LOS ANGELES — It was "Showtime" all over again for the Los Angeles Lakers in Tuesday's game six of the 2010 NBA finals.
Facing elimination, the Los Angeles Lakers played like there was no tomorrow, rolling over the Boston Celtics with spectacular fast breaks, brilliant defence and thundering dunks to force Thursday's game seven.
And Los Angeles made it looking easy, routing the Celtics 89-67 with an offensive performance that brought back memories of Magic Johnson's "Showtime" days of the 1980s.
Badly beaten in their last two games in Boston, the Lakers responded at home by holding the Celtics to the second lowest points total in NBA finals history.
"It is really a high tension situation," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "It is not about coaching at this point. They've already got it in them. It is about who comes out and provides the energy on the floor and who plays the kind of game and dictates the kind of game they want to dictate".
After a humbling loss to the Celtics in the 2008 NBA finals, the Lakers are seeking atonement and a 16th championship banner.
Heading into this year's finals, the Celtics and Lakers have met 11 previous times with the Celtics winning nine. Boston has only lost three times in a final, but two of those were in 1985 and 1987 to the Lakers.
"It's Lakers-Celtics, the biggest rivalry in NBA basketball, seven games. It is what it is," said Celtics guard Rajon Rondo.
