Archive for the 'Finals' Category

From Inglewood, Venice and the Valley, from Philadelphia, Spain and Queens, came the Lakers.

The Purple and Gold were omnipresent throughout a championship-like performance that produced Tuesday’s 89-67 Game 6 blowout victory over Boston to force a Finals Game 7 that will decide which of the previous two Larry O’Brien trophy winners will become the 2010 champs.

L.A.’s stars were brilliant, led by Kobe Bryant’s 26-point, 11-rebound, 4-steal effort and Pau Gasol’s 17-point, 13-rebound, 9-assist near triple-double.

The bench was outstanding, dominating Boston’s by scoring 24 points before the C’s pine unit had registered a single point, and the team defense was suffocating all night.

The Lakers simply had it all firing from start to finish.

“I’m really happy about the way we played as a team tonight,” said Gasol, a key part of L.A.’s critical 52-39 control of the glass. “Defensively, the activity and the intensity. Everything was very, very positive and together.”

While the Lakers followed their usual road format of staying close in the first three quarters before attempting to steal victories in the fourth in Games 3-5 in Boston, Game 6 saw the pedal pushed to the floor from the get-go.

“They were absolutely terrific tonight,” said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “I thought (they) played harder, better … They executed, they trusted more.”

L.A. built a 10-point lead after the first that became 20 at halftime and 25 after three quarters, holding Boston to just 18, 13 and 20 points while amassing 76 themselves, before allowing the visitors to chip only three points off the lead in the fourth.

The trenches favored the Lakers throughout, with the home team winning the paint battle 40-32, shooting 41.8 percent to Boston’s 33.3 percent, blocking eight shots to Boston’s four and adding 15 second-chance points to Boston’s six.

“Our defense was good, our rebounding was better,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. “We got some loose balls, some tipped balls. Those kinds of things change the course of the game.”

Though Doc Rivers said it “wouldn’t have mattered the way things were going,” Boston suffered an early blow when center Kendrick Perkins went down with an apparent knee injury six minutes into the first quarter, leaving his availability for Game 7 in question.

“I don’t know,” offered Rivers about his center’s playing prospects. “It doesn’t look great, but I don’t know.”

Yet and still, it was Bryant who set the tone for his team early, scoring 11 first quarter points by making five of his first six shots, flying around on defense, going hard to the glass and involving those around him.

“I think most people – not us – assumed that Kobe would come out and take 1,000 shots, and I thought he did the exact opposite, I thought he trusted his teammates,” said Rivers.

Led by Gasol, those teammates came through.

The Spaniard’s near triple-double came after he’d failed to match terrific production in Games 1 and 2 in Boston; Lamar Odom offered eight points, 10 rebounds and two blocks; Ron Artest hit three triples en route to 15 points along with six boards while limiting Paul Pierce to 6-of-14 FG’s and 13 points; Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown amassed a motley crew of high-energy plays while combining for 17 points, highlighted by Brown’s violation of LAX air space with two massive one-handed dunks.

In short, it was a team effort that came at the most crucial of times … at least until Thursday’s Game 7.

Bryant also set the tone for L.A. after the game.

When asked if he were excited, or happy, to have the opportunity to play a Game 7 in the Finals particularly against the Celtics, Bryant simply said “No.” That’s now what makes him happy.

“Winning is what makes me happy,” he concluded.

He and the Lakers will have their chance in 48 hours. Until then, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
9 L.A.’s collective advantage in the steals and blocks categories, blocking eight shots to Boston’s four (led by Pau Gasol’s three) and stealing 13 balls to the C’s eight (led by Kobe Bryant’s four).

15 Minutes played by Andrew Bynum, who sat out for all but two minutes of the second half to rest his ailing right knee. Bynum suffered no additional damage, but was having trouble moving normally and thought it better to rest considering L.A.’s 20+ point lead. His counterpart Kendrick Perkins, however, suffered a knee injury after just six minutes, and C’s coach Doc Rivers said it “doesn’t look good” for Perk to play in Game 7.

17 More rebounds corralled by the Lakers than the Celtics in the first half (30-13), which dwindled slightly to 13 (52-39) for the game. The team that won the board battle has won all five games.

