I don't know what the folks in Los Angeles ate tonight, but whatever it was, it's spewed all over Figueroa St. and Santa Monica Blvd. this evening, the stench lingering throughout the greater Los Angeles area until this weekend.
It didn't need to be a blowout victory. Lamar Odom didn't need to drop a 50-point triple double. But when a team that hasn't lost on it's home court in over three months loses.... after being up by 20 midway through the third quarter... in the NBA Finals... it's worst than "The One that Got Away."
For basketball fans it's a crying shame.
For the Laker's it's a disaster.
A crying shame because a 2-2 series with somebody going back to Boston facing elimination sets the stage for a classic finale. A disaster because 3-1 hole in the NBA Finals is a death sentence.
The end of game 4 was a slow motion nightmare, like waking up during an operation. It wasn't just that they lost, it was the
- B/R Ticket Guide
Excuse me for a moment while I clean up my dinner....
....
Don't think for a second that the Lakers are losing game 5. Los Angeles isn't losing two in a row, and the Lakers aren't ending the season on their home court.
Game 5 is a given, so there's no need to ice champagne and lay out the hats and t-shirts in the Celtic's locker room "just in case." David Stern won't be making a speech on Saturday night, and the Larry O'Brien trophy will stay locked up until next week.
Game 6 will be the challenge. It's easy enough to end the story there, with Boston winning it all in The Garden. As a fan, I may be crossing the bounds of objectivity, but don't you think the Lakers can win in Boston just once this series? Don't you think they can find the moxie that they displayed with such gusto during the first three rounds of the tougher Western Conference playoffs? Don't you think that for one game Kobe can be Kobe and that Lamar can be Lamar? Or that Pau can be just decent?
The Lakers are down 3-1 to a team that has looked superior all series. But if any team can win on their home court and find a way win one game on the road, it's this loaded, heavily-favored-not-so-long-ago Lakers' squad.
For those of you that bleed purple and gold, your hearts were broken tonight. The stench of upturned stomachs will leave a heavy residue in the morning, but you can count on Game 5. Game 6 will be a story.
And anything can happen in Game 7.
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6 months ago
Way to put a positive spin on this, but the Celtics won this game without two starters playing more than 20 minutes due to injury woes. If Boston heals up, the Lakers are in some real trouble.
6 months ago
Write this down...it's OVER. Celtics win game 5 in a rout! What a confidence builder to come back from 24 down on the road. The Lakers are toast.
6 months ago
What makes you so sure the Western Conference playoffs was so much "tougher"? The Lakers made the Hornets look unprepared for the big stage, and the Spurs look old. Now the Celtics are making the Lakers look, well, inferior. After winning the All Star Game, and after they've cleaned up your Lakers in five, maybe six, games, will you still go on about how much "superior" your conference is? Cuz we've been hearing it for three or four seasons now, and that argument looks ready to crumble any day now.
from 6 months ago
Nuggets>Hawks. Jazz>Cavs. Spurs>Pistons. It's really not that hard to figure out. As for the conference, the fact that the best team in the NBA resides in the east doesn't make up for the quality of the conference as a whole.
from 6 months ago
Actually, the two best teams reside in the East. Given the lack of defense shown by the Lakers, I'm unconvinced that the Lakers could've beaten Detroit or even Cleveland, who both play better defense, and are both far tougher than the Los Angeles. The Lakers look like a European team...soft defensively, and no toughness whatsoever.
from 6 months ago
I agree with Jeff, Chad. The Cavs didn't lose to the Celtics on their home court in the semifinals, and after two bad games, LeBron was fairly able to contend with their defensive schemes. The Pistons didn't do as well, but were tough as nails all season. Either of those teams could credibly be up on top of the Lakers now, or playing them even, in a hypothetical Finals.
6 months ago
Where's the rest of the Lakers fan who kept roasting me for underestimating them? Are they going to wait until Game 5? Step up for your team and analysis.
