My Game 1 Nightmare

June 6th, 2008, Author: robd

Breathe slowly… just breathe… I wouldn’t normally bother writing about a crazy dream I had during the night. I don’t necessarily believe in premonitions or the meaning behind visions in a dreaming state. But the dream I just had (literally an hour ago) was so vivid and made me so sick, I couldn’t sleep any more, despite the extra long sleep-in I had planned due to a scotch-filled evening last night. Lakers fans, you might wanna prey that I’m not psychic.

It’s Boston vs LA, Game 1, midway through the first quarter. Both teams are playing well and it’s a surprisingly high-scoring affair. Rondo has been the Celtics star so far with 10 quick points, while the Lakers are getting it done with a balanced offense. I’m watching the game, in real time, play-by-play. Without about a minute left in the quarter, Kobe drives baseline and dunks it on the entire Celtics team. He hangs on to the rim, lands with his feet spread apart and hands raised, snarling at the Boston crowd. LA is ahead 31-30. We go down the other end, Boston try and run a high pick and roll for Garnett. And then it happens….

Gasol gets caught up in the high screen, lands on KG’s feet, his leg twisting a little. He crashes to the floor, grasping his knee, screaming in agony. The blood drains from my face. The commentators take a second to realise what happened while KG launched the 20-footer. Play has stopped now. 47.0 seconds on the clock. Gasol is on the floor writhing in pain, his teammates surrounding him. There’s a look of distress on every Laker player’s face… except Kobe. Kobe is crouched over, talking to Gasol, instructing him to straight out his leg and to just lie down. I’m still watching all of this on my tele, absolutely stunned. I’m hoping its just a bad bruise, maybe a bump from falling on his knee. Then I hear Gasol moaning.. “something’s not right…”

The Boston crowd is almost taunting him… is that cheers I can hear? I can see green fans in the background behind the Lakers bench. They’re smiling, pointing at Gasol, cheerily accepting this crucial blow of fate. When Gasol is finally lifted, I swear I can hear echoes of Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”. Distasteful.

Gasol is off the court now, play resumes, and the full weight of it hits me. This series is over. Less than a quarter of the way through game 1 of this Finals series, the result has been decided. The Celtics will be champions. I feel completely gutted, for all the Lakers, for their fans, and especially for Kobe. Kobe continues to play out the final minute, looking as determined and resolved as ever. But surely, even he knows his fate is sealed.

I lean over to switch off the tele. My Boston supporting house mate appears, apparently he was outside the whole time. “Not even worth watching anymore”, I said. “Yeah”, he solemnly nodded. I walked away. The Finals match up we had been dreaming about for months had just turned into my own nightmare… I couldn’t believe it. This was unfair.

I wake from my dream feeling genuinely sick. I don’t realise it’s a dream yet. It was so vivid, so real. I’m pretty sure my dream even had those crappy “On this Day” commercial breaks. It takes me a few seconds to realise – it was just a dream, Gasol is ok… Game 1 hasn’t started yet. I’m overcome with relief, and it’s right then that I realise something. I want the Lakers to win the Finals. I was only slightly fancying them before, owing to Kobe being my favourite player in the series. I don’t hold a grudge over the Celtics for knocking out my Pistons, like I did for Miami in ‘06 and Cleveland in ‘07. I like the Celtics. I love Paul Pierce. But right now, this morning, I can tell you I’m rooting for the Lakers. That feeling, seeing Gasol on the floor amidst a panic-stricken blur of yellow and purple, was too real to ignore.

My heart is with the Lakers in this one.