Stayin Alive

Lakers once again find a way to make things interesting. They started out on fire as the jumpers were falling, the passes were crisp, and the rotations on defense were quick. They jumped out to a 39-22 first quarter lead. Kobe Bryant was red hot including 4 three pointers in the first frame . The Lakers obviously wanted to show some heart tonight with fans and media alike counting them out.

Paul Pierce started warming up in the second quarter and never cooled off finishing with 38 points and getting to the basket as he feasted on the defense or lack thereof of Luke Walton and Vladamir Radmanovic. Pierce has been the achilles heal in this series for the Lakers. He has torched Lakers small forwards.

Just like in Game Four, the Lakers couldnt hold on to the lead and gave up a 15-0 run. Garnett was quite ineffective for the Celtics as he couldnt stay out of foul trouble and only played 11 minutes in the first half. But, it was Garnett’s inability to convert in crunch time that cost the Celtics. He missed two consecutive free throws with the Celtics down two in the final minutes. Then he missed a follow up layup at point blank range the next time down. He pulled what i call a “Chris Webber” in that fourth quarter.

The Lakers big men showed up tonight , Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol were effective. Odom had 20 points and 11 rebounds as Pau Gasol delivered with 19 points and 13 boards. The two big men have been ridiculed for being soft and unable to finish around the rim in this series. However, they converted tonight and were active. Kobe Bryant did not have a good second half. He hasn’t been able to get to the rim on a consistent basis. He finished with 25 points. I have to give credit to Jordan Farmar, hes been a real spark plug in this series for the Lakers by not settling for jump shots and going to the basket with reckless abandon. Farmar had struggled mightily in the Utah series but has bounced back nicely against the Spurs and Celtics since then.

Celtics blew a golden opportunity to close it out tonight. The longer you give Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson life in a series the more dangerous it gets. However, winning two straight in Boston is not an easy task at all. The Lakers have to forget about winning two and try and somehow steal Game Six and anything can then happen in a Game Seven.

Call It A Comeback

Comeback is exactly what the Boston Celtics did on Thursday Night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Comeback from the largest deficit in NBA Finals history , 24 points. As a Laker fan , I have to say i was thoroughly embarassed. As I was watching the game , I was thinking to myself this is too much too early , referring to the big first quarter lead as the Lakers raced out to a 21 point lead at the end of one. As the lead was 17 points in the first quarter i can remember Jeff Van Gundy , former coach, now commentator saying that he was going out on a limb to say this series is tied 2-2. I was thinking, you’re crazy JVG! As a die hard and loyal fan of the Lakers and a guy who watches nearly every game , i knew that my boys would blow most of this lead if not all. But even I the pessimist, didn’t think my beloved Lakers led by Kobe Bryant would lose this game. I thought for sure , somehow , someway, we would pull it out. But, during the process i would probably develop a coronary, or have some anxiety attack. Nothing comes easy for these guys.

As the game went on the Celtics got stronger and buckled down on defense. Celtics cut a 20 point lead down to 12, here they come uh oh. Then my boys respond with a 8-0 run of their own and the lead is back to 20, whoo hoo! Once again the Celtics chip away but then just before the half , Jordan Farmar hits a running three pointer off one leg to open up a comfortable 18 point lead. Did i say comfortable? Because , no lead is comfortable with the Lakers. They give up the hugest leads with the least amount of time off the clock. Not to mention the fact that the Celtics have absolutely crushed them in every third quarter this series.

Kobe Bryant had a horrible night. His flow of the game was not there like usual. He was fumbling the ball all over the place and didn’t seem to have his usual explosion. There’s nothing like watching Kobe when he has it going and destroying the opposition with ridiculous fade away jumpers , or spin moves with great footwork as the opposition is left in awe and realizing that there is no chance tonight against this guy. However, as equally crushing is seeing Kobe get his shot blocked , him miss free throws, him be unable to get by his defender and not be able to impose his will. Simply put, i hate when Kobe looks human. It sucks.

Anyhow, the Celtics dominated the second half allowing the Lakers only 33 points after they gave up 58 in the first half. That great defense that was there all year for the C’s showed up again and probably won them the series. That is just a crushing way to lose and will be too devastating for the Lakers to recover.

The Lakers have a chance to make history of their own if they now can find a way to comeback from a 3-1 deficit because no one has been able to. Kobe can now take on a new challenge to impose his will first and foremost to send this series back to Boston for game six and take their chances from there. But if they’re gonna come back from the deficit , they’re gonna need Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol to man up big time.

I still believe! …..Well kind’ve , sort’ve.

Magic’s Criticism Of Lakers….

