Ron Artest enjoys his first NBA championship. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

A lot of people may not know this but Ron Artest is a loyal guy to the core. He has never forgotten where he came from (say Queensbridge!) and he goes out of his way to thank all those people who have helped him along the way – including his therapist.

During his proudest moment as a basketball player, just minutes after having a game for the ages in the deciding game of the 2010 NBA Finals to capture his first NBA championship, the ever unpredictable Ron Artest recalled his time with the Indiana Pacers and managed to recognize his former teammates and former managers Donnie Walsh and Larry Bird, saying how disappointed he was that he couldn’t share his greatest moment with them.

“When I was younger, I bailed out on my Indiana team,” Artest admitted after the Lakers’ 83-79 victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 7.

“I was so young, so egotistical and I bailed out on Donnie, Larry, Jermaine [O'Neal], [Jamaal] Tinsley, [Jeff] Foster, who never bails out. He just fights for you, for your team. Steve Jackson, who already had a ring, and he continued to fight for us,” Artest continued. “Sometimes I feel like a coward, you know, when I see those guys because, now that I’m on the Lakers, I had a chance to win with you guys. I never thought God would put me in this situation because of that.”

Artest feels that he owed the Pacers something after the ugly incident he ignited 16 years ago at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., where he infamously went into the stands with Jackson and started an all-out brawl that still haunts the league to this day.

He may feel like he let down the Pacers but he certainly didn’t disappoint his new team, the L.A. Lakers, with the way he performed in Game 7 of The Finals against L.A.’s chief rival.

In the biggest game of his career, Artest played a superb all-around game, scoring 20 points, grabbing five rebounds and recording five steals in 46 minutes. And his defense throughout the series on Celtics forward Paul Pierce was top notch.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Artest was the Lakers’ MVP of Game 7 and was a big reason why the Lakers were able to escape with hard-fought victory and a big reason why the Lakers are celebrating their second consecutive NBA title and the franchise’s 16th overall.

“I want to thank Dr. Santi. She would come and help me relax in these moments because I’m not good at these moments,” Artest admitted. “And I know that about myself. So, what do I do to be good a these moments? We figured it out. I needed some type of way to relax during these moments. I missed a couple of threes, but then I trusted everything that she told me.”

So Ron Artest tells the whole world that he owes it all to his therapist. Great. Now, this surely validates the notion that a good therapy session can remedy all the craziness in Hollywood.

Artest’s outside shooting was absolutely therapeutic, though, because the Lakers badly needed offense on Thursday night against a very stingy Boston defense. With Kobe Bryant struggling and the rest of the Lakers were shooting just 28% from the field, Artest rescued the offense with some timely 3-point shots and his tenacity on defense kept Pierce and company from blowing the game open.

Artest said that even though Bryant was having an off night, he was still impacting the game.

“Kobe wanted to win. He didn’t want to lose. He was determined. He was Kobe Bryant, Black Mamba,” Artest explained. “Later in the second half, he started to move the ball and attack and pass. He trusted us and he made us feel so good, and he passed me the ball. He never passed me the ball.”

The “pass” Artest was talking about was the one Bryant fed him late in the fourth quarter. With the game hanging on the balance, Artest drained a 3-pointer from the wing with under two minutes remaining to put the Lakers ahead by six, 79-73. As Artest jogged back to play defense, he blew kisses to the crowd.

“Kobe passed me the ball and I shot a three,” exulted Artest while raising his arms up and down during his postgame press conference.

“And Phil didn’t want me to shoot the three. I heard him because he’s the Zen Master,” Artest said while pointed to his ear. “He can speak to you and he don’t need a microphone. You can hear him in your head, ‘Ron, don’t shoot. Don’t shoot.’

“I said, ‘Whatever. Pong! Three! Woo, hoo!’ ”

Of course, Artest was being overly dramatic with his story a little bit, but he’s Hollywood now. And you can’t blame the guy for being happy. He’s finally a world champion and this title can’t be taken away from him.

“My history in the playoffs is I’ll have two good games then I’ll have a bad game. Today was one of those where I trusted myself and I didn’t settle for shots. I just want to thank Coach Jackson and Kobe for having me and giving me this opportunity.

“I’m just really, really enjoying this. I just can’t wait to go to the club.”

Say Queensbridge! Say Queensbridge!

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Game 7 is here!

Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles is jumping early, but you can feel the tension in the building. Laker fans are in full force, with a few Celtic fans sprinkled around the arena.

