Game 6 last night may have been the game that elevated this Laker team from the ranks of ordinary championship teams and into an historical elite, alongside the Bulls of the late-90's and the Lakers of the mid-80's (the Celtics of the '60's are in their own group). The team played with passion at both ends of the court, and sent a message that the Kings would have to physically wrest the championship away in Game 7. Perhaps no play better indicated the Lakers' intentions than the wrestling match in the final minute between Bryant and Bibby off the inbounds play. Although it appeared that Kobe gave a nasty elbow to the face of Bibby, in fact the whole sequence of events began when Bibby grabbed Kobe from the side and attempted to pull him out of position. Bryant's subsequent message (incredibly, neither player was called for a foul) alerted the Kings to the fact that at least one player on the Lakers was prepared to do whatever is necessary to win the series.

\Having said that, I am now more certain that the Kings will prevail than I have been before. The Kings have almost nothing beyond the seven-man rotation they use, but what a rotation !! They have been in control of the series since the second quarter of Game 1, and still have not received a significant contribution from Stoyakovic. Although CWeb and Bibby played inspired ball last night, the rest of the team seemed content with the knowledge that Game 7 was a safety net, especially Divac, who seemed resigned early on to the fact that he wasn't going to get his flopping calls. However, I saw nothing last night that would lead me to believe that the Lakers are going to get any significant contributions from Fisher, Shaw, George, etc. (although Fox has had his best two games in the playoffs this week), therefore placing the entire burden of Shaq and Kobe relief on Robert Horry. If the game is close entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers prevail. But I don't see that happening.