I have a lot of female friends, actually, I have one very good male compadre and the rest of my friends are female. Needless to say, I’ve heard plenty of stories about breakups and heartbreak. Although I’ve never loved a woman enough to be torn apart from a bad breakup, I’m able to sympathies with them because I too, have had my heart broken, and I feel that this heart break is 20,000 times worse than any relationship. After Game 6 of the NBA Finals, I experienced the absolute worse heartbreak of my life when the Lakers gave away the Larry O’Brien trophy to the Boston Celtics. But the thing is, not only was my heart broken, but thousands upon thousands of other real Lakers fans (not those guys who showed up at Staples just because it happened to be the thing to do) had their heart broken too. Because of this, I’ve charted the attitude of Lakers fans throughout the course of the Finals just so you could see inside the minds of the losing franchise during the course of a Finals series. Everything I’ve written about these games are completely honest observations.
During the course of the series you could see the attitude of Lakers fans transforming from “there’s no way we can lose this series (i.e. my May 31 st article about why the Lakers were a shoo-in for the title) to utter heartbreak (i.e. me on the verge of crying on my couch the next morning while watching the fourth quarter of Game 6). Before Game 1 we were all confident, we meaning everyone who was a fan the Lakers. I had phone calls, e-mails and text messages from family members – since none of my friends are Lakers fans. We all thought we had this in the bag. I had the Lakers in five, my father had the Lakers in five and my cousin said he could see the Lakers in five, but wouldn’t be surprised if the Celtics were swept. Then game one happened.
Game 1 (98-88 Boston) The Beginning [Genesis]
Things looked great for Lakers fans went into halftime with a five point lead, looking like a championship team, weathering the Kevin Garnett storm. Third quarter. Lakers suddenly find themselves down four at the end of the third and the Boston crowd wills them to a ten point victory. Little did I know, but the Celtics poked a hole in the Lakers heart vat, and it would continue to drain until the end of the series.
After watching Game 1, I told everyone that the third quarter would be the death of the Lakers, and I was absolutely right. I couldn’t believe how long the halftimes were. The Lakers, a much younger team than the Celtics sat around and got stiff, and were caught flat footed in the third period of every game except for Game 5. The Celtics used the halftimes to rest their much older legs and that was a ridiculous advantage for Boston.
After Game 1 Lakers fans figured, it’s just one game, the Celtics had to play a perfect second half and needed Paul Pierce to fake an injury to barely pull this one off. We’ll get the second one. There’s no way the Garden has that much energy on Sunday.
Game 2 (108-102 Boston) The Near Comeback/Boost of Confidence
The Lakers went from being up two at the end of the first to down by 12 at intermission. With less than two minutes left to play in the third, the Celtics went up 20 and I stopped watching the game (only because I was taping it and I could go back and watch it later, with less emotion) to start writing my daily blog, where I said that if the Lakers lost this title, it would only be the fifth worst loss in my lifetime – I couldn’t have been more wrong, but more on that later.
I left my computer to check the score, and the Lakers were down two with 22 seconds remaining. I didn’t think they would pull it out, but I was surprised they had the heart and dignity to bring the game back within striking distance. Of course, when the Machine threw up that ill advised three-pointer to seal the Lakers fate, I sure wanted to assassinate him, him and Leon Powe who unironically had 21 points on the night they show his tear jerking story. What the hell was that?
After Game 2, Lakers fans had the “they did what they were supposed to do: win at home” attitude and I got text messages and e-mails saying nothing but “38-10” – the number of free throws that the Celtics and Lakers shot, respectively. I replied to all of them with “13-10” which was Leon Powe and the Lakers’ free throw attempts. Everyone knew Game 3 would go to the Lakers, with everyone asking me how much I thought the Lakers would win by. I, on the other hand, already knew this series was over.
Game 3 (87-81 Lakers) Rise of The Machine
Game 3 was the lowest scoring game between the Lakers and the Celtics in their Finals history – and Sasha Vujacic had more than 22 percent of the Lakers points. I knew the Lakers wouldn’t be able to win the three home games if they needed The Machine to score 20 to win by six – and need Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (by the way, where was he from the second half of Game 1 to the end of Game 5?) to struggle. I predicted Kobe would have 45 points that game and I was pissed that he didn’t (that’s right 36 points, seven rebounds and a win was not good enough for me).
I was bothered after this game because Doc Rivers discovered what would ultimately be the Lakers’ demise when Rajon Rondo went out with an injury. Rivers was forced to bring in Eddie House, making it harder for the Lakers to sag off of the point guard and help out on other players. Rivers saw how spreading the floor against the Lakers would work brilliantly (especially since they have a plethora of God damned shooters in House, James Posey, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen – hell, I guess you can throw in “I only want to shoot 20-footers until Game 6” Kevin Garnett in the mix too) and probably thought “hey, this is a great idea.” I can only being to wonder how long it would have took him to figure that out by himself. I’m not going to say the Lakers won this series because of Rondo going down, but the definitely won Game 4 because of it.
