Lakers vs. Celtics – This One is Going All the Way

Look over there Kobe, it’s your legacy in the window but the Lakers need to win Game 6 before Black Mamba gets to go shopping for immortality.

LA can take heart
Just like I predicted last week, Black Mamba came good in Game 5 but it wasn’t enough to stop Boston from winning and taking the lead in this series. The failure to shut down Paul Pierce was the difference between coming back to Los Angeles needing just one win and coming home to save their championship lives. Unlike the other games in this series, this wasn’t a case of one team taking the bull by the horns while the other floundered. Boston’s greater depth proved telling in Game 5 but with a raucous home crowd at its back it still couldn’t dominate LA. The Lakers stayed in this game and it was because Kobe Bryant was in no mood to lie down and die.

For the man who wants everything
Boston has beaten the Lakers nine times in the NBA Finals, LA has only returned the favor twice. Kobe isn’t going to close that gap in one season but he can put one matter right. The two teams have gone the full seven games four times in the history of this storied rivalry. Boston has owned LA in Game 7, winning every single time it went to a deciding game.

The debate over Kobe versus LeBron is small time compared to what’s at stake here. Magic Johnson never helped the Lakers win against the Celtics in Game 7, neither did Jerry West or Elgin Baylor. Wilt Chamberlain bowed out injured in a Game 7 against Boston. This is the big one for Kobe. This is the opportunity for him to legitimately claim to be the greatest Laker of all-time. The ultimate closer in the game needs his chance to make history and force a Game 7 where he can make history.  Expect a big surge from Kobe at one stage and back the LA Lakers to have the highest scoring quarter at -200 with Sports Interaction.

Get ready for some magic
Boston won’t want to lose Game 6 but defeat may help the legacies of some of their superstars. A second NBA title would make Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen legends in Boston but doing it in seven games against Kobe and the Lakers would take their legacies to a whole other level. This team would be spoken of in the same tones as the Boston teams of the 60s and 80s. That’s some good company.

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