UNNecessary

Game 5 will not be necessary. Custom made purple-on-gold “XII” caps will not be necessary. Championship parade arrangements in Los Angeles will not be necessary. In fact, playing the 4^th quarter, and much of went on in that period of play, was simply unnecessary.

A "XII" lid will be unnecessary. 1

The Dallas Mavericks swept the Los Angeles Lakers out of the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs, closing the door on the possibility of a fourth straight conference title and a third straight league title for the Lakers. The Lakers have had to contend with age and internal conflict. They were taken to six games in the first round by a seventh seeded New Orleans Hornets team missing its All-Star power forward, David West. They dropped their first two games of the Conference Semifinal series, at home. They blew an eight point lead, well into the fourth quarter of Game 3 and lost by three possessions.

All of the aforementioned is bad. However, none of that compares to the unnecessarily undignified and unattractive manner in which the Lakers were unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs in a 122-86 blasting at the hands of the Mavericks. In addition to never causing a single Mavericks fan among the 21,087 in attendance to break a sweat about the outcome of the game, the Lakers soiled their champion image when two of their key players, forward Lamar Odom and center Andrew Bynum, were ejected from the game following blatant, cheap, ugly flagrant fouls.

Barea: "This is getting old!" 3

Those of us who have watched any professional team sport, other than football, for any length of time have seen the dates and times of future games in a playoff series with the “if necessary” tag next to games that may not take place. Until both teams have won at least one game in a series, the “if necessary” tag applies to every game after Game 4. Sunday’s close out game contained several unnecessary elements.

Based on the on-court play by the Lakers, it was unnecessary to play the game. However, tickets were sold and there were television and advertising commitments, so the show had to commence. Beyond the euphoria of victory and advancing to the Conference Final round, there was little entertainment value for the fans in attendance.

The Lakers’ uninspired play was unnecessary. Sunday’s game was probably the last for Lakers Head Coach Phil Jackson. After a 20 season career that, unquestionably, assembled the greatest coaching resume in the history of North American professional sports, Jackson was deserving of a better send off effort from his team, win or lose, than the bush league exhibit put forth by the Lakers.

Lamar Odom’s flagrant foul, resulting in his ejection late in the fourth quarter, was unnecessary. Losing in the one-sided manner in which the Lakers did is understandably frustrating. Frustration can cause players to take actions that would not occur among players with cooler heads. Odom’s foul would be beneficial in a tryout for an NFL team, but it has no place in the NBA. It is fortunate that Dirk Nowitzki suffered no injury as a result of Odom’s frustration.

Andrew Bynum’s mid-air flagrant foul of J.J. Barea was completely unnecessary. Berea, who was also the recipient of a Ron Artest clothesline in Game 2, also resulting in ejection of Artest, could have been seriously hurt as Bynum’s elbow to Barea’s midsection caused Barea to fall head-long on to the floor. Barea remained on the floor, with little movement, for approximately a minute. Fortunately, Barea got up and shot his free throws shortly afterward. Bynum can expect an extended summer vacation, next fall, when he is suspended for Opening Night.

Barea must be sick of this. I'm all for "taking one for the team" but this is ridiculous. 2

Unnecessary appearance…unnecessary lack of effort…unnecessary goonery. Under NBA rules, the Mavericks were required to win a fourth game to close the series and advance to the following round. Like many events in life, Sunday’s game was required, but unnecessary.  

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1) Image from lakeralert.com

2) Image from webeengone.com

3) Image from the Kansas City Star