ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Lakers are long gone, but Matt Barnes and the Orlando Magic gave them one more parting shot Monday, just in case they happen to meet again in an NBA Finals rematch.
"They aren't going to come in here and punk us,'' Barnes said after practice Monday, still steaming over some of the perceived arrogance the Lakers showed in defeat Sunday.
Barnes said Monday that Kobe Bryant and the Lakers -- defending NBA champs -- are getting an unfair advantage from the officials, based on their reputation.
Bryant and Barnes mixed it up several times, both verbally and physically, in the second half of the Magic's victory Sunday. They received double technical fouls at the start of the third period when they first clashed.
"If (Bryant's) going to throw elbows, I'm not just going to let him do it.''
-- Matt Barnes "I have no problem playing physical, but throughout the game, he (Bryant) elbowed me three times. If I did that, I would have been kicked out,'' Barnes said. "(Pau) Gasol takes a swing at Dwight (Howard). If we do that kind of stuff, we get kicked out, suspended. He (Bryant) is the best player. He gets to do whatever he wants. It is what it is.''
Barnes made it clear Monday that he considers Bryant the "best player in the world.'' Yet he also said he never would concede anything to him on the court.
"If he's going to throw elbows, I'm not just going to let him do it,'' Barnes said. "Kobe is a killer. He has that killer instinct. If you let him mentally get to you, you don't have a chance.''
"I'm not going to sit here and get into a name-calling battle with someone. The Lakers are where we want to go,'' Barnes said. "If that's what you do when you get to top, that's what you do, talk crap. It doesn't matter to me. We're going to be there at the end."
Comments (Page 1 of 6)
The Magic would have won the Finals easily if they had just made thier free throws in the 4th quarter.
They could have closed out 3 of the 4 games they lost by just hitting free throws. They had the lead in 3 out of there 4 losses late in the 4th quarter.
They Choked at the line. Can you imagine Jordan, or Bird, or Magic falling apart at the free throw line like that.
They out played the Lakers in every game except 1.
They should have won the finals in 5 games. It was there own fault. They had them beat.
You are right on point! I would add that SVG should not have alowed Nelson to play. The Magic would have learned the Lakers just as they did thruout the playoffs and won without Nelson. I think it was somewhat wrong to the players to mess with the chemistry. Alston and AJ got the MAGIC to the finals. It was their time to win it all and it was stolen from all of the players last year.
Well they didnt and they lost so that's their problem. The Lakers actually did good when it mattered most.
Excuuuuuuuuse me,,,are you talking about the finals from a year ago????
Orlando is the dirtiest team I have ever seen. The Cavs should have been in the finals last year. I thought I was watching a football game last year. Stop your baliaching and move on. New year and the magic are going down.
Go Cavs
Woulda, coulda, shoulda....Lakers lost a few themselves when they had Shaq (he can't freethrow) Now you folks have D-white, Ha Ha Ha.
orlando didn't outplay lakers in every game except one, are u kidding? If anything the Lakers outplayed the Magics with their defense! That's why L.A. won the series. You Laker haters are just in denial that they won and are the favorites to repeat. Lakers might be struggling right now, but come playoffs time they're gonna come out strong.
Orlando outplayed the Lakers in the NBA finals, are you kidding me? Lakers made Orlando their b**** with their defense. How many times did you see Orlando continuously struggle to get the ball to Howard? To say Orlando had the Lakers beat, that's just a stupid thing to say, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Orlando was lucky to even be in the Eastern Conference Finals! Despite the fact that I'm not a Celtics fan, if Boston had a healthy KG, Orlando would have been shut down. Orlando's overrated and it's going to be great when the Lakers repeat and shut all you haters up.
Both teams are extremely talented, but they both run their mouth WAY too much.
Matt Barnes is a total JERK!!!!
But that's ok...I believe in KARMA!!!
It is a shame that you make a comment like this when you obviously have never met the man or had him come to your place of business.
I AGREE MATT BARNES SHOULD PUT UP OR SHUT UP. HE IS A NOBODY
LOL ... hat and titan read what the story was about ... really yesterdays news ...
Barnes did put up ... and his team won the game!
Anyone who watches NBA games know that what Barnes is saying is true! There are a few selected players who get the run of the court and get to foul and play more physical and get away with it because the officials are told to let "Kobe alone and watch who is gaurding him" and it is totally obvious. Haven't any of you read or watched the interview of the NBA ref who got caught gambling? He spilled the beans a long time ago to what most of us had figured out years ago. The NBA is corrupt as it gets and expecting fair and impartial officiating just isn't gonna happen in the NBA.
The Lakers should never have let Trevor Ariza go. They are not near as good with Artest as they were with Ariza. Artest may be a great defender but it is still about scoring in the NBA. They will find this out in the playoffs.
the magic never should have let trevor ariza go.
fixed
You the man Barnes! Way to kick Laker ass and not take any sh#t from the rapist! Wish you were there for the finals last year.
Do you go around calling ben roethlisbuger a rapist too?
wow yes grow up Barnes instigated the whole thing and should have been tossed a couple of times. I have watched thousands of bball games and have never seen such a punk play by Barnes on the out of bounds play pretending to throw it at Kobes face how stupid is that!
hey bone head it was only called rape because it happened to the best basket ball player in the game. but if you read your facts straight, she had sex with someone before and after kobe in a 4 day span.
These are 2 great teams , Orlando may
be better equipped this time around with
the inclusion of VC,Barnes and J. Williams but
still a dog fight anything can happen;
Orlando will destroy Boston but it is a
question mark if they can bypass Cleveland
like last year , so is up in the air;
LA will have a tougher time with Denver
and Dallas will not be an ease prey like
last year;
Bottom line, LA and Orlando may be facing
each other in the finals, again with a twist.
Wow - do I ever agree with Barnes. Throughout the game (which we watched on TV) the camera caught Kobe "playing dirty." This is not the first time we've watch a televised game and saw Kobe elbow someone and not get called on it. -Gets tiresome seeing the refs favor Kobe (and other top teams/players.) I don't know Kobe personally, but the camera catches his arrogant expressions every game. Being a top scorer does not entitle him to cheat. We also noticed Fisher, Gausal and Odom get overly physical with at least one foul each that were not called by the refs. Too much to just be coincedence.