Ron Artest is crazy…crazy funny. Grab a beverage, sit back, and enjoy…
(The key moment is at the 8:00 mark when the FanHouse reporter asks a question.)
Tag: Ron Artest (Page 2 of 12)
Kobe Bryant played a miserable offensive game, going just 6-of-24 from the field, 0-for-6 from long range and turning the ball over four times. But the rest of the Lakers stepped up. Whether it was Pau Gasol’s travel layup with 1:30 to play, Ron Artest’s timely three-pointer with 1:00 remaining or Sasha Vujacic’s clutch free throws to seal the game with 0:11 to play, Kobe’s supporting cast came through when they needed to.
Lakers win, 83-79.
Kobe finished with 23-15-2, which looks pretty good until you realize that he missed 18 shots and forced some terrible attempts. Gasol added a gritty 19-18, and had nine of the Lakers’ TWENTY-THREE offensive rebounds. (The L.A. absolutely pounded the C’s on the glass, which was one area where Boston desperately missed Kendrick Perkins.) Artest had 20-5 and five steals. He wasn’t terribly efficient offensively, but he hit some important shots and bothered Paul Pierce into 5-of-15 shooting. Artest no longer has to live with the specter of Trevor Ariza circling his entire existence in Los Angeles. In his own weird way, he has truly become a Laker.
For the Celtics, Kevin Garnet (17-3, four blocks) played well offensively (8-of-13), but he just didn’t get it done on the defensive glass. Rajon Rondo (14-8-10) had a very nice game, but wasn’t able to push the ball enough to take it over. Paul Pierce (18-10-2) and Ray Allen (13-2-2) combined to go a dreadful 8-of-29 from the field.
It wasn’t a cleanly played Game 7, but it was tight the whole way and it was one of the best defensive Finals games I’ve ever seen. To put this in perspective, the Lakers shot 32.5% from the field and still won the game…and the title.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
Paul Pierce is 7-of-23 in the last two games, but he’s not going to credit Ron Artest with better-than-average defense.
“I don’t really see anything he’s doing special that any other teams haven’t done throughout the course of the playoffs,” Pierce said. “That’s it.”
So despite struggling against Artest during the Finals and the regular season, Pierce thinks it’s simply a coincidence some of his worst games have come while Artest is guarding him?
“I think so,” he said.
Those words might make things even tougher for Pierce, since Artest tends to play better when he feels he’s been disrespected.
When Artest was asked about the inevitability of Pierce finding his shooting touch in the series, he stopped the reporter mid-question.
“Who said that?” Artest said. “Who said that it’s inevitable? I don’t know what the game’s going to bring, but I know I’ll be playing better defensively. I don’t like the way I’ve been playing defense, so I’m going to make sure I step up.”
Pierce has missed some open shots, but he doesn’t seem to be getting open looks at his sweet spot, which is about 17-19 feet from the hoop, to the right of the top of the key.
The Celtics need at least two of the “Big 3” to score well to win the series. In Game 3, Allen was a no show and Pierce struggled with his accuracy.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
The Lakers withstood a lights-out shooting clinic by Ray Allen in the first half (7-for-7 from long range) and only trailed by six at halftime. They actually led by three with 5:20 to play, but the Celtics rattled off 11 straight points to take an eight-point lead with just 1:12 to play. They went on to win, 103-94.
The Boston backcourt was the key to the game. Rajon Rondo posted his fifth career playoff triple-double (19-12-10) and Ray Allen poured in 32 points on 8-of-11 shooting from long range. Nate Robinson also came off the bench to score seven points in a crucial six-minute stretch early in the fourth quarter. His play gave Doc Rivers an opportunity to rest a winded Rondo, which made him fresh for the stretch run (where he made several key plays to win the game).
Kevin Garnett (6-4-6) didn’t play very well but had a few nice assists in the second half. Likewise, Paul Pierce went 2-of-11 and scored just 10 points. In the pregame, Mark Jackson stressed that the C’s had to outplay the Lakers at the forward positions, but it was the Boston guards who decided the game. When the Celtics were able to get stops, they were really pushing the ball via Rondo, and that led to open shots.
Kobe finished with 21-5-6 but shot just 8-of-20 from the field and was saddled with foul trouble the entire game. His fifth foul, a charge drawn by Glen Davis, was a bad call. Davis was not even close to set when Kobe was in the air. The announcers get so caught up at looking to see if the feet are outside of the restricted area that they ignore the fact that the player’s feet are still moving.
Pau Gasol (25-8, six blocks) had another nice game and was incredibly efficient, scoring all of those points on just 10 shots. There was some media-created controversy over some comments he made about how both he and Garnett have lost a step, but Gasol clearly got the better of KG again tonight. Andrew Bynum posted 21-6 and had seven blocks, so how did the Lakers lose?
Well, Ron Artest shot 1-10 from the field and had a couple of bad plays down the stretch, including a terrible post feed that rolled out of bounds and a possession where he dribbled the ball around and forced up a double-clutch three-pointer. He did play good defense on Pierce, however. Lamar Odom was a no-show, scoring just three points in 15 minutes. He finished with five fouls and Bynum’s fine play kept him on the bench.
You have to hand it to the Celtics. The chips were down and their backs were up against the proverbial wall, and they pulled out a much needed win. Now the series heads back to Boston for Game 3 on Tuesday, and I’m a little worried about how the Celtics’ old bones are going to deal with the cross country flight and quick turnaround.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
…at least not with the reporter who asked him about it.
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