all i care to say about lakers-rockets game 7

Sports Illustrated's Scott Howard-Cooper sums up this Sunday's game perfectly:

To not win a championship would be the Lakers falling short of their expectations and the expectations of many. To not so much as reach the conference finals when they had home-court advantage and a wounded team on the line would be a monumental setback. Sunday is for their legacy, not just for their playoff lives.

If you get beat by a better team, you may not like it, but you live with it. But if you get beat by a team that's not as good -- not even close, frankly -- then it suggests a real lack of character and mental toughness. And that I cannot stand.