Shining Gold Or “Gang” Green In Game 7?
Nobody expected the Los Angeles Lakers to register a blowout 89-67 win against the favored Boston Celtics.
But just the same, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom led the way for the Lakers in holding the Celtics to an NBA Finals low 67 points en route to the 22-point victory, thus far the biggest winning margin in this tightly-contested title series.
Unlike Game 5 where Bryant had little help offensively, Game 6 was a completely different story.
Bryant led the Lakers with 26 points and 11 rebounds, Gasol added 17, 13 boards, nine assists and three blocks, while Artest and Odom produced worthy performances as well. Artest added 15 points while Odom finished with eight and 10 rebounds.
The taller Lakers pounded the inside as they dominated the boards, 52-39.
Boston shot just 33 percent from the field with Ray Allen the lone bright spot, leading the green-and-white with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
With just one more game to decide which team will be crowned the 2010 champion, strategies, Xs and Os will no longer be relevant completely. Whichever team has the big, fighting heart, whichever team wants it more, that team will run away with the title.
For the Lakers, the keys to a back-to-back championship include rebounding dominance, good shot selection, tenacious defense and the home crowd participation.
For the Celtics, it’s forgetting they led at one point in the series, 3-2; board domination and good ball movement.
Which color will dominate the NBA’s final game of the season? Gold Or Green?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Sink Or Swim For The Lakers
It’s pretty obvious that the Boston Celtics display much more teamwork than their arch-nemesis Los Angeles Lakers in the ongoing, hotly-contested NBA Finals.
Which is why it doesn’t surprise me that the Celtics, despite the fact that they’ve gone older due to the presence of their aging “Big Three”, are ahead, 3-2 as they head back to LA at the Staples Center with a chance to wrap up their second NBA title in three years.
Sure, the Celtics don’t have the home crowd behind them come Game 6, but what they lacked in crowd support, they make up so well by playing together far better than the Lakers.
Just look at the stats sheet: Kobe Bryant 38 points that included twisting, difficult shots against Boston defenders in Game 5. But what about the rest?
Pau Gasol had 12 points only, a sign of his inconsistent plays, which happened as well during the 2008 Finals face-off the Lakers had with the Celtics. Lamar Odom coughed up just eight points and eight rebounds. While center Andrew Bynum has been slowed down no doubt by his nagging knee problem.
Sure, LA has two chances to bag the title and overhaul the 2-3 Finals deficit against the Celtics. But one misstep tomorrow will end any of the Lakers’ narrowing hope for a back-to-back title.
The Lakers have been the Celtics’ favorite whipping boys in the Finals, having been the two biggest protagonists in the NBA’s 64-year existence.
Come Game 6, it’s up to the purple-and-gold to prove to doubters that they don’t choke against a confident and proud Celtics franchise. They can prove it once and for all before their adoring fans at the Staples Center.
It won’t come easy, but if THEY PLAY TOGETHER like the Celtics have done so well all season long, the championship won’t be an impossible task.
Here’s a piece of “unsolicited advice” for Kobe–want the NBA championship?
Don’t ball hog. Basketball is a game of five players. And the triangle is designed for everyone to contribute.
Playing solo has never produced any championship because 5 is always better than 1.
Photo Source: http://blog.fansection.com/
Who Wants It More? Celtics Or Lakers?
Unsung heroes are aplenty in the NBA Finals.
There was Glen “Baby” Davis scoring at will during a pivotal fourth-quarter run for Boston, as well as Nate Robinson adding more bench depth with his own scoring burst that allowed the Celtics to runaway with a 96-89 Game 4 win that tied up the championship series anew at two games apiece.
Davis played well too in Game 3, though his off-the-bench effort went for naught after Los Angeles veteran playmaker Derek Fisher stole the limelight in the final period after scoring 11 big points that gave the Lakers a 91-84 escape act.
Game 5 will still be at the TD Banknorth Garden, where the Boston fans are expected to come in droves to cheer their Celtics on with the hope of taking the series lead with a win.
It seems like Los Angeles have matured a lot since the 2008 Finals tussle it had with Boston. Of course, the Celtics were the better team that season, beating the Lakers in six games, including the title-clinching 39-point victory over their counterparts in Game 6.
