Lakers Defeat Celtics In Thrilling Game 7 To Win 16th NBA Title
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Pau Gasol was inconsistent, Derek Fisher got hurt and Kobe Bryant played a terrible game that was hard to watch and yet...
The Los Angeles Lakers are the 2010 NBA CHAMPIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the end, the Lakers overcame the worst scoring quarter in NBA Finals history (a 14-point first quarter) and a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics for the first time ever in a Game 7, 83-79.
Defense was in vogue Thursday night at Staples Center -- neither team gave an inch, they had to fight for every single point. The Celtics held the Lakers to 33 percent shooting and shot just over 40 percent themselves.
Boston squandered a nine point lead at the end of the first quarter and was unable to outscore L.A. in any of the final three quarters. They had no answer for the Lakers' height advantage and couldn't produce a go-to scorer -- no player on the Celtics scored more than 18 points.
The Celtics simply didn't have the fire power to bring home their 18th championship.
Los Angeles has had more than enough fire power, but came out nervous, missing their first four shots. Adding to the jitters (which was felt by both the team and the fans) was the fact that Gasol picked up his second foul with two minutes to go in the first quarter. That's when the most unlikely of heroes stepped up his game.
As the rest of the team faltered, Ron Artest kept the Lakers in the game. He willed his way to 12 points in the second quarter and finished Boston off with a dagger of a 3-pointer with one minute left in the game.
Artest finished the game with 20 points, 5 rebounds, an assist and five huge steals, one less than Boston had as a team combined.
After the game, Artest received the ultimate compliment from Phil Jackson, who called Artest "the most valuable player tonight."
Kobe Bryant was named the most valuable player of the playoffs and of the NBA finals despite a 6-for-24 night from the field. Bryant was recently called the greatest Lakers player ever by both Magic Johnson and Shaquille O'Neal. He recognized that his shot was not falling and made up for it by grabbing 15 rebounds and playing lockdown defense on Boston's two best players: Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen.
The other star of the game was Gasol. He rounded out the Lakers' attack -- contributing 19 points, 18 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks -- and asserted himself at both ends of the floor.
Gasol has arguably been the Lakers' MVP since arriving via trade three years ago. He avenged the Lakers' 2008 finals loss to the Celtics by being the most unstoppable force on the court (except when it came to the free throw line).
He and center Andrew Bynum toyed with Boston early, grabbing every rebound that came near them. When asked after the game which stat jumped out to him the most, Gasol answered without hesitation.
"Rebounding," he said. "We rebounded really well. We didn't shoot the ball well at all. We were pretty tense out there, but I'm just glad that we continued to fight and battle and it paid off."
Gasol was right. The Lakers' hard work did pay off. Now they're NBA champions for the 16th time.
