the remainder of the contest. He will not play in the next game either and will only return if there is a fifth and final contest. He was ably replaced by super sub Tubes Mullard who had 11 off the bench. White will be replaced in the next game by Boo Radley, called up from the cut pile, who will be inserted into the starting lineup at point guard for the important Game 4.
--Chicago power forward Nobby Nabob was injured halfway through the third quarter and missed the remainder of the game. His injury is more serious than White's because he will not return for the remainder of the playoffs, putting Orange Jell-o into the starting lineup for Game 4 in this, his final year of MBA competition. O. Jell-o was key down the stretch in the Game 3 win. Chicago replaced Nabob on the playoff roster with 6-8 rookie forward Davis Phillips from the cut pile. Phillips began the season in Dallas, played four games then went to the cut pile. Now he has a chance for a championship ring. Oh fate, ye are a strange bedfellow.
Playoff Note: Should Oklahoma City come back and win the championship, Max Payne's championship ring would put him over the 10-award hump for the MBA Hall of Fame.
Next Up: Back to Chicago for Game 4 and the possible clincher for the Gale. However, it must be noted that the home team has yet to be victorious in these Finals.
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