Ron Artest has had a bad year with Los Angeles. But his Game 5 tip-in at the buzzer of the Western Conference Finals may have punched LA’s ticket to the Finals.
Ron-Ron, as he is known in NBA circles, has not had the incredible impact that was expected when he arrived in LA from Houston in a trade that sent the playoff-peaking Trevor Ariza to the Rockets. Long praised as a defensive stopper, Artest no longer strikes fear in opponents. Though his play against Kevin Durant helped LA overcome the Oklahoma City Thunder, Artest has done very little on the offensive again.
In Thurday’s Game 5 at the Staples Center, Los Angeles was cruising against an out-of-sorts Phoenix team. Shooting poorly and with an uncharacteristically low number of assists, Phoenix was unable to get any flow going. Not so for the LA Lakers. Led by Kobe Bryant and Lamar Odom, they were finding holes in the new Alvin Gentry zone and when not exploiting the middle, hitting deep threes.
