At some point between Saturday night and Monday evening each player of the Los Angeles Lakers received a phone call. The transcripts of those phone calls were not recorded but it is safe to say they all went something like this: Player: Hello? Caller: Hello, can I please speak to Mr. Gasol? Player: This is him. Caller: Hi, Mr. Gasol this is your wake-up call, its time to get to work.
The Lakers showed everyone why we are the NBA Champions. Laker land was in despair yesterday before tip off and half way through the first quarter all of those feelings were gone. Oh what a difference six minutes can make.
Game 5 was a great display of Laker basketball, the extra passing, the help defense, and the power down low. Everyone did their part to achieve this victory, even if that meant switching a few things around. Kobe did a great job with his new assignment of guarding Russell Westbrook keeping him to 15 points. Even though Kobe himself only had 13 points he did have 7 assists and 3 rebounds which added to the win very quietly.
The main difference was the involvement of our BIG men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Combining for 46 points and 22 rebounds they have given the Oklahoma coaching staff something to think about and maybe a few more hours of work trying to come up with a new game plan as to how they are going to stop them in game six. Lets not forget Ron Artest pitching in his 14 points 5 assists and 2 rebounds plus his best haircut of the season, in my opinion.
Oklahoma will make a big push in game 6 with their home crowd behind them, but with the Lakers playing as intense as they are I think this is going to be a very close game. I can not wait.
13 more wins until another Laker Championship…