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.

Lakers Steal Game One

Wow!!! What an incredible comeback by those cardiac kids. The Lakers, down by as much as 20 points with a quarter and a half to go did the unimaginable. Mount a monstrous comeback against the Defending Champs by starting the rally with a 14-0 run. Kobe Bryant who was too busy in the first half playing possum, turned on the jets and played more like , hmm Kobe? The MVP? The Lakers seemed to be rusty to start the game more than the Spurs seemed tired after having their plane stuck on the tar mac in New Orleans. However, by the end of the game the old tired legs of the Spurs showed and the Lakers polished off the rust and looked like the longer, faster and more athletic team.

This could’ve been a disaster for the Lakers to give back home court advantage after one game but, instead it may be a demoralizing game for the Spurs. Not that Duncan didn’t do his part, wound up with 30 points and 18 rebounds only to be outdone by Bryant who came on to score 25 of his 27 in the second half.

I don’t know what to think about the Lakers lately, they get seemingly destroyed on the glass in the first two rounds by the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz and still win pretty easily. Tonight , they fall behind to the champs by 20 in the second half and get little contribution from Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher yet pull it out again. One thing for sure, this team is resilient!

The next game will be a game of adjustments and well see what Spurs coach Greg Popovich has under his sleave. One thing he wont be able to use is the “Hack a Shaq” on the Lakers like he did to the Suns.