Perhaps the Last Home Game for the L.A. Lakers

The Denver Nuggets / Los Angeles Lakers playoff has become a best-of-three series. The first team to two wins advances to the NBA Championship. Game Five is in Los Angeles and, with a home loss and a Denver victory (in Denver) for Game Six, the season would be over for the Lakers. There is the possibility that Game Five could be the last home game of the season for the Lakers.

The traditional press and the internet already are presenting reasons why the Lakers might not advance. Some of the reasons cited are:

• fatigue
• Andrew Bynum not finding a rhythm
• questionable refereeing
• youth (two Lakers starters are under the age of twenty four)
• interest / focus
• injuries

These are simply excuses. The sports writers are preparing for the ‘obituary column’ for the L.A. Lakers. Game Five of this series can be subject to multiple analyses. However, in the end, it is very simple. It is a question of which team is willing to put forth the effort. When the Lakers are taller and are out-rebounded 58 - 40, as they were in Game Four, it speaks to effort… or the lack thereof. And there is also the matter of character.

Catherine Forsythe