Bryant's impersonation of MJ was sadly lacking. He averaged just 25 points a game, down from his regular season mark and way down from the three previous playoff rounds, and shot only 40 percent (32 percent from three-point range), including a wretched 7-22 when the Lakers were facing elimination. And when he became frustrated with the limitations of his teammates, his one-man game was largely ineffective (and, frankly, didn't measure up to LeBron James's version, let alone MJ's.) Jordan was known to bark at a teammate or two, but far more discreetly than Kobe whose blistering of his teammates for their shoddy play wound up in the well-read blog of Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling's, who had been sitting courtside near the Lakers bench. Then again he had plenty of cause to blister. Gasol and Odom were softer than the morning dew, not up to banging bodies with the Celtics. And while the Boston bench—James Posey, P. J. Brown, Leon Power and Eddie House—made major contributions, the Lakers subs looked lost on the floor, standing around while waiting for Kobe to do his thing.

It now, of course, appears that Boston was always the better team—certainly a far superior defensive unit in a game where defense wins championships and, from all appearances, a more emotionally cohesive one too. And Jackson may simply have had no answers at his disposal, no matter how deeply he meditated. Still, analyst Jeff Van Gundy astutely noted a lot of quit in the Lakers defense, even while they were winning Game 5. And Jackson has to bear some responsibility for the way the whole team, except possibly Kobe, seemed to quit in Game 6. Just take a gander at these stats, all reflecting effort, from that final smack down at the Garden: rebounds, Celtics 48, Lakers 29; offensive rebounds Celtics 14, Lakers 2; steals Celtics 18, Lakers 4; blocked shots, Celtics 4, Lakers zero!

The Celtics played out of their minds for the entire evening, so I guess Garnett, alternately weeping and screaming, can be forgiven for confusing green heat with white heat. Still, his epitaph for the 2008 NBA Finals suits the occasion just fine: "Top of the World, Ma!"

© 2008