Like I've said to all who were mad at my articles. Go back and read them, and now you understand what I am saying.
The Lakers were beat. This article is right; they can still end up in game 7. Kobe is the greatest player in the game, and he has a clutch shot that has killed many teams.
BUT, they are against the wall, and he was RATTLED in that post-game interview. He was saying all the right things, but he looked beat. I hope he turns that negativity into a great game on Sunday, or he is giving his dad an early father's day visit.
6 months ago
This series is over. Boston is the tougher, more experienced, and more cohesive team. Congrats Kobe. You've gone from MJ comparisons to a taller version of Allen Iverson on an off night.
6 months ago
I dont think boston will win game 5 in Los Angeles but for game 6 and 7 boston will win one and most likely it will be game 6... Start the Kobe whining train because the Lakers have just given up a NBA championship
6 months ago
Positively. Bill Simmons said it well-Michael Jordan would have NEVER, EVER let this happen on his floor.
Kobe is a great player-a transcendant player. When he's dialed in and playing at his best, the old Dan Patrick phrase "you can only hope to contain him" applies. But mentally-he's not there. I sympathize with the guy-he's had a somewhat odd upbringing, and clearly has trouble relating to people. But that Bird-Magic-Jordan-Erving "not on my watch" dominance? That's as much mental as physical and Kobe does not have it. Period.
6 months ago
Well, right after half-time, I think we found out which TEAM wanted the rings more. Celtic floor leaders made heroes out of deeper bench players and everyone's confidence went up while the difference slowly melted away. Even with the injured out, the Lakers looked and acted wounded. It wasn't all about skills though you have to wonder why LA's high-priced spread choked down the second 24. I say Boston in 6, 5 if they're not careful. Beantown won't gripe if they take it on the road.
6 months ago
Boston barely lost game three with pierce and KG having horrible nights. Anybody who thinks Boston is not the superior team is not thinking straight.
6 months ago
Hey Chad.
Since you're the only one who thinks that the Lakers will come back and force a Game 7, prepare for the Boston Celtics writers to take this little piece of edible debauchery and flush it down the sports toilet.
By the way, here's an article you should take a look at: Lakers Faithful Throw In The Towel!
from 6 months ago
If they really are Laker's "faithful" they won't be throwing in the towel, will they? This article was like therapy for me, and the series isn't over. It isn't over.
from 6 months ago
Sorry, man. Your therapy is everyone else's humor. You and Phil are optimistic, and I will applaud you for that. But if you got a guy who follows LA sports, and has been defending the Lakers since day one even saying that it's over, wouldn't you think that something's up?
from 6 months ago
You have to give Chad credit for hanging in there and remaining hopeful that his team will win. It's an admirable trait exhibited by true sports fans, not those poseurs who were at the two home games in the Staples Center, but at some point you have to realize that the Lakers are an inferior team to Boston by a very large margin. It's great that you love your team, and I respect that a lot...but you have to be realistic as well because last night broke the Lakers back and exposed their flaws as fatal in the end.
6 months ago
The Celtics win the series in five or six for three reasons.
For one, the Lakers play mediocre defense. The Celtics have the best defense in the NBA. Kobe scored 17 last night on 6-19 shooting. Can I emphasize that enough? Six of nineteen! Plain and simple - If you shut down Kobe (like Paul Pierce did in the second half of game four), you can beat the Lakers. The Celtics have shown that you can shut down one of the Boston Three Party, but the other two step it up.
Second, the fans in Boston provide an advantage, while the "fans" in LA do not. The Celtics were selling out games last year when they went 24-58. And now, in the Finals, the Garden is rocking. In LA during the Finals, the fans barely ever stand, let alone get loud. Then again, that's the Lakers' own fault for overpricing tickets.
Finally, the Celtic bench (except Sam Cassell, who has been awful) has outplayed the Laker bench. In every game this series, the team that got more points off the bench won. Hence, the Celtics (who got 18 off the bench last night from James Posey) have won three of four.
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