After Game 3 my cousin Courtney said this, “I can’t believe what a few calls here and there will do. And where was one hit wonder Powe today, amazing.” This seemed to be the collective attitude of us Lakers fans. I was excited that we weren’t going to get swept, but I wasn’t happy about Rondo’s injury. Lakers fans felt that none of their starters have had a great game yet and the Celtics had to play their hearts out (sigh) to win Games 1 and 2. Things were looking good, right? Wrong. Game 4 happened.
Game 4 (97-91 Celtics) The YES! YES! YES! NOOOOOOOOOOO! Game
I spent Game 4 at BJ’s, a bar in Southwest Bakersfield with my friend Davion. The atmosphere was great, the game was on the big screen, and there was a room full of Lakers fans – and one guy who said he didn’t “like the Celtics, I just hate the Lakers. Call me a Lakers hater, because that’s exactly what I am. They’re like the damn Yankees.” I couldn’t help but to point out that the Lakers are nothing like the Yankees. Whatever. This guy was wearing a green Celtics “Beat LA” shirt and he was, for a lack of a better tearm, grinding my gears.
I ended up learning that this guy was a UCLA fan (I love USC) and hated the Raiders (only my favorite football team). Needless to say, we had a few heated debates about sports (something I learned he knew nothing about) and this game (another thing he knew nothing about). While I wasn’t debating with ‘ol boy in the heinous green shirt, Davion and I talked about why each team is supposed to win this series (some of the most off the cuff ideas ever, with one being the Lakers not deserving to win it because Lamar Odom looked gay while holding the Larry O’ Brien Trophy during those black and white ABC spots where the Trophy is the only thing in gold) and the best situations to see the Chris Rock face [see above] (we concluded him making the face as a super hero before he flew away would be the best time).
During the first quarter Lamar Odom was playing out of his mind finishing the quarter with a line something like 13 points, five rebounds and an assist. The whole time I’m yelling “what the hell is going on,” and Davion keeps calling him “the used goods (a play on his old nickname that no one calls him anymore).” I knew there was no way this could last. Not only was he playing well, but his aggressiveness opened up opportunities for other Lakers. 35-14 at the end of the first. At half time, the score was 58-40.
By the end of the third the Lakers were up by a whopping… two points? It couldn’t have been a 16-point swing in the third quarter, right? Wrong… again. Looking back at the text messages I got, all at the conclusion of the third quarter you would have thought the Lakers were down 40. “Come back kidssssssssssssssss,” Celia texted. “Who knew bringing in Tony Allen would help the Celtics,” Zach said. “Bum ass Lakers,” Devin said. “OMG What’s happening,” I Got in another text from Shawn. “hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha,” is what I read in a second text from Celia.
It was almost never ending. And then it started again after the game was over. Then my car broke down. Then I got my ass handed to me in Virtura Tennis on Playstation 3. That had to go down as one of the worst nights of my life.
After Game 4, Lakers fans were heart broken. “I want to shed some tears right now.” “I don’t even know what to believe in anymore.” “Devastated couldn’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling right now.” Lakers fans had become the new emos. I even have a few band-aids on my left forearm right now. At this point, Lakers fans were pretty much split into two factions. It was either, we’re done or we have to show up on Father’s Day and win two in Boston. There was no in-between, it was on or the other. We collectively saw the inevetible, all of us, but only half of us believed it. Seeing wasn’t necessarily believing at this point, but it was pretty damn close.
Game 5 (103-98 Lakers) “Don’t do this to me again”
It was Father’s Day, so I ended up spending the day with my Grandfather. We all went to my uncle’s house to celebrate the day and watch the game. The first quarter looked eerily similar to Game 4 when the Lakers finished the quater up 39-22, which lead to Mike Breen, the play-by-play guy for this year’s Finals, saying “The Celtics have the Lakers right were they want them.” Ouch. That comment hurt so much more than anything anyone said to me during or after Game 4.
The second quarter, however, was a much different story. The Celts made their move much earlier this game cutting the deficit down to just three point, with the third quarter looming around the Staples Center ready to strike the Lakers at it’s first opportunity. However, it didn’t happen this game. The Lakers actually played well in a third quarter. But lo and behold, the Celtics found themselves right back in the game, and even tied the game deep in the fourth quarter. As I watched the game I was thinking to myself, “there’s no way they blow another 17-point lead in Los Angeles, there’s no way.” And they almost did it. With 16 seconds left, we’re all thinking the game is over, but my grandmother kept insisting, “it’s not over, it’s not over. They’re only two three pointers down. They can hit one right now and be right back in the game. What happened? Eddie House catches the ball off of a screen and hits a fade away three pointer in Kobe’s face. “SEE! ALL THEY NEED IS ONE MORE THREE!” my grandmother yelled at the television and at us. I’d never seen her more intense in my life. Let’s just thank Jehovah that the Lakers pulled that one out. Either me or my grandmother would have had a heart attack if they lost that one.
