Phil Jackson Smack is true!

Jackson talks smack, mentions Kevin Garnett -  Bynum's knee drained...

Reality Basketball

Trey Kerby

Each weekday morning, BDL serves up a handful of NBA-related stories to digest with your sausage McGriddle.

Shira Springer, Boston Globe: Did you expect a pre-Finals news conference to pass without Lakers coach Phil Jackson taking a jab at the Celtics? When questioned about potential physical play in the series, Jackson took his first swing. "We don't have a smackdown mentality," he said. "You might have seen that with [Kevin] Garnett on [Orlando's Dwight] Howard in Game 6 in Boston, where he was smacking Howard's arm and was finally called for an offensive foul. That's not our kind of team. We don't go out there to smack people around. I call it more resiliency. We're a more resilient ball club. We try to stay strong and play hard. But we're going to have to withstand some of that. We're going to have to play through it. We have some guys who are capable of playing to that style in [Derek] Fisher and Ron [Artest] and obviously Kobe [Bryant]. But our big guys are going to have to stand up because that's basically what got the Celtics through Orlando." Lamar Odom(notes) took a more diplomatic approach. "[All the series] have been physically demanding, even this last one, all the running we had to do," said Odom. "This one will be physical, if they let us play a little bit." Jackson did show sympathy for Kendrick Perkins(notes), one of the Celtics' most physical players. The Lakers coach said his team had no desire to frustrate Perkins in an effort to force the center into a technical foul. One more technical and Perkins will earn an automatic one-game suspension. "I don't even like to think about those kind of things," said Jackson. "Those things I think should be wiped out. Flagrant fouls. Technical fouls. It just means the longer you've been in the playoffs the more penalized you are. It seems like that's not a really good code right now."

Kevin Ding, Orange County Register: Andrew Bynum(notes) had 70 milliliters — nearly 2 1/2 fluid ounces — drained from his right knee early Monday morning in a procedure done by Lakers doctor Steve Lombardo. Bynum said his knee, which has torn cartilage in it, was still medicated from the procedure, so he wasn't sure how it was feeling. But he said: "It supposedly makes you feel more healthy." Bynum's understanding is that there are no major ramifications to the drainage, and he intends to practice Wednesday to test how much his knee has improved. Game 1 of the NBA Finals is Thursday night. Bynum is awareKobe Bryant(notes) had his swollen right knee drained after Game 4 of the playoffs' opening round and has played well ever since. "He's obviously feeling much better," Bynum said. "You could tell he was a step slow before."

Chris Forsberg, ESPNBoston.com: Rajon Rondo(notes) and Rasheed Wallace(notes) were limited during theBoston Celtics' practice session Monday. Rondo, who suffered muscle spasms during the Eastern Conference finals against the Orlando Magic, then landed hard on his back during a first-quarter drive in Friday's clinching Game 6, participated in what Celtics coach Doc Rivers estimated was 3/4 of the practice, but was held back with eyes towards Thursday's Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. Wallace developed back spasms during Game 5 against Orlando, then departed in the fourth quarter of Game 6 when the symptoms worsened. Rivers held the reserve big man out of contact drills Monday and remains concerned about his availability moving forward. Rondo was on the court and active during 5-on-5 drills to close out the session; Wallace watched from the sidelines. "Rondo felt pretty good, he went 75-80 percent of practice," said Rivers. "Rasheed is not right yet, he did the skeleton offense stuff, but other than that, we didn't allow any contact. So if we have a concern right now with anybody, [Wallace] would be the only one."

Greg Beacham, AP: Although Andrew Bynum didn't play in the 2008 NBA finals, he remembers how it all ended. Boston Celtics fans celebrated their clinching victory by throwing rocks and other projectiles at the Los Angeles Lakers' departing bus, also rocking it back and forth. "I only saw a couple of games, and it was crazy-the energy, the fans," said Bynum, who was out for the season with an injured kneecap. "That bus ride back to the hotel, it wasn't the greatest." Bynum kept that memory close for the past two years, and so did most of his teammates. Although the Lakers' roster is remarkably similar to the group that lost to Boston two years ago, Bynum sees two big reasons Los Angeles might have a better shot to do the rocking this time. Ron Artest(notes) and Bynum said Monday they hope to play major defensive roles in the Lakers' NBA finals rematch with the Celtics, starting Thursday night at Staples Center. Artest is the Lakers' only newcomer this season, while Bynum has postponed surgery on his right knee to participate in the Lakers' playoff run. Unlike Kobe Bryant, who professes no special interest in a Celtics rematch, Bynum is thrilled this run is ending with Boston. "It's a great opportunity for us to get one back," Bynum said. "You never want to let something like that sit. I know it means a great deal (historically), but I'm more concerned about my own history."