24 Bench points scored by the Lakers before Boston had mustered even a single point off their bench, composed of Sasha Vujacic’s nine, Lamar Odom’s eight and four each from Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar. Bryant led all scorers with 26 points, while Gasol had 17 and Ron Artest 15.

67 Points scored by Boston, the fewest the Lakers had allowed throughout the postseason. The previous low was 79, from Oklahoma City in Game 1 of Round 1.

The Lakers battled the Celtics throughout a Game 5 in Boston that defined the fight-for-every-inch cliche, but couldn’t make enough shots, or get enough stops, to prevent a 92-86 loss that sent the Purple and Gold back to Los Angeles down 3-2 in the NBA Finals.

L.A. managed to stay within six points at the half despite being out shot by 33 percent (66 to 33), but things began to get away in the third even as Kobe Bryant went on a phenomenal individual run to score his team’s first 19 points.

In full Mamba mode*, Bryant buried his first seven attempts – including three triples – after getting his “tweaked” ankle re-taped at halftime, but Boston made nine of its first 11 shots at the other end to go ahead by as many as 13 points.
*”Kobe is the one guy that you can’t stop in this league,” described Paul Pierce.

“They broke the game open in the third quarter, and it was a struggle for us to get ourselves back into that ballgame,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. “I know they were shooting a high percentage, but it gets that way when you shoot lay-ups in this game.”

With Bryant finally getting some help from his friends, L.A. had a chance to get within just three points with 43 seconds left after Derek Fisher improbably won a jump ball over Kevin Garnett, but Ron Artest missed both free throws at the other end, the score stuck at 87-82. The Lakers missed nine free throws on the night, four in the final quarter, all of which were critical, and failed to clear three defensive rebounds in the fourth off missed C’s three-pointers.

“We were knocking at the door a couple of times, but just couldn’t get through,” said Bryant.

Last season’s Finals MVP finished with 38 points, an individual high in the Finals, but his teammates managed just 48. Pau Gasol played a sub-par offensive game by his standards to finish with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting, while Artest and Derek Fisher each struggling to convert only 4-of-18 shots. Down low, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom took six shots apiece to score 14 collective points.

“Aside from Kobe, we pretty much contained everyone else,” said Kevin Garnett.

Boston, meanwhile, was far more efficient in getting 12-of-21 makes from Paul Pierce (27 points), 6-of-11 from Garnett (18) and 9-of-12 from Rajon Rondo (18) as the C’s shot 65 percent through three quarters before cooling considerably in the fourth to finish at 56 percent.

“I told the players before the game (that Boston) is going to shoot well in one of these games,” said Jackson. “You just have to hang with them.”

The Lakers did for a while at least, thanks to an effort that produced 16 offensive rebounds (including seven from Gasol) to Boston’s seven resulting in 22 second-chance points, but L.A. struggled to run its offense effectively for a second straight game.

“You look at the assists, we had 12,” said Jackson. “They had 21. That’s a big differential in a game like this. It’s a struggle.”

With all that said, the Lakers are glad they’re heading home. Jackson was the first to display optimism after the contest.

“If you look at it, they’ve come home and carried the 3-2 lead back,” he explained. “Now we’re going back to home court to win it. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, isn’t it?

“We got the one we needed … we’re upbeat about going into (Game 6).”

Bryant, later, was asked if he and the team had the confidence to win two straight games at home.

His voice thick with sarcasm, a smirk on his face, he replied, “I’m not confident at all.”

In other words: “Yes.”

Until L.A. has a chance to prove it, your numbers:

POSTGAME NUMBERS
1 Slim rebounding advantage for Boston (35-34), despite L.A.’s 16 offensive window cleans due to a major discrepancy in shooting percentage (see below). The boards stat has decided the winner of each of five games

14 Fast break points for Boston, to just three for the Lakers.

16 Boston’s percentage points advantage in field goal percentage (56.3 to 39.7 percent).

38 Points for Kobe Bryant on 13-of-27 field goals, including a 7-for-7 start to the third quarter. He added 8-of-9 free throws, five boards and five assists.

86 L.A.’s point total, a low for the 2010 postseason.