"Lakers Win Title The Hard Way" by Ronald Carthen

Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, when Michael Jordan hit the game-winner to defeat the Utah Jazz and give the Bulls their sixth NBA title, will always go down as the most memorable game I've ever seen, but last night's Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics vs. Lakers will go down as the most physical and tougest NBA finals game that I've ever seen. Even Kobe Bryant couldn't figure out how he and the Lakers came back from a 12-point deficit to defeat the Celtics 83-79 and give the franchise their 16th championship. This is the first time the Lakers repeated as the champs since the Shaq/Kobe era from 2000-02. Now that Kobe has his fifth NBA ring, we will continue to debate if Kobe is better then Michael Jordan. I still say no, but it's time to put those comparisons to bed and just embrace Kobe's Legacy as one of the best players in NBA history.

Kobe might have finished with a game-high 23 points but he finished with 6-for-24 from the field. I didn't think the Lakers had a chance, but thank goodness he had some great teammates to help him step up in this game. I would never thought Ron Artest would step up on the offensive end in this game, but let's be honest he kept the team in the game. With the Lakers down 23-14 at the start of the second quarter, Artest scored 12 of the team's 20 second quarter points to put the team behind 40-34 at the half. Then in the fourth quarter is when he made some crucial baskets. With the Celtics up 61-58, after Ray Allen's eight-foot shot, he drew the foul on Paul Pierce and made the basket then hit his free throw to tie the game. Then with the Lakers up 76-73 with a minute left in the game, he hit a 26-foot jumper to extend the lead to six. Artest finished as the second-leading scorer for the Lakers with 20 points on 7-for-18 shooting. He made the Lakers and Queensbridge very proud and came thru when it mattered the most.

Pau Gasol didn't have a huge shooting night either, but he came up huge in the fourth quarter. He scored nine of his 19 points in this quarter by hitting the Lakers first foruth quarter basket and the foul on Glen Davis to swing the momentum of the game. He also did a great job drawing fouls down the stretch and was able to head to the free throw line hitting 5-of-9 of his free throws.

The Lakers only hit 32.5% of their shots, but it was their defense that was very impressive. The Celtics made 40.8% of their shots but only scored 79 points. Kevin Garnett drop 17 points and was 8-for-13 from the field, but Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined for 31 points on only 8-for-29 shooting. Rajon Rondo did score 14 points and had 10 assists but a few of those shot selections were very questionable to me. The biggest problem for the Celtics was rebounding the ball. Kobe and Gasol combined for 33 of the Lakers 53 rebounds while the Celtics ended with 40. It was the offensive rebounds that hurt the Celtics the most as they were outrebounded 23-8. The Celtics fought so hard but was out of gas in the fourth quarter with scoring 22 points but only made seven shots.

This was the first time the Celtics lost a series with Kevin Garnett, but they never lost a series with KG, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins in the starting five.   

I know Kobe and the Lakers want Phil Jackson back so bad. Phil has now won 11 NBA titles and I honestly hope he stays for another season. I can also understand why he wants to retire as well. He won NBA titles with Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant there's nothing left to prove. He says he'll make a decision in a week but I hope he'll take his time and not make a decision he'll regret.

Congrats to the champs for being the first team to come back from 3-2 in a series, since the Houston Rockets over the New York Knicks in the 1994 NBA Finals, to win it all. Now that's how you win a title the hard way.