The Lakers gained some measure of pride after capturing the NBA title last season, blasting the Orlando Magic in six games. And now, they are back in the Finals for the third straight season.
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom and the rest of the Laker gang are out to prove that gold-and-purple would paint the NBA town by season’s end. Though the green-and-white of Boston remains a team to reckon with.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and even Ray Allen are no longer the dominant figures in Boston’s second attempt for a title this year. But off-the-bench players like Davis, Robinson and even Tony Allen are providing the much-needed scoring and hustling for the 2008 champions.
Now that the series has been reduced to a best-of-three affair, whichever team wants the title more, and whichever team displays composure under pressure would end up champion.
Will it be the Lakers or the Celtics?
Photo Source: http://blog.fashionableent.com
Lakers’ Gold Outshines Celtics Green
A lot of my friends have said that green will be the color of the NBA Finals.
I’ve been a Laker fan since I was a boy, and the way the LA Lakers took Game One with authority (103-89), it sure looks like the purple-and-gold squad of coach Phil Jackson have learned their Finals debacle well from 2008.
Kobe Bryant, as usual, was his old, devastating self–finishing Game One with a monster game of 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists. He reached his 30th point after punctuating the game with a top-of-the-key three-pointer over Paul Pierce that brought the Staples Center crowd up on their feet.
Here are some post-game scenes I just noticed after the final buzzer sounded in Game One–Kevin Garnett scratched his head on his way out of the court, perhaps, wondering what went wrong even though the Celtics had a monstrous playoff run in their Eastern Conference series against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
Celtics players went back straight to their locker room heads bowed after being taught a neat lesson in basketball by the defending NBA champions.
Ron Artest sat at the bench as he waits for his turn to be interviewed by some court-side reporters on his first-ever Finals appearance in his career. He finished with 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and one shot block, while more importantly, shadowing Paul Pierce throughout the match.
Of course, the Staples Center crowd played a huge role in the Lakers’ 9-0 home playoff record this year.
Well, knowing the Celtics, I’m pretty sure they’d be coming back strong in Game Two. They’ve got the experience, they’ve got the heart and this series-opening defeat won’t be a damper to their title-reclaiming bid.
However, I just have a gut feel the Lakers are not gonna be surrendering their title, especially against their decades-long basketball nemesis.
The 2008 Finals Game 6 massacre doesn’t appear to bother the Lakers, but that may have been a motivating factor for them coming into the 2010 championship series.
The Celtics are probably “green” with envy as they watched the Lakers take Game One. Kobe and Co. now have a little momentum going for them as they go to Game Two.
Consistency on both the offensive and defensive end are keys for the Lakers in their title-retention bid. One down, three more and the NBA title is theirs.
Photo Source: http://psynergygames.com/
Lakers Eye Redemption
Bye Phoenix, hello Boston.
The Phoenix 2006 to 2007 “ghost” has been exorcised completely by Los Angeles following its 111-103 Game 6 win to clinch the Western Conference Finals series.
Now that the Lakers have returned to the NBA Finals for the third straight year, the last big hurdle they will have to overcome are none other than the Boston Celtics.
The memory of that 39-point Game 6 NBA FInals loss to the Celtics are still fresh in their minds–a humiliation the Celtics essayed before their home floor in Boston during the 2008 season.
However, now, the Lakers, after waiting for two years for the rematch, are in a position to erase that Finals stigma that has stuck by them after 2008 season’s final buzzer sounded.
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom–all members of that ill-fated LA squad that fell at the hands of Boston have a chance to redeem themselves with the help of defense specialist Ron Artest and a determined center Andrew Bynum this time.
Artest reserved his best playoff performance in Games 5 and 6. In Game 5, he delivered the killer blow to the Suns after banging in a point-blank shot off Bryant’s airball attempt from beyond the arc to give the Lakers a two-point win.
Then in Game 6, he scored 25 points to supply the added scoring ammunition for Bryant, who finished with a game-high 37 points that all but ended the Suns’ hopes for survival.
Bynum, meantime, has been providing quality minutes for the Lakers, though he has been on and off due to various knee injuries.
His size and height though will be an added factor for Los Angeles, who looks to win back-to-back titles and give coach Phil Jackson his 11th NBA ring, the most by any coach in league history.
Photo Source: http://blog.thekobecollection.com
