By Dave D'Alessandro/The Star-Ledger
This is supposed to be about glory, celebrity, immortality and all that rot.
But there’s a flip side, and it isn’t always glorious.
“The culture of Game 7s,” Pat Riley said more than a decade ago, “is one of pure intensity and desperation. But mostly, it’s about the fear of failure.”
The most frantic, nerve-jangling and special moments in sports are when the championships are decided, and it happens tonight at Staples Center in Los Angeles, where the Lakers and Celtics will play the 105th Game 7 in NBA playoff history — but just the third such deciding game of an NBA Finals in 22 years.
One team will become a champion, the other will be relegated to a crowded avenue where failures are the principal tenants. But both are feeling pretty much the same thing before the clock strikes 9 in the East.
Dick Motta, who coached nearly 2,000 games over 25 seasons, compared the pressure to the execution scene from a 1930s melodrama: “It was just like James Cagney going to the electric chair,” the Washington coach said, recalling the atmosphere in Seattle prior to Game 7 in 1978.
“I told everyone, ‘It’s too bad we can’t have a lot of little bottles here, take the corks off and close them, and sell this atmosphere for a quarter a shot.’”
Now we find out who can withstand it.
Welcome Back, Seven. It’s good to see you again.
NBA FINALS GAME 7s;
Year -- Result -- Series MVP
2004-05 -- SPURS 81, Pistons 74 -- Tim Duncan
1993-94 -- ROCKETS 90, Knicks 84 -- Hakeem Olajuwon
1987-88 -- LAKERS 108, Pistons 105 -- James Worthy
1983-84 -- CELTICS 111, Lakers 102 -- Larry Bird
1977-78 -- Bullets 105, SONICS 99 -- Wes Unseld
1973-74 -- Celtics 102, BUCKS 87 -- John Havlicek
1969-70 -- KNICKS 113, Lakers 99 -- Willis Reed
1968-69 -- Celtics 108, LAKERS 106 -- Jerry West
1965-66 -- CELTICS 95, Lakers 93 -- None
1961-62 -- CELTICS 110, Lakers 107 (OT) -- None
1959-60 -- CELTICS 122, Hawks 103 -- None
1956-57 -- CELTICS 125, Hawks 123 (2OT) -- None
1954-55 -- NATIONALS 92, Pistons 91 -- None
1953-54 -- LAKERS 87, Nationals 80 -- None
1951-52 -- LAKERS 82, Knicks 65 -- None
1950-51 -- ROYALS 79, Knicks 75 -- None
(Home team in CAPS)
Read more at:http://www.nj.com/nets/index.ssf/2010/06/celtics-lakers_set_to_open_ano.html
Watch Game 7 Live at http://streamnbawadelebronkobe.blogspot.com/p/nba-today.html
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Jackson points to Gasol-Garnett as key
LOS ANGELES -- Phil Jackson loves the game within the game. Heading into Thursday's Game 1 of the NBA Finals with the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, one piques his curiosity more than the rest.
"I'm intrigued by the [Kevin] Garnett-Pau Gasol matchup. I think that's a really good one," he said Wednesday after the Lakers completed practice.
"Kevin is like the force of [Boston's] defense, he's really the glue that kind of holds their defense together with his activity level, his ability to help and recover on guys," Jackson continued. "Pau is the guy we have to have be a part of the scoring combo with Kobe. So he has to provide some of that for us in this series against probably one of the top defenders in the game."
Gasol's performance was generally seen as disappointing during the 2008 Finals, in which he averaged 14.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in six games, facing primarily Garnett and Kendrick Perkins. Like the rest of his teammates, Gasol had a subpar Game 6, making four field goals and turning the ball over five times in 32 minutes as the Lakers lost 131-92 and Boston clinched the title.
Garnett was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. Since, he's struggled with injuries, undergoing surgery to his right knee in May 2009.
Still, he's still a formidable opponent, says Gasol.
"I see a little bit of difference [since the surgery], but he's still very effective and he's still one of their team leaders," he said. "You've got to respect everything that he does and brings to the table. The leadership, the aggressiveness, and he's going to compete no matter what. He's proven that through the injury."
Continue reading here...
"I'm intrigued by the [Kevin] Garnett-Pau Gasol matchup. I think that's a really good one," he said Wednesday after the Lakers completed practice.
"Kevin is like the force of [Boston's] defense, he's really the glue that kind of holds their defense together with his activity level, his ability to help and recover on guys," Jackson continued. "Pau is the guy we have to have be a part of the scoring combo with Kobe. So he has to provide some of that for us in this series against probably one of the top defenders in the game."
Gasol's performance was generally seen as disappointing during the 2008 Finals, in which he averaged 14.7 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in six games, facing primarily Garnett and Kendrick Perkins. Like the rest of his teammates, Gasol had a subpar Game 6, making four field goals and turning the ball over five times in 32 minutes as the Lakers lost 131-92 and Boston clinched the title.
Garnett was the Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. Since, he's struggled with injuries, undergoing surgery to his right knee in May 2009.
Still, he's still a formidable opponent, says Gasol.
"I see a little bit of difference [since the surgery], but he's still very effective and he's still one of their team leaders," he said. "You've got to respect everything that he does and brings to the table. The leadership, the aggressiveness, and he's going to compete no matter what. He's proven that through the injury."
Continue reading here...
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