The Lakerhead

Lakers Win the Championship! Er..I Mean Beat the Celtics.

It was a game as exciting as it was hyped to be.  Boston and L.A.  Exchanging blows.  The crowd into it, yelling “Boston Sucks!” every chance it got.  Kobe, Pierce, Gasol, Garnett, Bynum, Allen all showing up.  And at the end, it was the Lakers who stood on top.  Let’s not get carried away, though.  This was one regular season win.  But the mental benefits to this Laker team must be enormous.  Here is a quarter by quarter recap.

1st Quarter

-  Forget the Sunday whites.  The Lakers bust out the white jerseys for Christmas.

-  Ray Allen for 3 to start the game.  My nightmares flashbacks have already arrived.

-  Doc Rivers keeps Rondo on after 2 quick fouls.  Rondo rewards Rivers by making a layup and losing his   shoe in the process.

-  Bynum out-hustles Perkins for a board and beats him the length of the court for the dunk.  I’m convinced he’s going to be the difference this game.

-  Walton misses a three by 2 feet.  I’m not kidding.  But he has the courage to shoot another one a few minutes later, and swishes it through.

-  Rondo with a few layups, Ray Allen with a layup, Perkins with a 4 footer.  Maybe the defense chants need to get louder from Staples Center.

-  I don’t see hate by any of the players in the first.  I see deep respect and concentration on the game.

-  If someone told me Gasol would start 0-4, I’d have a hard time believing the game would be close.

-  8 lead changes, Kobe sizzling with 10 points on 5-8 shooting, Celtics lead, 24-23.

2nd Quarter

-  Kobe begins the 2nd with a 20 shoot jumper, and gets a layup the next possession.  He’s firing on all cylinders.

-The play of the year so far for the Lakers.  Kobe tips it the length of the court, Ariza dives and saves it to Sasha for the “and 1″ layup.  I love this game!

-  Sasha’s “I don’t wear green” policy is working.  He scores 6 quick points in the 2nd quarter.

-  Gasol 2-7 with 4 points and Garnett is dunking on him every possession.  Oh no, close your doors, ladies and gentlemen, it’s attack of the GaSoft! Ahhh!

- The “Luke Walton defensive strategy” totally working.  Paul Pierce is so eager to take the horribly slow Walton to school, he’s committing turnovers (he had five turnovers to finish the game).

-  Kobe with 16 on 8-13 field goals.  Lakers up by 6 at halftime.

3rd Quarter

-  The halftime interview has Magic Johnson sitting uncomfortably close to Kobe, asking him if he thinks he can beat the Celtics, and if his USA team can beat Dream Team 1.  Nice.

-  ABC reports courtside seats on Stub Hub were going for $10,000.  Van Gundy’s call? “I’m selling” 3 minutes later, he adds “By the way, who in this economy has $10,000 to spend on a game?”

-  “Luke Walton defensive strategy” starting to fail.  The talent of Pierce is catching up.  He has 5 early points in the 3rd.

-  Celtics starting to yell at each other for their dumb turnovers.  Looks more like a mad circus than a championship team holding each other accountable.

-  Pierce with 12 in the 3rd quarter.  “Luke Walton defensive strategy” has officially failed.  Celtics take a two point lead with 2:44 left in the 3rd.

-  Odom breaks the zone by shooting a three for two possessions in a row.  Exactly what the Celtics want.  Good thing they went it in, I guess.  That takes the Lakers into the 4th quarter up 71-67.

4th Quarter

-  Leon Powe, carrying the ball.  Eddie House, offensive foul from an inbound play.  This bench will have problems against the Cavs in the playoffs if this continues, big tim

-  Ugly 4th quarter so far, the bench from both teams missing shots.  Starters come in to finish it.  Lakers up by two with 7 and a half remaining.

-  77-77, 6 minutes left, jump ball.  Kobe and Tony Allen. Violation on Pierce trying to steal position.  Laker ball.  Strange possession.

-  Garnett successfully pulls the chair on Gasol, and gets a breakaway dunk on the other end.  Gasol completely being outclassed this game.  Not good news for the Lakers.

-  And on that note, Gasol makes a clutch 15 footer and a running hook to give the Lakers a 4 point lead with 2 minutes left.

-  Garnett with a clutch 20 footer.  He’s 11-13 from the field.  Insane.

-  Gasol with a running left hand layup and the foul.  Then he blocks Ray Allen’s 3.  He officially makes up for getting dominated by Garnett earlier.

-  The 19-game Celtics winning streak is over!  Lakers win! 92-83.  Props to the Celtics to get the 4th longest winning streak in NBA history.  Kobe played unbelievably, 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists on 56% shooting.  It’s safe to say he might be back to last year’s form.

Well there you have it.  Santa gave me all I wanted for Christmas.  Time to party.