Tons of streaks are on the line, as well as legacies. Game 7 is where star players become legends. This is one of those career-defining moments that would be replayed over and over again. It’s the Lakers against the Celtics. Amazing does happen! A quarter-by-quarter account of Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals:

FIRST QUARTER:

Derek Fisher opens the scoring with a 3-pointer. Lakers are pounding the offensive boards early and Pau Gasol is having his way against Kevin Garnett on the glass, but can’t finish. Gasol also missed two free throws, a clear message that he’s as tight as a low-rise jeans. Lakers have a 9-0 edge on the offensive boards, but are missing a lot of easy shots.

Ron Artest appears to be lost. Phil Jackson may need to buy him a GPS so he can finally re-join the action.

Rajon Rondo gets a couple of easy baskets and Rasheed Wallace is 2-for-3 from the field early. Wallace goes out with four minutes left in the quarter in favor of Big Baby Davis, who immediately contributes with a couple of layups and two free throws.

The opening tip of Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Artest’s inactivity has allowed Paul Pierce to sag on defense and is playing free safety. Lakers appear very tight, while the Celtics are in total sync defensively. The winner of the first quarter has gone on to win each game in the series. Not a good sign for L.A. CELTICS 23, LAKERS 14.

SECOND QUARTER

Despite shooting poorly from the field, Lakers continue to pound the glass and that is what’s keeping them in the game. Kobe Bryant makes a short jumper (he’s 2-for8 from the field thus far) and Artest gets a put-back off an offensive rebound to get the Lakers to within four, 23-19, with 10 minutes left in the quarter.

After Wallace missed a three, Lakers had three chances at 3-pointers but Artest, Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic all missed. Bryant re-enters and immediately sets up Gasol for an easy layup. Artest takes the ball out of Ray Allen’s and scores a layup to tie the game, 23-23. Staples crowd finally has something to cheer about.

Celtics are in a serious drought, and haven’t scored in four minutes. Both teams are playing so hard that it is affecting their offense. More bricks than swishes in the first half.

Just saw Ellen Pompeo. Loved her in “Old School.”

Artest finally makes a 3-point shot and he points to the stands. I think he was giving props to his man Boogie. Lakers continue to jack up threes. Not sure why. Memo to the Lakers: If you have an open three, it doesn’t mean you have to take it. There’s a reason why you they’re leaving you open.

Bryant and Gasol are a combined 6-for-26 in the first half. Yikes!

Lamar Odom’s head is somewhere else besides Staples. LO has one more point than his wife Kloe Kardashian. LOL!

Artest and Pierce gets tangled up under the basket and both got double Ts for staring at each other. Brian Scalabrine sighting! Who gave him tickets to the arena? I guess Doc Rivers feels he can’t do any damage in 34 seconds. Lakers shoot a miserable 26% from the field and Pierce got to the free throw line late to give Boston a six-point cushion. CELTICS 40, LAKERS 34.

Halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

Celtics start the half with an alley-oop to Garnett on a feed from Rondo, who is playing a very controlled game. Celtics go up 42-34. Kobe misses a long three. He’s 3-for-15 for the game. Just as I was typing that, Kobe just missed another three. Make that 3-for-16.

Garnett’s 3-point play and Rondo’s floater in the paint gives the Celtics their biggest lead of the game, 47-36, at the 9:45 mark. After a Laker timeout, Bryant misses another jumper (3-for-17!). Rondo follow-up gives Boston a 49-36 lead. Bryant finally ends his drought with a short mid-range jumper to cut the lead to 10.

Celtics have stalled a little bit, allowing the Lakers to make a little run. Artest blows a layup, but Odom follows. His first field goal, cutting the lead to six at 51-45 five minutes remaining in the quarter.

Kobe turns the ball over and his teammates jog back on defense. Pierce hits a three to push Boston’s lead back to nine. Fisher heads to the locker room. Shannon Brown in the ballgame. Lakers had a chance to cut the lead to under five, but Bryant turns the ball over which leads to a Celtic fastbreak. Ray Allen is 1-for-9 from the field. He’s not walking on water in Game 7.

Odom follow up makes it a four-point game with under two minutes left. Odom has provided a nice spark off the bench. Both teams looked gassed. Starters played heavy minutes in that quarter so the benches will play a pivotal role in the fourth quarter. CELTICS 57, LAKERS 53.

FOURTH QUARTER

Gasol posts up Big Baby Davis, gets fouled and hits the shot. Lead down to two. Pierce overdribbles and turns the ball over. The two best players in the series are struggling mightily. Did I say both teams are gassed? Geez. This is like a marathon with both runners stumbling across the finish line. Water break!

Kobe is playing like someone with a 500-pound weight on his shoulders. Everything is a struggle, even with his ball handling. His timing has been off the whole game and he just can’t find a rhythm on offense. Still plenty of time to correct his issues, but as the game wears on that 500-pound weight becomes heavier and heavier by the minute.

