Boilerdowd beat me to it below, but how about Carl Landry's play for the Rockets? The Rockets won Game 6 here in H-town last night, forcing Game 7 on Sunday in Hollyweird. I looked a bit online but was unable to find photographic evidence of his drive down the lane and tomahawk jam that sort of was the exclamation point for the Rockets (though you can see it in the video highlights from ESPN in the game link). The Lakers had closed the gap but Carl simply said... no.
We rip on the NBA here all the time and I rarely sit and watch complete games, but I've secretly been really enjoying this Rockets-Lakers series.
The only thing that sucks is that LA fans are so poor, I've got almost nobody to trash talk with. My friend here who is a Lakers fan is a die-hard Kobe loyalist (ugh) who seems to get angry when I talk about how much I detest Kobe. Let's face it, he's a reprehensible person. And a lousy teammate.
Screaming at his teammates during the game (which is the norm for him), bitching at the referees constantly (did you know Kobe has been fouled on every shot he's ever taken?) and, as this column so excellently articulates, just being an all-around douchebag.
Look, Kobe's an incredible talent -- there's no denying that. Watching these games, and seeing how he can shoot over almost anything, you realize how talented the guy is. But LeBron is good, too, and he doesn't make you want to punch him in the face the way Kobe does (and please note, I don't really like LeBron, either, though I'm coming around).
In that linked column above, Tim Keown tells us about how obnoxious Kobe is towards Shane Battier. And this is d-bag-ish as well. We all know MJ and Larry Bird and those like them trash talked with the best of 'em... but they did it quietly and directly to the guy, telling him he couldn't guard them or telling them the move they were gonna pull and then... pulling it! That's a lot different than Kobe's a-hole dissmissiveness and public mocking of Battier not being able to defend him. Which is also wrong, by the way. Battier -- and Artest -- have defended Kobe well enough to have this thing go seven games. Time to shut it and play, Kobe.
I definitely don't think the Rockets are going to go to LA this weekend and win this series. Even jumping out to a 21-3 lead at home, they allowed the Lakers to get back within two in the third. But the mere fact that the Lakers were annointed the Western Conference champs and the only team that should play LeBron's Cavs in the Finals should be now officially considered a mistake. Because even if they get by the Rockets, they haven't been convincing. And if they think they're going to skate by the Nuggets.... well, won't it be nice to see Kobe's season end in Colorado?