At the beginning of the series, I had thought the Boston, despite having a less than impressive regular season, but a brilliant playoff run would have the edge. I thought that the Lakers would have difficulty defending guards Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. Either Derek Fisher or Kobe Bryant would be matched up against them. Derek Fisher seemed overmatched and Kobe, I thought, would be worn out having to chase around Rondo or fighting through screens guarding Allen. I thought Paul Pierce on Ron Artest and Kevin Garnett on Paul Gasol would be interesting matchups.
Now with the series at 3-3, the series and the NBA season comes down to one game. Thus far Kobe Bryant has been the MVP. If the Lakers lose on Thursday and Kobe receives the MVP award, which he deserves, he will be the second player ever to win the MVP after Jerry West in 1969 (Boston fittingly beat the Celtics 4-3). Kobe showed why he deserves the MVP in Game 6. He scored 26 pts (he has scored more than 20 pts every game) and was active all game. He brought energy by jumping after loose balls and playing an active role on defense.
The series is not as I expected it. As I wrote before, I thought the guard play would favor the Celtics, but Kobe has played well all series and Derek Fisher was big in the 4th quarter of Game 3. Both Rondo and Allen have played below expectations. Allen was huge in Game 2 (8-11 3pt and 32 pts) but has been very pedestrian otherwise. Rondo similarly had a great Game 2 (19 pts, 10 ast, 12 reb), but has also very pedestrian in the rest of the series. The Celtics have held the Lakers down with good defense and vice versa. In Game 5, the Celtics forced Kobe to be a one man show, which is what they will have to do the win the series. Boston’s most consistent performers have been Pierce and Garnett, who has hit some key shots and has looked good since the series moved to Boston. The Lakers defense of Rondo looks laughable, but it works. They are begging him to take a jump shot. Kobe and other defenders are giving him 3 to 4 feet of space. Rondo has to get a jump shot in the off season or he should expect this type of defense all season. Teams used to play Derrick Rose this way until he convinced them that his jumper can be equally as deadly.
I give the edge in Game 7 to the Lakers only because of home court advantage, but in my mind it is a toss-up. As the commercials said, “legacies are at stake”. I’m sure Kobe will show up the question is who will for the Celtics? They can’t have another performance where they score 67 points (Game 6). Give credit to the Lakers for being up to the task of shutting down a Celtic team that has multiple weapons.
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