After Game 5, I really didn’t hear anything from Lakers fans. They almost gave this one away, and it kind of felt like the Celtics wanted the Lakers to win this one so they can take it home and win on their own floor. We were like those disgruntled assembly line workers in Detroit from Michael Moore’s “Roger & Me” who cheered on their last day of work. Sure they were happy that they didn’t have to slave on that assembly line anymore, but they knew things were only going to get worse. We were happy that they won the game, but we knew Game 6 was going to happen, but we weren’t expecting it to happen like that.
Game 6 (20,987,423-92 Boston) The Disgusting End and All Telling End [Revelations]
Let me run down some Game 6 numbers:
Boston Points- 131
Lakers Points- 92
Boston Field Goal Attempts- 87
Lakers Field Goal Attempts- 64
Boston Field Goal Percentage- 49.4%
Lakers Field Goal Percentage- 42.2%
Boston 3-Point Percentage- 50%
Lakers 3-Point Percentage- 37%
Rajon Rondo Steals- 6
Lakers Steals- 4
Boston Assists/Turnovers- 33/7
Lakers Assists/Turnovers- 16/19
Boston Rebounds- 48
Lakers Rebounds- 29
Kevin Garnett Offensive Rebounds- 3
Lakers Offensive Rebounds- 2
Kendrick Perkins Offensive Rebounds-2
Lakers Offensive Rebounds- 2
GLEN DAVIS OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS- 2
Lakers Offensive Rebounds- 2
RAJON RONDO OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS- 2
Lakers Offensive Rebounds- 2
Number of times Kevin Garnet yelled “I got my own now,” in Bill Russell’s ear- 14
Number of Lakers who played with any kind of heart in the second half- 0
That’s right. The Lakers played with no heart whatsoever. None at all. They gave up mid-way through the second quarter when they saw that Kobe’s shot wasn’t falling (compare their energy in the first quarter after Kobe hit a few 3-pointers to mid-way through the second after he misses his first three shots). It wasn’t that he was he missing shots, but the fact that he was having problems getting shots off killed the Lakers’ collective spirit. Guys were walking around with their heads down, Ronny Turiaf didn’t jump up in jubilance after made buckets, Pau Gasol didn’t scream after making jump hooks over Glen Davis. Every single ounce of swag they had come into this series had been slowly drained out of them since the second half of Game 1, and by the half way mark of the second quarter, all of it was gone; along with that swag, left their gut, determination, pride, and mort importantly, their heart.
For Lakers fans, this isn’t something new, in fact, we’ve seen way too many performances since the turn of the millennium of terrible performances (i.e. Kobe proving that the Lakers can’t run without him scoring in the 2004 Finals or Kobe not playing in the second half of Game 7 of round one in the 2006 playoffs, and then there was Game 6 of the 2008 Finals). I don’t understand how athletes can not give their all in a championship game. Where was the dignity? Where was the passion? Where was the drive? Again, where was the heart?
I’ve seen more heart in fourth grade girl’s softball games. I’ve seen more heart watching little boys stomp ant hills. I’ve seen more heart from the girls on Flavor of Love. It was ridiculous watching that second half. Guys moping around like there was no tomorrow – but there could have been a tomorrow. They just chose not to play for it. If you would have told either Lakers or Celtics fans that the Lakers wou
ld just lay down and hand THE CELTICS a title, no one would have believed you. It doesn’t make any sense that I’ve seen more heart in Jason Giambi’s mustache [see left] and Steve Harvey’s hairline than I saw in the Lakers last night.As of right now, I don’t know what to think of the Lakers right now. Maybe Amy Winehouse said it better when she sang Love is a Losing game because you never really realize how much you love something until you lose it – or more accurately – until it loses. Of course we all talk about how much we love our favorite teams, but the hurt we feel from them losing (especially in championship games) is always much greater than they joy we experience from any of their wins. I’ll celebrate a win for a week, but sometimes, the hurt from the losses last forever, which is why this loss has been moved to the top of my all time losses list. Not only did they lose, but the Lakers didn’t even try to win that game – and it was against the evil of all evils, the Boston Celtics. I, along with every other Lakers fan, could vomit just thinking about that lackluster effort. Now, we’re left spending the rest of the summer thinking about what should have been instead of looking forward to what could be (which seems pretty promising). I don’t know about the rest of the Lakers fans, but the worst part about it is I’m like that girl who keeps going back to her ex-boyfriend who keeps treating her like shit because she unequivocally loves him. I love the Lakers, and I’ll probably end up investing my heart in a team without any again next year and pray that they don’t break it again.
Stay Hideous
-PB
(Word count to date: 17,761
88 days and 82,239 words to go)
1 comment:
i think you forgot a few ha ha's in there...
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