With Stern having his money in hand and no need for any more biased officiating, who wins the winner-take-all Game 7 and why?

Losing Perkins is a big blow to the Celtics. This is the Lakers game to lose. When they play the way they did in game 6 (excellent defense and Kobe playing team ball on offense instead of trying to do everything himself) the Lakers are unbeatable.

The Celtics are 1-8 in close out games on the road the past 2 seasons.

the Lakers are 10-1 in close out games at home the past 2 seasons.

I'm a Lakers guy all the way, however I have a really bad feeling about this game.

No way L.A. plays that well again and no way Boston plays that bad. The Celtics are excellent at recovering from bad losses but have proven bad at finishing the job when they have an opportunity to do so and get away with it. That said, when their backs are against the wall they play excellent and, despite Kobe, they do have more star power and could realize this is their last, best chance to win a ring.

The Lakers' window is much more wide than theirs and may not be able to summon that kind of energy and effort for the second time in three days.

I think the likelihood of a Celtic win going away is more likely than a repeat of Tuesday. I hope it stays close as the crowd would then give L.A. the boost it needs to get over the hump.

Game 7 should definitely be memorable.

i guarantee the celtics win game 7

i guarantee the lakers win game 7

Perkins out of Game 7 with a torn MCL. he's done. Doc Rivers confirming.

I honestly don't think this will affect their offensive game plan much -- if anything it will make it more fluid and them more dangerous on O.

Where this hurts them is on the other end in with their depth, rebounding and ability to keep Gasol and a 1/2 strength Bynum out of the paint. Baby ain't playing 48 mins. I have a feeling we'll see a lot of Sheed's whiny ass in Game 7. I hope he shoots like he did in Game 6 but I wouldn't count on it. He is an older, less-well-behaved, better jump-shooting version of Odom.

Ref assignments:

Joe Crawford, Dan Crawford, Scott Foster


queue Joe Crawford comments from whiney Spurs fans, and Dan Crawford comments from whiney Mavs fans.

Any ideas for a game 7 drinking game?

right on cue simple. Crawford already threatens to T up Perkins from the bench. I really wish he had thicker skin and would just call the damn game.

Got my Rondo jersey on. Go C's!!!!

Brick city for LA so far.

This game is ugly so far. I LOVE that the refs are letting them play though - for the most part.

LA just needs to hit some shots, man o man

and people claim the spurs are boring- this crap is unwatchable

Kobe is playing horrible. Maybe he turns it on, but I expected more out of him on the offensive end this game.

[This message has been edited by The D (edited 6/17/2010 9:59p).]

and yes, this crap is terrible. I would much rather watch mexico/france world cup soccer.

KG clearly hacked on the drive by gasol

my dumb ass decided to hammer lakers -6, second half. Im a freaking idiot to bet on these jokes.

Lakers have 53 after 3 quarters

both teams just look exhausted

Pierce needs to calm the eff down

artest is ****ing horrible.

and right on cue he makes an AND 1

is anyone even watching this slugfest?

[This message has been edited by The D (edited 6/17/2010 10:20p).]

Good for Ron

how many dumbass luck shots is artest gonna make?

kobe better watch out, hes got 4 fouls now. this game looks like maybe OT, he might not make it all the way through it.

5 on Wallace

Flop

And another thing. After watching most of this series, there is no ****ing way Gasol is a top 15 player like Simplebay claims. And Bynum is not that good also.