Let me start by saying this, I grew up idolizing Earvin “Magic” Johnson. My introduction to basketball started when Magic’s career started with the Lakers and led them to a championship in his rookie year . He not only took the NBA by storm, but he captured a young boys heart as well who was hooked to his behind the back passes, the no look passes for slam dunks, the one man fast break and ofcourse that smile that showed everyone his love for the game and how beautiful a game it could be. Ever since then i have been a die hard Lakers fan. I have often lost sleep over buzzer beater losses or games being lost to teams that were subpar to my beloved Laker team. I have been consumed by basketball ever since then and it has not changed to this day . I had tears coming down my eyes the day i heard that Magic was retiring because of the HIV Virus. That hurt me big time, some for selfish reasons and others for his well being. But lets face it , the man has freakin beat HIV. It’s virtually no longer detected in his system . Back then, when you heard that word you were terrified and expected a death sentence. We all wondered to ourselves, how long before its over for Magic. But hes still here and kicking strong . Now thats Magic!!

However, within the last ten years, he has irked me BIG TIME. Recently, Magic criticized the Lakers performances so far in the 2008 NBA Finals before Game Three. He went on to say that they were playing very soft and was embarassed by their performances. Mentioned that they weren’t rebounding and stopping guys like Paul Pierce who were getting wide open shots. Now although i agree with Magic, he totally went about it the wrong way. He is the part owner of the Lakers and has access to these guys whenever he wants. He should’ve pulled them aside and gave them a pep talk if he was so outraged by their efforts. I think that would’ve been alot more constructive dont you? Now im sure the Lakers are looking at him like “What does this guy want now” every time he passes by.

This is not the first time Magic has done this. Lets not forget when the Lakers were in trouble with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. That team was the one that had Gary Payton and Karl Malone who had given up millions of dollars for the opportunity to close out their careers with the Lakers and hopefully a championship. The Lakers were being outplayed in that series badly, Chauncey Billiups was turning Gary Payton from “The Glove” to “The Mitten” on his way to later becoming the Finals MVP. Karl Malone was dealing with an injury and wasnt himself after his knee would just not allow him to play anymore. But before a crucial game in that series, Magic ripped on the Lakers then too and called out names like Payton and Malone and Kobe. Once again, why could’nt he just have went in the locker room or stood by the court as they warmed up and say “Come on guys!!”

Magic also has a knack for not showing up to Lakers games anymore so he can do the broadcasts for TNT with Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. Everytime, i see him in that studio im thinking as a Lakers fan, “What in the Purple and Gold Hell is our owner doing there?’ How can he sit there and try to be an unbiased commentator when he is a part of the Lakers organization. I know why……. Cause Magic is an ‘Attention Junky” thats right hes addicted to attention. I mean think of the comebacks , then the short coaching stint, all because he cant stand to be out of the spotlight. And ofcourse , when TNT was done with the NBA for the season after finishing up the Western Conference Finals, I see Magic show up where? Thats right , with the ABC telecast and sitting in with their hosts.

When the idea of doing the great Split Screen Commercials with Larry Bird came up , Magic im sure ran with the opportunity while ive heard that Larry Bird wasn’t so thrilled with the idea. Larry supposedly told Magic that this was the only commercial he was gonna do . He didn’t want to take away from the players in todays game getting their attention and it being their time now. I’ve always respected Larry Bird the competitor and he was a tremendous ballplayer in his day. But i have even more respect for the man now. Since hes left the game hes been involved even more in the game then Magic yet we always see Magic and dont see Bird. Bird is now the President of the Indiana Pacers.

So in closing, rest assure that if the Lakers are fortunate enough to win the Championship this year and beat the Celtics, get ready to see Magics grill as the first one to embrace Kobe and jump up to the podium for the award celebration. Magic , let these guys have their time now and stop trying to steal all the thunder. Just make sure that when i go to Starbucks, that my White Mocha is hot and when i go to the movies that my popcorn is buttered!!!

Lakers , Celtics Series Preview

This is what everyone wanted. The basketball community will have all eyes glued to the screen over the next two weeks to watch two legendary franchises renew their rivalry. A staggering stat is that after this series is over , these two teams will have combined to make up half of the leagues championships. The Celtics having already won 16 titles and the Lakers winning 14 so far combined with them being in Minneapolis. Oh by the way, notice i said “so far” ?

Keys for Celtics to win

Find a way to get Ray Allen going on a consistent basis from the outside.

Continue to play great defense that has gotten them here.

Kendrick Perkins crashing the boards.

Paul Pierce find a way to get to the free throw line often.

Keys for Lakers to win

Have Kobe continue to shoot a high field goal percentage

Lamar Odom show up consistently.

Bench Mob shoot well in the series from the outside.

Make Pierce take alot of shots to get his points. Hes going to score but keep FG% low.

My Prediction

Even though i am a blatant homer for the Lakers , I don’t think it will be as easy as many have predicted. There will be big plays made at some crucial points in the series to win it . Look for Fisher to hit some huge shots from the perimeter and the energy of the Lakers bench along with the greatest player in the game to be just too much for the Celtics.

Lakers in 6