khandor’s sports blog

When two great teams go head-to-head, in a Best-of-7 affair … it’s a simple game to analyze …

Game 1 info

TOTAL REBOUNDS: LA Lakers 33, Boston Celtics 46

FINAL SCORE: Lakers 88, Celtics 98

sealed, emphatically, by Kevin Garnett’s Offensive Rebound, putback dunk (at the 1:32 mark of the 4thQ) which put Boston up by 8 points and created a 3 possession game for LA (time & score) at The Moment of Truth.

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“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much a a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” – Jacob Riis (American newspaper reporter and photographer, 1849-1914)

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When the Celtics (+13) hammer the Lakers on the boards and win the ‘Rebounding Differential’ battle in this series they will win the war.

Win 4 wars … and, the C’s will be the 2007-2008 NBA Champions.

What’s the reason(s) San Antonio was able to rebound last night and win Game 3 against the Lakers, at home, trailing 0-2?

Reason One

According to last night’s TNT broadcast this is the quotation which hangs on the wall in the San Antonio locker room, inscribed in each language spoken by a member of their team:

 
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“When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much a a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that blow that did it, but all that had gone before.” – Jacob Riis (American newspaper reporter and photographer, 1849-1914)

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This is all you need to know about Air Force One.

Reason Two

If you’ve followed what this corner has had to say about this Spurs team, this season … in this space and elsewhere (i.e. different Live Blogging Events and other sites run by other bloggers) … you already know it was suggested earlier in this series that two of the things which HAD TO HAPPEN, if the Spurs were going to be able to get themselves back in it were: (i) Gregg Popovich was going to have to solve a certain riddle, pertaining to one Lamar Odom (6-10, 230) and the “normal rotation” of the Spurs and that, if Coach Pop finally does “figure it out”, (ii) the proper players for him to use more this series are (A) Robert Horry and (B) Brent Barry, in place of Ime Udoka.

Well … as the old saying goes,

“The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” – Anonymous

Robert Horry, Brent Barry & Ime Udoka, Game 3
 

Reason Three

GINOBILI!

Manu Ginobili, Game 3

 
Nuff said.

It is going to take a special team to knock the reigning champs out of this year’s NBA title chase; a very special team.