Ron Artest helps LA beat Suns at buzzer
He wasn’t brought in to close out games or be a superstar, he was supposed to stay in the background and play hard defence to ease the defensive pressure on Kobe Bryant.
Help Bryant out he did, putting back Bryant’s air ball at the buzzer to hand the Lakers a 103-101 victory over the Phoenix suns in game five of the Western Conference finals.
The player in question? Ron Artest, the small forward who has had controversy follow him everywhere. But for the Lakers, Artest has settled down with only minor incidents and last night bailed out his team to secure a 3-2 lead in the series.
Artest banked the game winning shot after grabbing an offensive rebound after Bryant’s initial attempt missed and was immediately embraced by the Lakers legend.
"It means a lot for him," Bryant said. "I think for him emotionally, it's a big boost...Once I released the ball, I saw Ron sneaking in. I was just hoping that he got it off in time."
Bryant himself had 30 points and 11 rebounds to complete his 74th career play-off 30 point game while Artest only shot 2-9 from the field but it was enough.
"I wasn't playing my game from the beginning," Artest said. "In the second half, I was finding my way a little bit, made some good passes and good steals and got some rebounds. So I guess that aggressive play can carry over into that last possession."
The Lakers weren’t completely dominant during the game and just moments before Artest hit the game winner, Jason Richardson hit a three pointer for the Suns to tie the game at 101. In fact Phoenix outscored the Lakers in the second half but just couldn’t find that extra play to overcome the 15 times NBA champions.
Despite getting 29 points and 11 assists from Steve Nash and having the game tied with just 3.5 seconds to go it was Artest, who had missed two consecutive open shots in the final minute, who upstaged everyone.
"His whole methods since we were small is, 'I'm going to outwork you,'” said Lamar Odom who played with Artest when they were growing up.
“I'm going to bang you until you don't want no more. His stubbornness is the reason why he took that three, because he just missed one. That's part of his game, that's why he's a great player, and that's why he's a great defender. It's just something you have to live with."
That stubbornness might prove to be key in the series and even though the Suns lost, head coach Alvin Gentry thinks the series has a great chance to go to a game seven.
"We just didn't quite finish the game, I have no complaints. They played great. We hung in. We did a great job against Kobe on the last shot, just didn't come up with the rebound. To me, it's a great effort by us, and they know we're not going to go away."
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