Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals tips off in less than 3 hours with the Lakers trying to close out another series on the road. They failed to do it last series in Houston and were pushed to a game 7.
This will be a defining game for this year’s team. Every year a team will play a game that comes to embody what that team is all about, a game defines that team’s character. Last year it was game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers finished the season with flourish securing the #1 seed in the West on the last day of the season, then continued that roll into the playoffs. The Game 4 debacle where the Lakers came from ahead to lose a game it led by as much as 24 points made a definitive statement that they were not championship material. They did not have the heart, the will, nor the toughness to grind out a championship.
Game 2 of the 2004 Finals against the Pistons was another defining game in which the Lakers wilted. The Lakers won the game, but they needed a Hail Mary 3 from Kobe to send it to OT where they pulled it out. It was a must-win for the Lakers because Detroit came into Staples a heavy underdog and shocked the Lakers by 12. The Lakers lost the next three in Detroit by an average of 13.7 points. Dynasty over. Team implosion.
And that’s what the Lakers are up against tonight. This is the most important game in the history of the Denver Nuggets. For the Lakers? It’s important, but it’s barely a blip on the historical radar for the purple & gold.
What’s the identity of this team? Are they the team that ran away from the West in the regular season and swept both the defending champion Celtics and this year’s #1 overall seed Cleveland? Or are they the team that’s been consistently inconsistent? We’re going to find out tonight if this team can make its mark in Laker lore. If they can go into Denver and rip the Nuggets’ hearts out, then they might have what it takes win the whole damn thing. If not, then expect more emotional roller coasters, but don’t believe the hype.
