Why did the Lakers win a mere 56% of their road games and a stunning 83%(34-7)@home? Whatever the reason, I am very happy and buoyed by those stats. They are 9-1 @home this postseason...29-4 in the Gasol era@Staples in playoff games(88 winning percentage). So there is reason to be nervous yet hopeful+optimistic. Why does Gasol seem to play so much better@home? With Lamar, he seems to have 90-95% of his lives-up-to-his-ability games on the home court? Andrew as well to a lesser degree. Is it just the adrenalin of the cheers of the Laker fans and familiarity with the home rims?

I will add that I agree that the refs are missinq alot of hacks that Boston commits on the Lakers and hope that the old adage of the home team getting the calls holds true tonight. Pierce and Rivers whining after games one, two and three may have had it`s intended subconcious effect in games 4+5. Hopefully the refs forget about all that whining. Better yet-make them pay during the game for whining on foul calls. T EM UP! I still remain convinced that it is rebounding that will light the way for the Lakers. That and Kobe has to go back to trusting his first and second in command--draw defenders and trust the open man. NO REBOUND NO RING!

With Bynum not being 100% and Pau Gasol being out-muscled in the paint by KG, Perkins, and Big Baby, I don't see how the Lakers are going to improve rebounding. With Artest and Fisher being out-hustled by Pierce, Rajon, Allen, and even the Celtics bench, I don't see how the Lakers are going play better defense.

Kobe is going to get his shots so the best the Celtics can do is make him work hard for every shot. The other Lakers have already proven that they don't have the muscle and hustle to beat the Celtics.

Ummm.

LOL! Jazzwriter-that was classic. Was that ummmm like saying "move to strike"? I am sure in this instance you will be ecstatic to admit you were wrong!The rebounding made the difference-somewhere in the neighborhood of winning the rebound war by 13 or 14-which is just huge. It fed everything. That and the stifling defense. Artest, Lamar and Pau just all went from looking spent and just exhausted-to looking just completely re-energized. We have to realize that Andrew will most likely play only about 5-10 minutes if that in game 7...BUT what an inspiration he must be giving his team mates. Plan has to be the same for Thursday. But keep FOCUSED! Boston is gonna throw everything PLUS the kitchen sink at us. Boston is gonna play even dirtier than usual in hopes of getting us rattled and off our game plan. Rebound. stifling defense, rebound, everything through Gasol on offense pound it inside and get to the foul line-everyone attack the paint-and NO REBOUND NO RING-TEAM LEADING REB WAR HAS THE W EVERY GAME

The "umm" was my way of saying, I was at a loss for words with which to respond to TR's errant prediction.
As to my own comments, if I failed to convey this earlier, I apologize, but to win the series, the Lakers have to rebound better and be more efficient on offense. There has been some criticism of the defense, but I don't see the D as being a problem. The games they lost, the offense was ragged, they settled for too many jumpers, they gave Boston too many second-chance opportunities, they didn't make their free throws.
I commented on the refs only to make a point, albeit a minor one. The three losses have been by 9, 7 and 6 points. Hardly anything to crow about for those Boston fans who believe their team to be unbeatable except by the refs taking them out of their game. For the Lakers, they were close enough that three plays could have changed the outcome in any of them: made free throws, one more made field goal, one more defensive stop, one less Boston possession via failure to rebound. When the Lakers were down by 5 with less than 2 minutes to go in Sunday's game, one possession could have made it a 2-point game. But instead of getting the rebound, it went out of bounds and the refs awarded it to Boston. More time off the clock even if Boston doesn't score. And on the other end, Gasol missed a free throw, and Artest missed two. I'm not one to blame or credit the refs for losing or winning. But in this case, just one call that went the other way could have made a tremendous difference.
Now on to game 7, it comes down to 2 things: rebounding and effort. Last night was the best across-the-board effort I've seen from the Lakers in a months.

Lakers. Game 7 for all the marbles. Classic. I think that game 7 is most likely gonna be more of a war than game 6. It will likely be like games 2 through 5-give and take-nip and tuck-knock down dragout. This is like Ali-Frazier III. Ali had to combine guts with his superior skill to stop Frazier. Pau is such a key. When he goes 20-10 it is tough to overcome the Lakers. When he supports Kobe with a 25-15-it is near impossible to beat the World Champions. 30 and 4 in the playoff@home in the Gasol era. NO REBOUND NO RING!

I don't attribute the rout to anything the Lakers did. The Celtics didn't bring the same level of intensity to the game. Once they were down by an insurmountable amount of points, they decided to save it for the seventh.

Rondo needs to be decisive and sure with ball. He shouldn't be afraid of taking it to the hoop and going to the line. Allen needs to hit threes. KG and Pierce need to bring their A games. With Perkins out, Big Baby needs to just be a boss in the paint.

Kobe is due a bad game.

Ummmm--it is in the realm of possibility in the universe that Kobe would have one of those rare- as hens- teeth off games where he shoots 9-30 or something and only get`s 6 free throws. But unless the refs put him in early foul trouble, odds are that his line will read something like 25-5-5 or even 30-7-8. Boston may lean heavy on forcing Kobe to pass and just figure they`re better off hoping the other Lakers are ice cold. TR808- are you saying that the Lakers rebounding intensity, stifling defense. dives for loose balls and offensive pressure and run out dunks were-what-Boston`s handiwork? With the Lakers 34-7 home record(83%)10-1@home this post season(91%)and 30-4@Staples in thd Gasol era(88.2%)odds are that the Lakers will win and be crowned repeat/back to back World Champions. 20% chance that Boston big four have huge games all at the same time while ALL the Lakers have a horrible game. Way more likely that the Lakers will NOT have a letdown at Staples and will win. NO REBOUND NO RING!

Don't count your chickens before they hatch. The Celtics aren't going to be laying eggs tonight. Don't act like the Celtics haven't been here before.