“One game at a time.”
It’s a cliché, but it’s true. What else are you going to do when you’re down 3-1 in a best of seven series and on the verge of elimination? As Kobe said in a pre-game interview, it’s like being in the NCAA’s Elite Eight – you have to win three games in a row to win a title. You have to look at it like an opportunity, not a death sentence.
As Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson made clear during the final minutes, the Lakers didn’t play particularly well in Game 5. Their execution was sloppy down the stretch and if not for a no-call on Kobe’s matador defense on Paul Pierce that resulted in a steal and dunk for Bryant, we might all be discussing how the Celtics’ resilient play led to the franchise’s first title in over 20 years.
Boston had a chance to win the game and the series, but a few bad plays by Pierce (5 turnovers) and Kevin Garnett (two missed free throws and a missed tip down the stretch) cost the Celtics the game. As well as Pierce has played in the Finals (save for Game 3), those five turnovers really hurt. As for Garnett, he was in foul trouble for the entire game and was never able to get into a good flow. Still, two free throws and a point blank tip in? He has to knock those down.
So now the series moves back to Boston, and the Lakers have to take the same mentality. They can’t think about a potential Game 7, they have to do whatever they can to win Game 6. There isn’t much pressure on the Lakers; nobody was expecting them to come back from a 3-1 deficit to make it a series, so they might as well play loose and have some fun. If they can somehow eek out a win Tuesday night, then the whole dynamic of the Finals will change.
