It couldn’t have happened a game too soon. Ron Artest, a strong defender all year for the Lakers, and throughout his NBA career, finally found his offensive range against the Suns in the closeout game of the Western Conference finals.
Artest was the last-second hero in Game 5, if you can classify four points and two-for nine shooting heroic. But Artest banked in the game-winner, off a Kobe Bryant air ball, with no time remaining.
In Game 6, he was the leading support to Bryant's 37 points, which made Kobe the unquestioned hero. As usual.
Artest’s offensive barrage, which had been non-existent all season, arrived just in the nick of time. Otherwise, the Lakers-Suns series might have gone the full seven games, with a strong possibility that the Suns, and not the Lakers, would have faced the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
While everyone is focused on the upcoming rematch between the Celtics and the Lakers, I am still confounded by the Lakers’ Western Conference finals with the Suns. I've fel ...
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Article written by Paul Peszko