NBA Finals Game 7: Lakers Victory...Here's Why

The Lakers are simply the better team. It also doesn't hurt to have the best player in the game today on your side.

As predicted, the Lakers came away victorious against the Boston Celtics with a dominant Game 6 performance. Now the question stands at, who will win Game 7 and the 2010 NBA Championship? Given that I am a self admitted “Lakers Fan-For-Life”, it would be VERY biased of me to simply say that the Lakers will be this year’s champion. But there is a very good reason why I believe the Lakers WILL be champions and it’s based on one very simple fact.

Now I can go through a laundry list of reasons why the Lakers will win such as Pau Gasol dominating KG with his wide array of offensive moves around the basket, or Lamar Odom creating match-up problems for Celtics’ big men while continuing to provide solid rebound support, or Andrew Bynum playing all out and using his length to challenge every Celtic shot, or Paul Pierce having to work extra hard to score against Ron Artest’s rejuvenated defense thus taking the rest of the Celtics out of their offensive rhythm, or the Celtics’ bench not getting the emotional energy they thrived on at home thus forcing them to commit unnecessary turnovers and mental errors…the list can go on and on. We can also throw all conspiracy theories out the window at this point because anyone who was going to profit from the series going the distance got their wish and will be reaping the benefits regardless of what team comes out on top. Officiating will still be poor but calls should balance themselves out not giving either team an advantage.

The outcome of this game will be based on one simple fact, similar to what the Celtics enjoyed in 2008; the Lakers will win championship #16 simply because they are the better team with the best player playing in front of their home crowd. Kobe has yet to have a breakout, truly dominant game…yes, he’s already scored 30 or more three times this series but dominating a game isn’t simply about how many points you score – his performance in Games 1 & 6 was close but he’s capable of more. This game probably won’t be as lopsided like with what happened in Boston 2 years ago but the Lakers will dominate and will dominate early leaving no doubt as to the outcome of the game and this year’s NBA Champion.

ARTWORK: Kobe Bryant II

These are illustrations from my Kobe Bryant study from pencilled sketch, to inked drawing, to colored artwork.


Artwork by: Jopet Garcia


Artwork by: Jopet Garcia


Artwork by: Jopet Garcia


Artwork by: Jopet Garcia

The images below are compositions using Photoshop. Coming soon to a t-shirt near you!


Artwork by: Jopet Garcia


Artwork by: Jopet Garcia

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NBA FINALS: 10 Reasons Why The Lakers Will Win Game 6

For Lakers fans (which I am), this is a NBA Finals series that can be best described as a "Finals of Missed Opportunities". If the ball had bounced in our favor along with some crucial calls (and no-calls) gone our way, we would probably be back at the Staples Center for Game 6 with the series lead and a chance to clinch title #16. Heck, we might have already won the championship back in Bean town. But thanks to a few (more like several) mental blunders, some (a lot of) missed free throws, poorly timed turnovers and horrible officiating (don't get me started), the Celtics enjoy a 3 - 2 lead heading into L.A. for a date with their own destiny and title #18. But if I were the Celtic faithful, I wouldn't necessarily start preparing for a Boston street party just yet. If we took a look at the law of percentages along with some speculative logic, the Lakers are almost guaranteed a win in Game 6, forcing the series to go the distance. Here are my 10 reasons why:

10. As good as the Celtics are, the Lakers are still the better team and won't lose 3 games in a row.

9. Even though critics say Los Angelinos are the worst fans in professional sports, the Celtics won't have the crowd energy which they literally fed on to pull off very emotional Game 4 & 5 victories at the Boston TD Garden.

8. The Lakers are back home at the Staples Center and contrary to what others think, the fans will lift up their spirits and boost their energy levels which will give them (especially the Laker bench) that extra special something to help pull off the victory. There's nothing better than the roar of the crowd shouting and screaming words of encouragement to help players forget the pain of injuries which should benefit Andrew Bynum the most and his ailing right knee.

7. The Celtic Leprechauns whose hexes befuddled the referees causing them to make some of the most boneheaded calls in recent Finals history, can't survive in the L.A. heat and will be a non-factor.

6. Ron Artest will figure out how to play defense on Paul Pierce again and Lamar Odom will be a rebounding machine.

5. Pau Gasol will bounce back from a horrible offensive performance in Game 5 and will outplay KG in Game 6 who will once again "disappear" when it counts the most.

4. Free throw shooting will be Rajon Rondo's demise as Laker defenders will get physical and send him to the FT line rather than have him duck, dive and juke his way to the basket for lay-ups or kick-out passes to open perimeter players. He'll start settling for jump shots; though improved will still limit his effectiveness on the court.

3. KryptoNATE, Big Baby and Tony Allen will show why they're not good enough to be starters. 'Sheed will also manage to get himself thrown out of the game.

2. KOBE BRYANT. Unlike Lebron, Kobe's drive, determination and "desire to win" will carry the Lakers to victory.

1. Corporate America. Everyone knows that the Celtics' window of opportunity is closed after this season and we won't see a NBA Finals between these two storied franchises for quite sometime. The playoffs is the NBA's money season and having a classic rivalry go the distance means more drama, which means more television viewers, which means greater media coverage, which means a great deal of exposure for the companies associated to the game as well as their products, which will ultimately lead to a healthy revenue stream just as the fiscal year comes to a close. In Corporate America's eyes, the Lakers need to win Game 6 because there's simply too much money involved if the Finals fail to go the distance. And if I were the Boston Celtics, they're not the kind of fans you want rooting against you.