NBA Finals Game 7: Lakers nudge Celtics in close battle

Kobe and the Lakers join legends; win game 7 in a hard fought battle!

Finally, after what was an excruciating wait after the thumping game 6 victory in LA, we have approached the season finale. Looking back at the entire season, it can only be exclaimed as a basketball lover’s utopia, with a mix of everything the game has to offer. We have seen young guns rise up big time in Kevin Durant winning the score title, we have seen young point guards matching hands with the best in the game in Rajon Rondo. We have seen some budding all-stars in Chris Kaman, Stephen Curry, Channing Frye and Glen Davis. We have also witnessed a great player emerge from the rank of superstars, taking the entire league by storm and getting his team to a No.1 spot in LeBron James and let us not forget the nights when Dwyane Wade has dazzled us all, putting up shows and single-handedly winning matches.

But on the contrary, we have also seen a few negatives. The same Wade failing to make it beyond the first round in playoffs, Lebron and his Cavs failing yet again. Carmelo and Billups facing the same misfortune in the West Conference, and tough luck with Boozer and D-Will in Jazz. What can be said to a mix-tape is Steve Nash and his Suns, whw along with Amare have slugged it out, won it big and lost it big. Yet somehow, stayed gritty enough to become the No.2 team in the West.

But let’s not delve into the season now. This night, was only about two teams. The two most storied teams in NBA, who amongst them, now share more than 50% of the NBA Finals Championships- The Los Angeles Lakers and their arch-rivals ,the Boston Celtics.

Kobe Bryant MVP

Such is the level of competence when these two teams come together in the playoffs, even 6 games proved not decisive enough. And what can probably be called as the worst Game7 in NBA Finals history (offensively), both teams struggled to make points. The stars of both teams struggled to get going. Kobe Bryant, who has dazzled all season long, made just 5-20 shots by the start of 4th quarter. Likewise for Ray Allen, who has had a cold hand since making the NBA Finals record 4 games back. Gasol-KG have been on-off. If this game is to be remembered for anything, its how you put a solid defense and protect your paint. We have seen clinical team defense and man to man defense being put up in this game. In the end, it all boiled down to who guarded the toughest, and LA inched C’s by a narrow margin in the final seconds to come out on top, after having lagged by as many as 13 points in the game.

Probably, the lack of Perkins didn’t work out well for the Celtics. But they showed no sign of his absence, with Wallace and KG putting the team in the hunt throughout the game. But if we have to learn anything from the champions, it is that when your best player gets cold, a championship team collectively comes to the rescue. Artest, Gasol, Odom, Fisher-everyone came to Bryant’s help.

The true mark of a great player is not when he is doing what he does best, but what he does for his team’s victory when he is way off his best play. Kobe Bryant showed us that today with an outstanding defense and an amazing series-high 15 rebounds.The Celtics did what they do best, stifle LA. LA just bounced back again and again,till ultimately LA edged them out with some sheer gutsy plays by Gasol, Fisher and Artest. Having said this, lets not forget the man himself.

Kobe Bryant now holds 5 NBA rings, 2 Finals MVP Awards, and has announced his undisputed entry into the Hall of Fame. Just 1 shy of Jordan now, we wait with baited breaths to see what the next season unfolds. While for LA, Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher become free agents, the rest of the Lakers will be here again.

Done with the season, focus now shifts on two crucial dates-June 24 and July 1. The NBA drafting will reveal some budding stars like John Wall to the pro-league. And the free agency deadline of July 1 will unveil the future course of NBA for a few years to come. We will know where Lebron ,Wade and the rest land. And we will know which team will make its contention for the next year’s NBA finals. With Bryant aiming for a 3-peat, a second one of his career, the Lakers sure look like the team to beat next year!