Heroes and Goats from Game 6 of the NBA Finals

Last night, the Lakers did not even put up a fight. Kobe Bryant was awful, and none of the Lakers starters recorded a positive Win Contribution.

Meanwhile, four of the Celtics starters made positive Win Contributions, with Allen and Garnett providing huge contributions. As I mentioned in the last post, Allen's Win Contribution is the highest I have calculated for any single game since I came up with the statistic. He was flawless.

Click here for the Game 6 and NBA Finals WC Boxscore

Click here for a quick and easy WC explanation

Heroes of Game 6

1. Ray Allen

Please see the previous post which explains why I believe Allen should have been the hands-down MVP of these Finals.

2. Kevin Garnett

He had recorded some bad Win Contributions in these Finals, in fact terrible by his standards, but last night he was absolutely huge.

3. Rajon Rondo

He was supposed to be the reason the Celtics could not win the World Championship, but in fact he ended up being critical to Boston's postseason success. When he was on, the Celtics were just unbeatable. After a shaky first half of Game One, Rondo thoroughly outplayed the Lakers veteran point guard Derek Fisher throughout the rest of the Finals, and that was decisive.

4. James Posey

He was terrific off the bench throughout the Finals. No one on the Lakers bench could match his production. He also helped in the tag team defensive effort that thoroughly held Kobe Bryant down. A magnificent closing game as well.

Goats of Game 6

1. Kobe Bryant

Bryant recorded 5 "bad" Win Contributions in the six games played, and last night he was just brutal, putting up a -1.523. Everyone kept waiting for him to "impose his will" on the Finals... everyone except those who had reviewed his recent history of NOT doing so against the Celtics.

2. Derek Fisher

He started off these Finals so well! When the Lakers jumped out to a first half lead in Game One, it was almost exclusively because of Fisher. From that point on, he was awful, finishing the series with a Win Contribution of -0.274, and allowing Rajon Rondo to dominate him during crucial stretches of play.

3. Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol

These two weren't horrible for the series, each making a slightly positive Win Contribution. But neither showed up at all in Game 6, and thus the Lakers had no chance. For the series, both were way off their normal Win Contributions, and when you add that on to what Kobe Bryant couldn't do, the Lakers had no chance.

4. Ronnie Turiaf (LVP -- Least Valuable Player)

Technically, PJ Brown had the highest negative Win Contribution in the Finals, but he was on the winning team, and just as the MVP has to go to the best contributor on the winning team, the LVP has to go to the worst contributor on the losing team, and that was Mr. Turiaf. He recorded 6 "bad" games out the 6 played, and none were even close to being good. Boy, did the Lakers miss big Andrew Bynum.