Mark Murphy, Boston Herald: Last week's reprieve aside, Kendrick Perkins remains on thin ice with six postseason technical fouls, just one short of a one-game suspension. Doc Rivers admittedly is worried that his center is one bad move or word away from leaving the Celtics undermanned against the Lakers' big front line in the NBA Finals. "Clearly what I've talked about hasn't worked," the Celts coach said after yesterday's practice. "Maybe I should have another one. I'm concerned by it, honestly. It's going to be a physical series, and there's going to be guys that get tangled up under the basket, and there's going to be officials who want to clean the game up. Perk may be in that." It all goes back to Rivers' beef with a perceived escalation in double technical fouls, a measure taken to clear up potential clashes between teams. Four of Perkins' six postseason techs have come from double-technical situations. "And that's why I've been on this double-technical thing for a month now," Rivers said. "It's part of the seven techs (that lead to a suspension) and it really shouldn't be, and it's a factor. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a factor in this series."

Ron Artest to the Rescue? as Marv Albert would say "Yes"

With one minute to go in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals and the Lakers up 101-98, Ron Artest missed a 20-foot jump shot, then promptly hoisted a three-pointer after Pau Gasol dished out an offensive rebound with a new shot clock.

He missed, his seventh errant shot in eight attempts, much to the ire of the STAPLES Center crowd (not to mention Phil Jackson).
Over the course of the next minute, Channing Frye would brick a three with Gasol following suit on a driving dunk attempt before Jason Richardson banked home Phoenix’s third three-point attempt of their final possession (thanks to two long rebounds), tying the game at 101 with 3.5 seconds left.
Quite a bit to take in already, but still plenty of time for Kobe Bryant to nail a buzzer-beater, right?
After all, perhaps the only ending better suited for Hollywood would be Artest - seeking redemption - crashing in from the weak side to grab Bryant’s missed turnaround three-pointer from the right wing, then lay the ball in off glass as the shot clock flashed red to signify the game’s end.
Crazy, right? Well, it happened.

Artest did just that and won the game for L.A., creating a 3-2 series lead to put the Lakers one win away from their third consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.
“As a group, it’s always fun to have wins like this at the buzzer,” said Bryant, who happened to make seven shots in the final seconds in the regular season. “Especially for Ron … I’m very happy for him.”
“I was extremely excited and happy for him,” offered Lamar Odom, who began playing AAU ball with Artest when the two were 12-year-olds in Queens, N.Y. “I always remind him that this is why he came here. His whole career, his whole life, was about perseverance, sticking with it. Tonight was a prime example of that.”
When Artest’s put-back went down, it was so loud in STAPLES that the buzzer couldn’t be heard as Artest was first embraced tightly by Bryant, then mobbed by his entire team in the corner opposite Phoenix’s bench.
“Yeah,” Artest nodded when asked if the shot were the biggest of his career. “Biggest layup. I missed a lot of layups during the regular season.” But he made the biggest one, by a few hundred miles. Question: why was he in that position in the first place?
Artest explained that he thought Bryant was fouled on his attempt, so he “kind of figured it was going to be short, looked like he got hit on his arm a little bit … and it was a little short.”

Bryant was again brilliant in a game L.A. largely controlled (leading by as many as 18), again coming as close as possible to a triple-double with 30 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists,* Odom had a big 17-point, 13-rebound double-double off the bench, Gasol chipped in 21 points, nine boards and five assists and Derek Fisher came through with a season-high 22 points, but it was Artest’s moment.

*Bryant missed triple-doubles in Games 3 and 4 by a total of four rebounds.

“We’re very happy for Ron because Ron’s been asked to sacrifice a lot of his game to really try and fit in,” said Fisher. “Sometimes it makes it hard for him to have the rhythm and the fluidity to his game that he’s capable of having, but he sacrificed a lot to help us get to where we’re trying to go. That’s why we’re so happy for him.”

“I think it means a lot for him,” added Bryant. “He’s kind of been going up and down, emotionally it was a big boost.” L.A. had led by as many as 11 early in the fourth when Bryant nailed his fourth three of the game (and 10th in two games), but the Suns refused to go away, hitting three fourth quarter threes of their own and getting to the line eight times to hang around until the final stanza.

Overall, the statistics favored L.A., as the Purple and Gold out-rebounded Phoenix 49-40 (including 19 offensive boards), won the paint point batle 38-26, committed 11 turnovers to 15 from the Suns and blocked 10 shots, though Phoenix did manage to take more free throws again (29 to 23, much to the Lakers’ collective chagrin) and shoot a higher percentage (46.8 to 41.8).