L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke took a lot of crap (and rightfully so) for his BS allegation that Paul Pierce faked his knee injury in Game 1. But I have to give him a ton of credit for skewering the Lakers for their Game 4 meltdown. Here are some great lines from his column:
By definition, when one chokes, there is noise, movement, desperation. The Lakers didn't choke. They blew the NBA Finals without making a sound.
They gave the game away, but not before one of them walked away. You know how Los Angeles fans are famously criticized for leaving games early. Add Kobe Bryant to their list. He walked off the court with three seconds remaining as the Lakers were bringing up the ball for a final shot.
When asked afterward how his team was going to recover from this loss, Bryant said, "Lot of wine, lot of beer, lot of shots, like 20 of them." That quote would have been a lot funnier if Bryant hadn't actually taken 19 shots in the game, and made just six of them.
In the end, the building was silent, the Lakers' faces were blank, and Bryant was gone. Sort of how this season started, no?
Some fine work that would even make Shank Shaughnessy proud.
