BOSTON – You’ve heard of “Survive and Advance?” Well, the 2008 NBA Finals officially has reached its “Survive and Schlep” stage, as in 2,500 miles of (wasted?) jet fuel.
Showing more life on the left side of their bodies than many of us registered skeptics gave them credit for (OK, fine, so it’s me), the Lakers have (mis)managed to extend this brutally herky-jerky series at least one more game.
Now all Phil Jackson’s followers must do is carry Massachusetts – no mean feat for anyone not named George McGovern, and he was only able to do it once.
The Lakers must win twice to prevent the Celtics from raising their 17th championship banner if they’re to hoist their 15th.
“We’re young and dumb enough to get this done,” Jackson said.
While deciding how I was going to avoid committing the mistake I made en route to Los Angeles via American Airlines (“There are two kinds of luggage, carry-on and lost,” Gail Goodrich glibly advised me too late) here are a few things infesting the innards of those nearest and dearest.
“Should the Lakers lose it is solely because they failed to recognize and seize the moment,” Earl Monroe e-mailed. “They lost this series in the first half of the fourth game. After winning the third game and then demoralizing the Celtics to start Game 4, I could not believe L.A. did not put its foot on Boston’s neck and just crush it. It ticked me off to see the Lakers sitting on the sidelines looking so nonchalant. They let the Celtics get their legs back up under them and start to believe again.
“As for Kobe (Bryant), when you are the superstar, you have to recognize and seize the moment. I felt that was the most important game of the series. I went to sleep at halftime. I knew what the outcome was going to be.”
Monroe’s TV perspective was identical to the wisdom (you read that right!) imparted by Ron Artest, sitting alongside me in section 117 at Staples Center, during that “pivotal” second quarter as the Lakers luxuriated a 24-point advantage.
The Celtics scored twice in a row and Artest, in the house to give some love to Queens-homie Lamar Odom, immediately sensed an attitude and momentum shift.
“The Lakers need to play with desperation,” he declared.
“You mean, the Celtics?” I corrected.
“No, the Lakers,” Artest replied, shooting me a “How did Vecsey get his press seat and hold it this long?” glance. “They need to bury Boston while one foot is in the grave.”
Talk about providing me with a perfect segue; all I’ve got to do is keep moving and it leads me directly to the Counterfeit Ticket, who continued to dig his own (career) grave in Game 5.
If Kevin Garnett, indeed, is a franchise player, would it be too much to ask it to be for the franchise currently paying him?
Barely shooting 40 percent (and, yes, nearly 13 boards) so far, Garnett has gone to the line a grand total of 18 times in 192 minutes.
Put another way, he has initiated more contact close-fisting than the nebbish in that phone company commercial.
I know, how dare I mock Garnett?
Excuse me, but I have a lot of trouble being overly sympathetic at the sad sight of Garnett aborting both welfare payments with the Celtics down a deuce at the 2:31 mark, and three of four, overall, under pressure with the Game 5 game clock winding down. Game.
How many times have we seen the $20 million-plus wonder beat on his chest, pull on his jersey and scream obscenities after dunking on some schmuck during the regular season? Now here he is at the highest plateau short-arming freebies while stumbling around inside guarded by giraffe Pau Gasol either taking fade-away jumpers or looking to have the refs bail him out.
“Where’s the fire when K.G. is down 20?” Artest declared in the first half of Game 4. “Watch how he goes back to huddle like a puppy. You’re either a soldier all the time or you’re not. You can’t be a part-time soldier.”
Where was Garnett’s cockiness in Sunday’s potential closeout game? I want to know. Already minus your starting center due to Kendrick Perkins’ shoulder injury, the Celtics needed K.G. to pull a Cedric Maxwell and carry his teammates on his back. Instead the Counterfeit Ticket spent 15 minutes on the bench on account of infantile reaching fouls.
Articulate after me: “Fake Franchise Player.”
This just in: Jackson is thinking about employing a “Gouge-a-Garnett” strategy and force him to hit the unmolested 15-footer.
To Garnett’s credit, he vowed at Sunday’s postgame press conference, if fouled, “I will not pass up taking the free throws.”
You can’t ask for any more than that.
Meanwhile, Paul Pierce has emerged as the Celtics’ MVP, something I’ve been advocating all season. He and Ray Allen are the ideal go-to-teammates for Garnett, dependable more times than not in momentous games such as tonight, though I look for Doc Rivers to slant the offense toward K.G. early and often to show him there’s no faith lost.
Not everyone has supported Pierce as long as yours truly. Column castigator Frank Drucker swears “it took a solid decade away from Rick Pitino to bring out the best in him.”