Irish Eyes Are Crying

Revitalized Kobe, Lakers roll over Celtics, push Finals to decisive Game 7
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES -- Just a few seconds after seldom-used Boston reserve Shelden Williams missed an uncontested dunk, Kobe Bryant floated to the rim and somehow willed a layup through tight defense to put the Lakers ahead by 22 points.

It was only the second quarter, but Game 6 was pretty much over. Los Angeles had responded to the threat of elimination from the NBA Finals with the closest thing to a shutout anyone is likely to see in big-time basketball.

Buckle up, Boston and L.A. This epic series between old rivals is going to Game 7.

Bryant scored 26 points, Pau Gasol added 17 points and 13 rebounds, and the Lakers emphatically earned a grand finale with a 89-67 victory over the Celtics on Tuesday night.

Ron Artest added 15 points for the Lakers, who got their backs off the wall with a dazzling first half. Although the offense was sharp, the Lakers mostly did it with defense, limiting Boston to the second lowest-scoring performance in NBA Finals history. Only Utah's infamous 54-point performance against Chicago in 1998 was worse.

"I was very happy," Bryant said after the defending champions stretched the Finals to the limit for the first time since 2005. "We did a great job defensively. We kept them out of the middle, kept them out of the paint, did a good job on the boards. It was a solid effort by us."

A champion will be crowned Thursday night at Staples Center.

Oh what a difference a game makes. The Lakers came into Game 6 reeling from back-to-back losses and looking lethargic but in Game 6 they sprung back into action, hustled, fought for loose balls and outrebounded the hell out of the Celtics. I'm not going to lie. A lot of lot has to do with the Manilla Gorilla going down in the 1st Quarter. Without the Celts intimidating force in the middle Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom were able to streak down the paint much the way they did in the first three rounds. And don't expect me to cry for Boston because it lost K-Perk. The Lakers have pretty much had to go the whole series without Andrew Bynum and the Celts have thus been able to bully them down low. No more. Unless this is just God setting me up for the biggest gut punch ever I'm smelling Title #16 here. It's a beautiful morning. And not to gloat but I have only one thing to say to Boston fans...