“But I’ll be damned if I don’t take a stand/We ain’t goin’ out like that” – Cypress Hill

Don’t act shook about this performance, True Believer. This game is exactly what we should have expected out of the Lakers following their let-down in Game 5. This series is not at all about momentum. It is about the moment. This LA team has been two-faced and erratic all season – its part of their identity. But that doesn’t mean they will roll over.

Consistently inconsistent? Sure. But punks that fold up when facing just a bit of adversity? Doesn’t seem like it.

This Laker team is not the same team from 2008 we hear so much about. That team was not yet ready to fight in the trenches for an NBA title. They were just as talented, and maybe had fresher legs than this current squad. But they didn’t have the reps. They hadn’t been punched in the mouth. The 2008 Celtics did that, and then some. They left the Lakers bruised and bleeding on the curb, but LA learned how to respond to big moments because of it.

This team was never going to pack up their toys and go home after getting sand kicked in their eyes in Game 5. They were outplayed, and more importantly, outworked. It has never been about the talent, or even the will to win with this Laker team.

It is just about consistent focus. That is the difference, and it’s no small surprise that that is also what defense is about – steadfast commitment to and focus on stopping your opponent. That’s all it is: concentration. The team is full of personalities who may lack a consistent attention to detail, but when they turn their full consideration to the defensive end, things like Tuesday night’s performance happen.

Now we get treated to a Game 7 between the two best franchises in NBA History, and NBA Present. I rock with Obama but Lakers-Celtics is ‘Consistency I Can Believe In.’

Can. Not. Wait.
More after the jump!

Long after Game 5 finished, I was left staring at the television before me and echoing the call of the Prince of Denmark. “Bloody, bawdy villain!” I would have exclaimed, if I had better vocabulary, diction, and sense of phrasing. In reality my cussing was much less eloquent – think more fishing wharf than The Barb – but cuss I did alright.

My MFs and GDs were directed at everyone and everything related to what I had just watched. My frustrations overwhelmed me – my hatred for Paul Pierce and Nate Robinson were only outweighed by my disgust with Ron Artest and disappointment with Lamar Odom.

I’d like to tell you that the inner monologue running through my head read as such: “Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain!” But the reality is that my revulsion was reduced to a sad, simple “…goddammit.” After an eight month journey, it looks like this season will meet its end Tuesday night in Los Angeles, and I’ll have to concede that the Celtics truly do deserve this. (Sigh.)
More after the jump!

Big Mo’ has become a rather finicky friend to have. It used to be that you could trust him at least to stand by you for a while, enough that you felt comfortable with him on your side. Now though, Mo’ just seems to flip-flop around with no consistency at all. Here today, gone today.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love him – no one is better to have with you than Big Mo’ when he is really present – but it has become exhausting trying to figure out whether he is going to show up or not.

Mo’, I love you man, but how about bringing some dependability, some stability to our friendship. This intermittent back-and-forth is not your style. That indecisiveness is more Lady Luck and Fair Weather Johnson’s modus operandi, and those guys are both galoots. Pick a side in this battle and stay with it brother!

The trials and tribulation of relying on Big Momentum aside, here are the talking points from Game 4 to discuss around the watercooler for when you run out of soccer player names you remember how to pronounce.
More after the jump!