So here we stand at Game 7 in one of the most aniticpated games in recent NBA history. And as scared as I felt going into Tuesday's game, I'm actually feeling quite confident now. I realize how easy it would be for Boston to win this game. If the Big 3 plus Rondo all play well. If Ray Allen shoots lights out again. If Paul Pierce is able to shake Artest off him and have another game like Game 5. But do you really want to go against the best player in the world at his house with what he wants most on the line?
The fact of the matter is that without Kendrick Perkins Boston doesn't have the same tough demeanor. Sure, Big Baby creates some problems defensively by getting his body under bigger players. But with K-Perk out the Lakers won't have have any trouble being more physical than Boston - with or without Andrew Bynum. They should be able to assert their will on the boards - as we saw in Game 1 and Game 6. In fact, if the Lakers can get some PT from Bynum then this situation looks even better.
The refs have been bad this entire series and speculation is that now they will put their whistles away for Game 7. With Perkins on the floor that might scare me. With him on the bench I say bring it on. I just don't think the Big 3 have the legs to to get this done, the Celtics will get killed on the boards and when it comes to crunch time Kobe will trump anything the Celtics can do. Artest just needs to have one more great defensive game. And why not? I'm sure he doesn't want to be the only Laker without a ring anymore. My predicition - Lakers win.
But just to show I can play both sides of the fence here, I got the opinion of both a former Laker and a former Celtic.
Poor Rick Fox. Can't Tyler Perry hook him up with some terrible TBS sitcom or something?
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