Being a fan of the Portland Trail Blazers, what I’m about to say next may be fairly shocking. I rooted for the Lakers to beat the Nuggets in game 7 of the first round Saturday night.
Why? I had to ask myself a few times to wrap my head around things. I have never rooted for the Lakers before. And in no way, shape or form am I all of a sudden a Laker fan. I think my answer to that question would be two-fold.
1 – Because Kobe Bryant does some magical things in big spots in the playoffs. As a basketball fan, watching him can be something special.
2- The matchup between the Thunder and Lakers is fascinating. By far the best second round matchup. Throw in the James Harden, Metta World Peace rivalry and everyone will be on the edge of their seats from Game One.
Jamal Crawford (@jcrossover) summed it up well on Twitter during the late stages of Saturday’s game 7. “Tip your hat to the Nuggets, but as a fan glad the Lakers won.. playoffs wouldn’t be same w/o
That game was and I hope it will be the only time I will root for Kobe and the Lakers. During the second round I have a feeling the Thunder will take care business in 5 games. But if Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasoline play like they did in game 7, all bets are off.
As World Peace battles Harden, Kobe will try to shoot more the Durant and Bynum will try to block more shots than Ibaka. There are a ton of things to follow in this series. If we can’t watch and root for the Blazers, we might as well root for intrigue and the possibility of a classic series in the West.
On the homefront, the battles this team is fighting are a little different. While Larry Miller and Paul Allen are out recruiting a GM for this franchise, Portland’s all-star LaMarcus Aldridge went under the knife to repair his damaged hip. These are trying times for the Blazers. Especially watching good basketball around the league.
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