The Fish that Ate San Antonio

THE LAKERS! WIN THE LAKERS! WIN THE LAKERS WIN!

D Fish on a last half second shot. . .sinks San Antonio for a Laker 3-2 lead. Incredible! INCREDIBLE! I scared my youngest child into crying because I screamed when the ball swished.

Could. Not. Believe. It.

For what it's worth, I was pretty sure it was over after Duncan threw in his prayer, it was that demoralizing. The Lakers had played that possession as well as could have been played and Duncan was forced to take a bad shot.

Lucky for him it went in.

"One lucky shot deserves another," [Shaquille] O'Neal said.

Lucky for Laker fans, Duncan left too much time on the clock.

It is noted by Marc Stein:

You had Fisher sprinting off the court in triumph and then revealing afterward that he did so because he didn't want to give the referees even a hint of cause to suspect he got the shot off late ... but admitting that he also stopped at the nearest TV in the bowels of the arena to watch the refs review the instant replay.

"I actually prayed real quick," Fisher said of his first act after leaving the scene.

I'm always interested in wondering what athletes pray about when it comes to their sports. Do athletes pray for victory? What happens, however, if God so orders things that victory is not in the cards? Was that prayer, then, not answered? Christians in sports, I think (hope), would understand that wins and losses are ordered according to God's will--just like other things in life. Prayer for a particular outcome (in anything, sports or not) is well and good--my discipler always taught me to pray boldly. The key, as I have come to understand, is that a particular outcome might not be God's will.

Prayer is not meant for God, but for us, through prayer God changes our hearts, grows our minds and calms the spirit. Praying for a specific outcome should alway acknowledge that God may have other ideas.