One’s Santa, Another’s Scrooge

Christmas day was full of enjoyment, happiness, generosity, and most of all, vigorous competition.

Besides the holiday itself, nothing was more hyped-up this week than the anticipation of the Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals rematch on Christmas day. Everybody was in good spirits, but as we all knew, those good spirits would soon fade away as this historic rivalry would begin to heat up.

After all, this was a significant game for both teams. Boston was looking to extend their winning streak from 19 to 20, and they felt more than confident coming in, knowing they had won six of their last eight against the Lakers, including a dominant performance in the NBA Finals last season. This was a statement game for Los Angeles, as they were looking to prove to the rest of world that they could compete, and possibly even defeat the defending champion Celtics, and end their franchise record-breaking streak.

In the end, Los Angeles would prevail, placing that extra gift in Laker fans’ stockings.

However, it would take a cast of characters, and a hint of perfection for the Lakers to pull off the Christmas day miracle.

It was a close contest throughout, but the Lakers seemed to have the edge almost the entire game. Boston took occasional leads, and had a strong performance from their expressive leader, Kevin Garnett. But the key in an intense rivalry game such as this one is the emotional edge, and the Lakers clearly had that to their advantage.

In almost every respect, the Lakers played the perfect game. They exploited Boston’s known weaknesses and ran with them.

Boston is 29th in the league in turnovers per game, which is a glaring statistic for a team with the best record in the league, and a team who now hold the longest winning streak in franchise history. The Celtics are 4th in forced turnovers per game, so the Lakers stayed smart and made minimal mistakes to erase this statistic from having any part in the game. Boston turned the ball over 16 times, and Los Angeles would only have 10 turnovers in the game. Advantage: Lakers.

Bench scoring would become a vast advantage as well for the Lakers, and the cast of role-playing characters would emerge. Sasha Vugacic, Trevor Ariza, and Lamar Odom all made significant contributions off the bench and benefited the Lakers immensely. Boston had been criticized throughout the week that their bench would not be strong enough in such an emotionally-driven game. Well, this proved to be true with the 22-13 differential. Again, advantage: Lakers.

Phil Jackson also made some great coaching decisions and brought in solid rotations at the precise times, resulting in his 1,000th win as a coach. For example, as Garnett and Kendrick Perkins would sit out for a breather for the Celtics, Phil Jackson would keep center Andrew Bynum in the lineup. This would result in a huge advantage for the Lakers, as neither Leon Powe nor Glenn “Big Baby” Davis could match up well against the 7-footer. The perimeter players of Los Angeles such as Vugacic and Odom had substantially better games than Boston’s Eddie House and Tony Allen. Once again, advantages for the Lakers.

Forward Trevor Ariza made eminent contributions off the bench, despite having minimal numbers on the stat sheet. His amazing hustle play of the second quarter, saving a loose ball and zipping it to Vujacic for a lay-up, set off the sell-out Staples Center crowd. This play would set the tone for the rest of the game, and the crowd would stay fired up throughout. This, as it always does for teams with the home crowd on their side, would carry over to the contributing role players as well.

Once again, Lamar Odom received minimal minutes, but knocked down two key 3-pointers in a row in the third quarter to keep the fire burning. This would become a playoff atmosphere-type game, and whoever was watching at home or at the Staples Center felt the same. It was almost a continuation of the Finals, and in such an emotional game with the home crowd creating such a hectic environment; the home team has the advantage, without question.

Even though the Lakers had an apparent advantage throughout the game, the defending champs would keep the game within reach, and even take a 2-point lead in the fourth quarter. After all of the hustle plays and amazing bench play from Los Angeles, somebody other than Kobe Bryant had to step up and contribute from the starting lineup.

Well, just as the game began to shift Boston’s way, Pau Gasol delivered for the Lakers in more than a big way.

Gasol would score 7 points in the final three minutes of the game, and scored 20 to finish the bout. He was the physical presence of the fourth quarter, not Kevin Garnett, who, most would assume, should take that role when it counts most. Garnett made some big plays, but none as game-changing as Pau Gasol down the stretch. This would end any comeback attempt by the Boston Celtics, and the Lakers would win with a final score of 92-83.

Kobe Bryant would score 27 points, and record 5 assists and 9 rebounds for the Lakers, and Kevin Garnett would score 22 points at 11 of 14 shooting, while also recording 9 rebounds for the Celtics.

The Lakers would prevail in this game; however, over-confidence can be a problem for this team. They have shown this already in the regular season after losing to the Kings and the Pacers, and squeaking by a below average Knicks team after being down by a large margin. They also had to play the perfect game against Boston to win. It is hard to say they could play as perfect and do all of the right things in a seven game series against a highly motivated Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and company, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

The Lakers came in with something to prove, and did it in an impressive fashion, ending Boston’s streak and making their own statement that can compete with the champs and perhaps capture the title in a possible NBA Finals rematch. Kobe and company have the pieces to be a championship team, and gelling together for the rest of the regular season will only cause this team to highly improve, especially with the beneficial assistance of their role-players.

The Lakers played Scrooge on Christmas for Boston this year, but were nothing more than Santa for the fans of Los Angeles. Merry Christmas to you, Laker fans. And to all a good night.