BAM.
Last night was Game 6 of the 2010 NBA Finals. The Los Angeles Lakers were facing elimination, trying to force a Game 7. And they managed to peel themselves off the ropes from their Game 5 no show, leaving no doubt that they can hustle with and dominate the Celtics on any given night.
Game 7 musts for the Lakers: 1. Win the rebounding battle. In the first 6 games of this series, the team that has hauled down the most rebounds has won the game. Although this is a pretty obvious correlation, it’s representative of the focused aggression needed to grind out a win. Which leads us to…
2. Andrew Bynum has to have the game of his life. He played only 15 minutes in Game 6 as he re-aggravated his knee injury mid-game. He’s listed as questionable for Game 7, but he’ll undoubtedly play since the Championship is on the line. And with Kendrick Perkins, the Celtics’ enforcer with the least natural talent of any player in the league, going down early in the 1st quarter with a knee injury, the Lakers absolutely have to capitalize on Boston’s lack of size inside. Perkins will probably start and try to play; a knee sprain isn’t going to keep him out of a Game 7. But assuming that his minutes are limited, the Celtics will insert Sheed and Big Baby into power forward for extended minutes and will probably shift KG into center. Thus, Pau and Bynum have to play balls to the walls. And it’s shamefully selfish to demand that a 22 year old kid with a torn meniscus and his whole career ahead of him to play through injury. But in all seriousness, he has to take one for the team. He’s playing for his own legacy, Phil’s legacy, Kobe’s legacy, the Lakers’ legacy, and the Celtics’ anti-legacy. Fight through the pain. Do whatever it takes. If you have to, channel the that pent up anger of Kobe demanding your ass to be shipped out. Channel your suppressed rage of Rihanna picking Matt Kemp over you. And know that if you play well, the ridiculous rumors of Chris Bosh coming to the Lakers will disappear. Do it for the team, Andy.
3. Lastly, Kobe needs help this one last time. That means Odom, Pau, and Bynum need to box out and rebound. Artest needs to make his 3′s again. Please, Ron, make your 3′s and keep suffocating Paul Pierce.
My biggest fear for Game 7 = with the Lakers leading midway or late in the 4th with the Larry O’Brien within their grasp, Paul Pierce fakes another career-ending knee/leg/back/mind/spirit injury, killing the Lakers’ momentum and, God forbid, comes back to drain a hundred 3-pointers to clinch the Championship for the Celtics. Should this happen the skies will rain blood for a thousand years, and Marlon Brando will turn over in his grave as Paul Pierce will have to be worthy of being called the greatest actor of all time.
Some things to think about: Phil Jackson has never ever coached a Game 7 in the Finals. In 2008, before the Celtics beat the Lakers in the Finals, Boston had won 3 straight series by way of Game 7′s on their way to the title. The Kobe-Gasol Lakers have won their only Game 7 encounter, which was in 2009 against the Rockets. Also in ’09, the Celtics won their opening series against the Bulls after a Game 7 win, but lost in Game 7 of the Conference semi-finals to the Magic. Experience in these pressure filled, do-or-die situations definitely goes to the Celtics. But anything can and will happen in a Game 7; they’re unpredictable. (Vegas has the Lakers as a 7 point favorite.) Let’s hope Kobe and the boys bring it so we can all celebrate their 16th Championship at home.
