First off, the only reason LeBron hit that shot is that my Dad, after Turkoglu's said, "wow, I can't believe Orlando's up 2-0."  Anderson Varejao would have drained the three after a jinx like that.  Second, you have to give LeBron some credit as much as it pains me.  The play was clearly drawn up for him to go backdoor.  Turkoglu read it and even recovered to contest the shot.  LeBron, despite his awful form, came through with an amazing shot.  Why Rashard Lewis didn't go Lamar Odom to Mo Williams' Anthony Carter is beyond me.  How blasted would Mike Brown have gotten if they didn't get a shot off because a 6'1'' guy was taking the ball out in a 6'10'' guy's face when Denver did the EXACT SAME THING to lose a few days ago?  But Rashard Lewis was instructed to jump the first pass instead of guarding the ball.  Again, despite all these things and despite LeBron's referring to the shot in the third person, I still have to give credit where credit is due.  LeBron made that happen by himself and he's all over the news as a result, which brings me to my third point:  Kobe.  How does he react?  Because we know he does not like being overshadowed and he definitely does not want to give up his Best Player In the NBA title yet.  So now it's like Future said in 8 Mile (yes, I'm quoting 8 Mile, great ending in that movie), Kobe Bryant, whatcha gonna do?  LeBron had his B-Rabbit moment.  Will Kobe freeze up a la Papa Doc or will he respond in kind?

If the Magic had won last night I would have advised every non-Lakers fan to put some paper on Denver.  The Lakers have only shown up in must-win games to this point and I have no reason to think that would have changed tonight.  Until LeBron's shot happened.  Tonight's game isn't a must-win for the Lakers.  Down 2-1 they can win Game 4 and make it a best of 3 with two of those games at Staples Center.  We've seen it done before.  But, tonight IS a must-win for Kobe.  Not only is it a must-win, but it is a game in which he must dominate or do something special.  And it's not going to be easy.  Kobe will school the Dhantay Jones/J.R. Smith team that guards him the majority of the first few quarters, but Carmelo will be on him in the 4th when it counts and when we're all paying close attention.  And if the Nuggets are getting calls and Melo can get away with using his size to bump Kobe off of his spots, it could be another rough 4th quarter for Kobe and the Lakers.  Kobe couldn't even get a touch at home on a key possession with less than 2 minutes remaining because Melo did such a great job of denying him the ball.  I'm not sure if the Lakers read the part of the rules where it says that screens are legal, but still, watching Lamar dribble around for 15 seconds then Ariza chuck up a fadeaway three-pointer was a pretty scary sight for us as Laker fans.  Kobe is going to have to step it up and take over the game himself.  Pau is scared.  Andrew Bynum is hiding under his chair.  Lamar went back into deer in headlights mode.  Fisher's lost a step or seven.  Ariza's playing well but I don't want him anywhere near a jumper with the game on the line.  No, it's on Kobe, and with Melo's commitment to defense since Chauncey Billups showed up, it's going to be a tall order for Kobe.

That last paragraph was a disclaimer for what I'm about to say:  Kobe will respond.  It's what he does.  Kobe is not Michael Jordan because he still can't really mesh with his teammates the way Phil wants him to.  But Kobe does have Michael Jordan's competitive edge, mean streak, and will to win.  And those qualities mean that Kobe does not like getting shown up.  And despite the fact that the shot happened 2,000 miles away, LeBron did just that.  LeBron is Manny Pacquiao.  Kobe is the aging Floyd Mayweather, Jr.  He must come back to reclaim his best pound for pound status before we relegate him to something closer to the masses.  And from everything I've seen out of Kobe in the past several years, Kobe will respond.  Melo may be good, but Kobe put up 40 on Shane Battier/Ron Artest when he had to.  I would not be at all surprised to see him go for 40 again tonight and, as crazy as this may sound in as hostile an atmosphere as it's going to be tonight, I could see 50.  I can promise you Kobe's that hungry and he feeds off of that hunger.  He's going to unleash his inner Bobby Boucher in the Waterboy on Denver tonight, not because Denver won by 3 the other night, but because they're the unfortunate recipients of Kobe's one-upping LeBron. 

Prediction:  Pain.

Just kidding.

Prediction:  46 points on 17 for 30 shooting, 9 for 10 from the line, 3 for 6 from 3-point land.

After tonight, it will be LeBron's turn.  Your move.