Stage is set for game 4

Game four goes tonight in LA. If the Lakers lose and fall behind 3-1, it will be very hard for them to come back and win the championship from there.

A few points:

• As I stated yesterday, the Lakers weren't convincing in game 3, but they won. The Celtics couldn't land what would more or less have been the knockout blow.
• I figure that Phil Jackson will probably let Kobe run the offense more in this game. Kobe's been trying to let others get involved but he needs to basically play point guard.
• Kobe also needs to attack the hoop early and often and not settle for his jump shots. Despite Boston's league leading defense, Kobe can still get to the paint whenever he wants.
• Rajon Rondo suffered an ankle sprain in game 3. He missed training yesterday but he is going to play tonight. LA switched up and put Kobe on Rondo last game and Kobe gave Rondo as much room as he wanted to shoot. Rajon made a couple but he doesn't have a smooth, confident stroke. Rajon loves getting into the lane and throwing that huge behind-his-back ball fake. Rondo will be a good player in the coming years.
• The Lakers will be hoping that Lamar Odom turns up tonight. He's been awful in the finals so far. Maybe Mitch Kupchak would like to trade him for Kwame Brown !

Some other basketball stuff:

1. The Toronto Sun is reporting that the Raptors are going to buy out the final year of Jorge Garbajosa's contract. This will be a sad ending for Jorge. In his only significant season in Toronto he showed what he was capable of. He is hoping to play in Beijing which is good for him, but it appears as though his NBA days are over.
2. More Raptors news is that Jose Calderon gave his USA based agent the flick. It's being said that Jose did this to stop his agent from stirring up trouble with other teams as Jose has no plans on leaving the Raptors. Bryan Colangelo has made it perfectly clear that Jose is his preferred choice as starting point guard for the Raptors next season. Colangelo would like TJ Ford to accept the role as back up but TJ wants to be a starter, so the Raptors are trying to trade him.