Amped Up Athletics: Lakers Win!
Sabrina Cognata

Like we hoped, the Lakers showed up to last night’s game against the Houston Rockets like the number one ranked team that they are instead of the sheepishly unreliable team that lost three out of seven games in the Western Conference semifinals.  Within minutes of the start of Game 7, the Lakers had established an 8-point lead and with the help of forward Pau Gasol and his jump hook, they took a 25-point lead shortly before halftime leaving the Rockets in their dust 51-31.  The game was over before it began with the Lakers taking their early lead and with the help of Gasol who made 21-points and grabbed 18-rebounds.  The Lakers won Game 7 with ease with a final score of 89-70.

As I mentioned in my coverage of Game 6, the Lakers had been extemely wishy-washy in this series, winning only every other game.  Luckily, Game 7 was theirs for the taking and they knew it, as did their coach Phil Jackson who said that his team had a bit of Jekyll & Hyde in them.  Hopefully they’ve exercised that out of themselves by beating the Rockets because they’re set to host the opening game against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.