LAST DANCE

There are only two words in my mind right now—GAME 7. It may be the last game this season, but certainly, the most exciting one. The whole world will be watching this game. This will be the best event on earth. It’s going to be amazing and will be a classic one.

It’s the greatest thing in basketball, the most compelling, and the most dramatic thing that we can possibly see in sports. This is what we’ve been waiting for, battle of the top two successful teams in the history of NBA. Both teams combined for 32 championships out of 65. Celtics has 17 championships while Lakers owned 15. This is the 12th time that both teams met in the finals. The most storied rivalry in sports history. Celtics owned the Lakers in the Finals by wining 9 championships against 2 by Lakers. The last meeting was won by the Boston Celtics in 2008 via 4 games to 2 decision with a 131-92 humiliating loss by the Lakers in game 6 at TD Garden.

Lakers defeated the Celtics in game 6 to even the series in a convincing fashion via an 89-67 win. Lakers played like no tomorrow and extremely well right from the very start. Kobe, Pau and Artest led the Lakers with 26, 17 and 15 points respectively. The big difference in thus game was Lakers bench Lamar Odom, Shannon Brown, Sasha Vujacic and Jordan Farmar provided the needed spark by outscoring C’s bench 25-13. The Celtics bench did not score its first basket until 9:56 left in the fourth quarter on a Nate Robinson lay-up.

Kendrick Perkins who suffered sprained knee injury early in the 1st quarter was a huge blow for the C’s. He wasn’t able to return in the game but might be in street clothes come in game 7. Celtics will be missing his rebounding prowess and his biggest defensive presence in the paint. Sheed and Big Baby Davis should step up big time and pick up the slot vacated by Perk.

The aging Celts’ stars could treat this as their Last Dance on the big stage. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were an art of instantly successful combination that has been to the Finals twice in their three seasons together. Expect Celtics’ BIG 3 to come out strong and give their A game. Ray Allen should start shooting mid-range jumpers and threes again while KG must supply the needed inside presence especially Perk is out and lastly The Truth should bring in his leadership for C’s to get their 18TH Title.

For the Lakers, if they win game 7. This will be their second consecutive championship that would give real life to the possibility that this group could stay together long enough to win two more and certify the Lakers as the greatest franchise in NBA history. It’s a chance for Jackson to extend his coaching record to an 11th championship and for Kobe Bryant to continue his ascent up the ring tally of the greats with his fifth.

The Boston Celtics are 7 and 0 (W-L) when the championship reaches 7 games while the LA Lakers 3 and 5. But the Lakers are 13 and 1 at home in game 7 in the post season. The single loss came from the hands of the Boston Celtics in 1969 NBA Finals.

7 Key’s to Larry O’Brien Trophy

For the Lakers

1. Home Court Advantage
What else could be sweeter than winning the championship in your home floor? It would be a major feat for the Lakers. Lakers crowd will be a huge factor in this game.

2. Pau’s consistency
Pau Gasol plays well at home. Feed him the ball and let him shoot right over the top of the undersized Davis. As for KG and Rasheed Wallace, stay aggressive and try to get to the line. He will surely be on a rampage early in the ball game.

3. Artest’s Quality
Expect Ron-Ron to play tough defense on Paul Pierce. His solid defense affects the performance of the Truth. Artest should continue to knock-down open jumpers to stretch D of the Celtics.

4. Bench Boosters
For the first time in the series, Lakers outscored Celtics bench 25-13 in game 6. Lamar Odom should continue to lead the bench and be ready also for heavy minutes as Andrew Bynum’s knee is still questionable.

5. Battle of the Boards
The only consistent thing on this series was, whoever team grab more rebounds win the game. With the absence of Kendrick Perkins, Lakers has a huge advantage in the frontline.

6. Active Hands
Lakers had 12 steals in game 6. It just show how active Laker players on the defensive end. They should continue to pressure the ball and force C’s to commit turnovers.

7. Kobe Bryant’s Brilliance
This is the time to cement Black Mamba’s legacy. Expect him to dominate the ball for the Lakers. A fifth title pushes the argument that Kobe has reached Jordan’s level, and with three more years with the same core of this Laker team, put Kobe in a position where he could possibly surpass MJ by reaching seven rings. While it’s hard to put Kobe ahead of MJ, you would have to put him into the discussion with a win tonight.

For the Celtics

1. Time has come for Sheed

With Perk’s absence, it’s possible to inject Sheed in the starting lineup. Expect Rasheed to be extremely physical especially knowing that he cannot be penalized because of a technical foul and miss a game. He will also be huge factor in this game because he is the only other Celtic player aside from Perk that can give problems with Gasol in the defensive end.

2. Control the Boards
Now that Perk is out due to sprained knee, all C’s players on the court should step-up and help in rebounding. If Perk cannot play, expect Brian Scalabrine to be activated, provide some help in crashing the boards and some firepower from the outside. Lakers had 13 more rebounds in Game 6, and the team who grabbed more rebounds won the game in the finals.

3. Rajon’s Impact
Rajon Rondo has to have a big game. He hasn’t shot the ball well the past two games. He needs to get all the way to the basket and finish. He has to penetrate, generate the transition offense and find the open receivers.

4. Take good care of the basketball

The most upsetting stat for Boston in game 6 was that the Lakers had 12 steals, which means the Celtics were careless with the ball. Rondo should facilitate in taking good care of the ball. Avoid lame passes.

5. X Factors
Get some kind of production from Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace. Both were combined for 0-10 in game 6 and that simply cannot happen again. Nate the Great should always be ready to give quality minutes for Rajon and Tony Allen must be prepared to handle Kobe on the defensive end.

6. Careless Fouls
The officials are very sensitive in this series. Celtics’ big men should stay away from unnecessary fouls, especially now Perk is out.

7. The Big Three
The last time Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and KG all came to play on the same night was in Game. I expect a big night from them. This is probably the last time we’ll ever see the “Big 3,” so it would be nice to see them go out proper – win or lose.

Since this is game 7, we can throw all the stats of the previous games away. Tomorrow is all or nothing, so it is already expected that both teams will play all their hearts out. Stars are going to be stars in this game and some stars will do everything to win this game for one of these two teams. Game 7 is a WAR.

My Prediction
I’ll still stick with the Boston Celtics. This is one of the most resilient teams I’ve ever witnessed, with a veteran roster that knows how to win. At the end of the day, I expect them to achieve their ultimate goal, 18Th Larry O’Brien Trophy for the Celtics.