Something about home cooking. Does the bench body good.
There’s been a high level of complexity to the results of the NBA finals thus far. Everything from the Lakers’ ball movement to the Celtics rebounding have influenced the outcome. But a consistent factor in deciding these games has been the output of the respective benches. And in Game 6, along with their starting counterparts, the Lakers’ bench finally showed up.
In the Lakers’ three losses in this series, their bench has scored just 37 points. In their three wins? 62. And 25 of those points came in Game 6. Lamar Odom is the real fifth starter for the Lakers, but tonight Sash Vujacic (Machine!)'s 9 points, to go with Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown’s understated 8 points combined were a huge difference.
LA outscored the Celtics 25-13 in bench points, and still held a 17-13 advantage without Odom. That Odom decided to actually make an impact (though only scoring 8 points) was just a bonus.
Farmar and Brown, when motivated as they often are by a home crowd, provide defensive intensity and transition buckets. Perhaps nothing so encapsulated the Lakers’ night than Farmar’s diving recovery of a loose ball, feeding Bryant for a transition drive that led to a foul. It was a perfect example of the kind of play that the bench failed to make in Boston and that the Lakers desperately needed in Game 6.
The Celtics’ bench is all primary bigs outside of Nate Robinson, but with the three headed monster of Farmar, Brown, and veteran’s veteran Derek Fisher, the Lakers overwhelmed Rajon Rondo, who had another absolutely horrific game.
Maybe it’s the roar of the celebrity crowd, maybe it’s the sunny weather, maybe it’s just the realization that they were needed tonight (along with an entire team effort that swarmed the Celtics). But whatever the reason, the Lakers’ bench stepped up tonight, and that’s part of the reason they get another game to make their final statement as to their importance on this top-loaded Lakers squad. If they play like they did tonight, they’ll have another ring as role players on a star studded team.