When the clock struck zero, and TNT's coverage of the Lakers/Celtics game came to a close, I already knew what this post was going to be about. After noting earlier in the day that I thought the lack of hype over this game among the local (L.A.) media was weird, when the Lakers handled the C's in the second half, I knew that the local media would quickly turn the game into a big deal. I was wrong.
The first meeting between the two squads was heavily hyped. After the game, in which the Celtics handled the Lakers, the media (from ESPN to local sports jocks) went crazy about how this game showed that the Lakers just don't have what it takes to deal with the Celtics length and defensive skills. I never thought of it until now, but that loss kind of led us down the path of the Carmello rumors, now that I think about it. Despite having an amazing season, a loss to the Celtics suddenly had Laker fans pressing the panic button. Suddenly, the team that couldn't match up to the C's length was contemplating trading their main lenghty player for a shooter with no defensive abilities.
Then, when this Thursday night rematch came, no one said anything. ESPN didn't run constant highlights of the history between these two teams, the local sports radio guys barely even mentioned that it was happening. I, of course, saw this as self-defense. If we don't make a big deal out of it, especially since it's in Boston, we can play a loss off easier (unlike the first time around). The flip side of that is that if you win, you can kind of go nuts about it. Once the Lakers won, in part due to Ray Allen's foul trouble (which led to Avery Bradley guarding Kobe in the third quarter, coincidentally when Kobe "got hot") and an overall pathetic second half for the Green Army (even though they scared the Lakers enough to force Kobe back into the game late, and may have come back to win if Paul Pierce would have hit that breakaway pass to Rondo with about 2 minutes to go), I was fully ready to have to put up with the "Lakers win in Boston clearly shows they'll finish the three-peat" headlines from ESPN and AM570.
That didn't happen. All of the sudden, the decisions of the main stream sports media have become difficult to predict? The game isn't making the kind of headlines I thought it would because of one guy: Ray Allen. No one cares if the Yankees beat the Royals on a random day in June, if A-Rod hits his 500th career homerun. Likewise, no one cares that the Lakers beat the Celtics, thanks to Ray Ray breaking the NBA 3-point record. This morning, we're not hearing about how the C's need to be worried about the Lake Show come NBA Finals time because the Lakers finally showed them something. No, not at all. We're only hearing about Ray. His shot, the embrace with Reggie Miller, the embrace with his mother who has never missed a game, the history that he made. I'm fine with that, because I think Allen is an epic player who has been deserving the spotlight all season. But Laker fans shouldn't be so stoked.
In fact, Ron Artest started fueling the flames of the conspiracy in his post-game comments. He saw it coming. Artest suggested, "Allen waited to try and break this record against us on purpose. It's more exciting to break the record against us because we are the Lakers." I'm paraphrasing because I saw it on Sports Center this morning, but that's pretty much what he said. Maybe his statements are suggesting more than he realizes. Be sure, if the Celtics beat the Lakers, LA would be getting crushed right now by ESPN and the national sports media because they lost twice to Bean Town, and fear would overcome the average Laker fan about their inability to close us out yet again. But, knowing that they might lose, Ray Allen specifically waited to break the 3-point record, to help divert attention from the fact that the Lakers and Celtics will actually split the season series? It's a reach, but if that is what he did, it worked.
At 38-14, the C's are deadlocked with "The Heat-cemberists" atop the East, and face Miami on Sunday morning. With no records to be broken, the Celtic sure better win.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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