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The refs for tonight have been released from NBA.com:
Also, for those wondering. The free throw disparity is 167-120 Celtics. We must take it to the hole tonight and get to the line… regardless, these are the refs for tonight’s game 6 of the NBA Finals.
L.A. Times: Those of you planning on heading to Staples Center to watch Game 6 with a few thousand of your friends will need to find another plan. The Lakers, in consultation with local law enforcement, have canceled the viewing party. From Lakers PR…
After meeting with law enforcement and city representatives, we have agreed to not open STAPLES Center for a public showing of any upcoming playoff games from Boston.
Because of concerns for resources needed to ensure the safety of fans throughout Los Angeles on nights when the games would be played as well as potential financial burdens on various City departments, we came to this decision.
On behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers, we encourage all of our fans to enjoy the upcoming games with friends and family and celebrate the championship run in a safe, responsible and respectful manner.
ESPN: The Celtics expect Ray Allen to play when they try for a second time to win the NBA championship.
Allen rushed from Staples Center after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 103-98 win Sunday night that forced a sixth game Tuesday night in Boston. The reason: “health issues” involving one of his three children.
As the Celtics waited at LA International Airport on Monday afternoon for their delayed flight to leave, team spokesman Jeff Twiss said he expected Allen to take a later airplane to Boston. And, Twiss said, “I don’t believe” Allen will miss the game that could bring him his first NBA title in a 12-year career as a deadeye shooter and give the Celtics their first championship in 22 years.
Allen has two sons and a daughter. Some of the players’ family members made the journey to Los Angeles for Games 3, 4 and 5.
The Celtics gave no details, only issuing a statement from coach Doc Rivers that “Ray Allen was forced to leave Staples Center at the conclusion of tonight’s game due to a health issue with one of his children.”
Allen has been a solid contributor in the NBA Finals — second on the Celtics with 19.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game — after struggling with his shooting in earlier rounds.
If you think Perkins doesn’t make a difference for the Celtics, just find out how many combined rebounds Gasol and Odom had… Yeah, 24! Oh, and Odom had only 4 blocks.
Boston Herald: … Perkins faced the real possibility that he had played in his last NBA Finals game.
“I would say that would probably be doubtful,” coach Doc Rivers said before the game of Perkins returning to the floor for Game 6 at the Garden. “But I don’t know.”
“It’s a good question,” Perkins said of whether he could play the rest of the series. “I couldn’t tell you. I can raise my arm, but there’s just a lot of pain right now. I don’t know if I can take a hard hit on it. When we get back to Boston I’m supposed to get an MRI on it, and then we’ll know more about it.”
Washington Post: Only a complete fool would keep giving Kobe Bryant chances. It’s like pitching to Babe Ruth with the bases loaded, like sticking your naked chin in the face of Joe Louis . . . or giving Tiger Woods one last chance to make a 12-foot putt on No. 18. You keep giving Kobe Bryant chances and he’s going to, if not beat you, make you sweat profusely. The longer he’s on the court, the longer he has a chance to beat you, even if you’re the Celtics and you’ve got the better team and a 3-2 lead headed back to Boston for Games 6.
You let Kobe extend a series the way he did here Sunday night, and he’ll open up a can of danger on you. No team has overcome a 3-1 series deficit to win the NBA Finals. But that’s only because the team with the lead has killed off the challenger as soon as humanly possible. Championship teams don’t let ordinary pros hang around, much less players as skilled as Kobe. Before you know it, you’re a sprained ankle and a dislocated shoulder away from Game 7 and more drama than you want to have hanging around, even if you think the ghost of Red Auerbach is sitting up there on the back rim waiting to assist his old team.
And that’s kind of where the Lakers and Celtics find themselves after the Lakers’ 103-98 victory in Game 5. Not only did Boston’s Kendrick Perkins not play Sunday, he likely will not play Tuesday in Game 6, either. If Perkins is on the bench, there goes one of Boston’s big advantages. Perkins, along with Kevin Garnett, P.J. Brown and Leon Powe, has helped make the Lakers’ big men look terribly soft and weak around the basket.
Sporting News: Of course, the Lakers can bounce back. Don’t be silly. The sun, after all, will come up today. Maybe not in L.A. but somewhere. Probably in Boston.
If you don’t want to take my word on the Lakers’ ability to rally, check these reasons. They could be legit.
1. The Celtics are banged up. Three starters are considerably less than 100 percent. Well, that’s what the team says, anyway. The Celtics’ credibility regarding the severity of injuries has to be viewed with a little “Hmm. Really?” skepticism after the Paul Pierce deal in Game 1.
Coach Doc Rivers said Friday that Pierce tweaked both an ankle and his sprained knee Thursday night. A sprained ankle also has slowed point guard Rajon Rondo, and center Kendrick Perkins may have the most serious injury — a strained left shoulder suffered when he fouled Lamar Odom on Thursday night. Perkins underwent testing on the banged-up shoulder Friday, and Rivers was not optimistic. “That could be significant,” he said. Perkins’ chances of playing on Sunday are iffy, at best, although he claimed Saturday that there’s a “strong possibility” he can play in Game 5.
Continue reading ‘5 reasons the Lakers maybe, possibly, could beat the Celtics’
ESPN: With the same purpose as one of his in-your-face jumpers, Kobe Bryant leaned into the microphone.
He promised more NBA Finals games to come.
“The series ain’t over,” he said. “It’s far from over.”
Faced with long odds, Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers returned to the practice floor Saturday for the first time since Game 4, when the Boston Celtics stormed back from a 24-point deficit to win and take a 3-1 lead in this reborn rivalry.
The Lakers have run out of time and tomorrows. It’s either win Game 5 on Sunday or pack away the sneakers for summer.
No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals, and even if the Lakers can stave off elimination and win at Staples Center, they’ll have to play Games 6 and 7 in Boston, where the Celtics are 12-1 this postseason. Since the league switched to the much-debated 2-3-2 format in 1985, no team has won the last two games on the road.
Their climb is a steep one, and if the Lakers have any chance of mounting a comeback, Bryant, the league’s MVP and the game’s most transcendent player, most criticized personality and most unstoppable force, must be the one to lead them.
You know what ticks me off more than our Lakers melting down and losing Game 4? It’s the media coverage after the game. Ugh! Please take this with a very small grain of salt, it’s a rumor after all…
HOOPSWORLD: The big question on everyone’s minds is whether or not the Los Angeles Lakers are finished following their historic collapse in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Rumors of Kobe Bryant steaming around the Lakers’ facilities threatening to get people traded are running rampant and Phil Jackson cancelled practice on Friday to give his team some time to rest - mentally as well as physically.
Apparently what really chapped Bryant’s . . .umm . . .lips was the commentary from Kevin Garnett following Game 4. Not that KG said anything we don’t already know; he simply pointed out that Kobe looks to get his teammates involved in the first half, then tries to take over in the second half. We’ve seen it time and time again in postseason play. How many games has Kobe been under 10 points at the half, inspiring commentators to verbally wonder when he’ll get going. It wasn’t that he couldn’t get going, it was that he was trying to get his teammates going. Kobe doesn’t need to warm up - he’s ready to go from the opening tip.
The inference being made (with that sly Phil Jackson smile) is that KG’s comments made Kobe so angry that he’s really going to come out and show us something in Game 5.
What that says to me is that Kobe’s going to score 50 and the Celtics will win the championship on their opponent’s home court.
It’s not the refs who need to extend this series, it’s the Kobe Bryant and his LA Lakers.
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