The Los Angeles Lakers somehow pulled victory from the jaws of defeat in game 7 of the NBA finals versus the Boston Celtics. All of the Boston fans are crying bloody murder by the officials, and are blaming the zebras for their loss as they seem to feel the game was rigged. I will admit it was an odd game that had a definite twist at the end of the game, but all in all the Celtics missed shots down the stretch that were makeable.
The Lakers looked pathetic in the 3rd quarter. Even the Jack Nicholson was worried. I thought the game was over, and that the Celtics were going to win satisfying all of those bandwagon fans. Then, the fourth quarter happened. Sorry Celtics fans, this is what might have been had the fourth quarter not went the way of Wacky Wednesday.
Ray Allen once again came up small and did not show up; ever since he broke the record for 3-pointers in an NBA finals game he was invisible for the rest of the series. Coming into the game you would think that the Celtics were in trouble with their starting center out with a knee injury, but Rasheed Wallace played well and might have actually been a better option since he can score. The Celtics were in control of the game throughout even swelling the lead to 13 points, but the fourth quarter was something that cannot be explained and seems like it didn’t happen.
Kobe Bryant took 24 shots on his way to shooting only 25 percent from the floor. Bryant, normally an 80 percent or better free throw shooter, struggled from the free throw line, going 11 for 15.
Bryant acknowledged that he did not play well in accepting the MVP trophy, stating that he was pressing and that he was glad that his teammates were there for him, especially the “Spaniard” Pau Gasol.
Gasol played well, really well. Gasol took advantage of the injury to Boston Celtic center Kendrick Perkins; Gasol had 19 points and 18 rebounds. The most impressive statistic for Gasol was his nine offensive rebounds.
Even though Gasol played well the X-factor might have been Ron Artest, as much as I hate to say 
that. Anytime that Artest had to guard Pierce in isolation, Ron was more than up to the challenge. Pierce could not go by Artest and he could not create enough separation from Artest to hit his jump shot.
The Celtics finally stopped isolating Pierce and decided to run pick and roll plays for him to give him some open looks at the basket. Pierce did end up scoring 18 points in the game, but every point that Pierce scored was hard fought and took its toll on him.
Artest was also very active playing help side defense by stepping into the passing lanes of the Celtics. Ron led all players in the game with five steals, a couple of the steals led directly to points off of the turnover.
Despite the numerous great defensive plays, Artest will likely be remembered for the three-point shot he made with only one minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
Kobe, who was being double-teamed, passed to a wide open Artest. Without hesitation, Artest shot the three-point shot and it found the bottom of the net.
Those were plays that killed the Celtics, I find it interesting that when the Celtics were playing the Orlando Magic and Magic fans were complaining about the refs they were wrong. But the Celtics feel they get screwed in the Finals and oh it is because of the officials, stop making excuses Celtics fans you had a 13 point lead and missed plenty of open shots that did you in. We will see what happens next seasons as the Celtics and Lakers have questions coming into next season.