Kobe Bryant protects the ball from Paul Pierce (left) and Rasheed Wallace during Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Bryant catches a break when Ray Allen got his arms locked up with Kobe’s shooting arm. Three free throws for Bryant, which could get him going. Kobe hits all three. It’s now a 59-58 ballgame! Artest scores and gets fouled. His 3-point play ties the game, 59-59 with seven minutes left.

Fisher back in the game, which is key because he’s one of the best clutch shooters in the game. Lakers need his offense and leadership down the stretch. Gasol misses two free throws. Lakers are now 13-for-21 on the line. If L.A. ends up losing this game, they can point to the missed free throws as killers.

Fisher on cue! He hits a huge 3-pointer with 6:13 left to tie the game at 64. Rondo misses a shot and Kobe grabs the rebound and gets fouled. This could be a big five-point swing for L.A. I’m exhausted typing up the action. Imagine how those players feel on the court. Lakers role players have done enough to keep the Lakers in the game. Now it’s Bryant’s turn to close the deal.

Bryant’s FTs give the Lakers their first lead since the second quarter, 66-64, then hits a jumper over Ray Allen to give the Lakers a four-point lead. Doc Rivers is sensing this game is slowly slipping away. Timeout Celtics.

Boston’s offense is on a serious gridlock. Pierce is tired. KG is running on fumes. Where are the Celtics going to get some offense? It doesn’t appear C’s have enough left in the tank to finish this game. They are just fouling the Lakers at this point, which is a sign of a very, very tired team.

Lakers are two minutes away from an NBA championship.

Gasol may have just iced the game. He blocks Pierce’s layup on one end and then drops in a shot on the other end to give L.A. a six-point lead with 90 seconds remaining in the NBA season, 76-70. The crowd is sensing a big-time celebration. Cue the riot squad because there is a party about to happen on 11th and Figueroa.

Wallace, Artest and Ray Allen exchange 3-point shots. With under 40 seconds left, Bryant jacks up a three but Gasol gets the rebound (L.A.’s 23rd offensive rebound), feeds Bryant and he gets fouled. Gasol has been huge in the fourth quarter. I think he just elevated himself to first-team All-NBA status. Kobe makes both foul shots to make it 81-76 with 25 seconds left. Artest has been huge in this game. He’s got 20 points and has locked up Pierce on defense. Queensbridge in the house!

Rondo knocks down a miracle three to cut the L.A. lead to two, 81-79. Rondo then knocks the ball out of bounds with 13 seconds left. Vujacic is fouled by Allen. Facing the two biggest FTs of his life, Sasha swishes two HUGE free throws. Somewhere in Phoenix, Goran Dragic is cursing at his TV.

Rondo misses a 3-pointer and Gasol grabs the rebound (his 18th of the game), outlets to Odom and he flings the ball down the court to Kobe, who runs out the clock. As the great Chick Hearn would say: “The game is in the refrigerator. The door is closed, the eggs are cooling, the butter is getting hard and the Jell-O’s jiggling.” Lakers win the NBA title! LAKERS 83, CELTICS 79.

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Game 7. Celtics vs. Lakers. The NBA couldn’t have scripted this any better.

One game will decide the 2010 NBA Finals and it will come down to the two superpowers of the league. The Boston Celtics, winners of 17 world titles, take on the Los Angeles Lakers, owners of 15 world titles. The great Celtics’ defense vs. the Lakers’ triangle offense. Celtic Pride vs. Showtime. The 2008 NBA champion vs. the 2009 NBA champion.

“This is for all the marbles,” said Celtics captain Paul Pierce. “It’s the last game of the season. There’s no turning back and no excuses.”

Game 7 brings out the best and worst in teams. Some can handle the pressure, some can’t.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers certainly understands the enormity of the moment. “It is here and I hope we embrace it,” Rivers said.

Lakers forward Ron Artest and Celtics forward Paul Pierce will go head-to-head in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals. (NBAE/GETTY IMAGES)

Lakers coach Phil Jackson describes Game 7 as a “really high tension situation” and theorizes that “a lot of times it’s not about the coaching. It’s about who comes out and provides the energy on the floor and play the kind of game that dictates the kind of game they want to dictate.”

Former Celtic Kevin McHale, who played in a Celtic-Laker Game 7 in The Finals in 1984, says the team that imposes their will is the team that wins Game 7, comparing it to a 48-minute fist fight.

However, you paint it or describe it, Game 7 of the NBA Finals is the ultimate game.

Celtics guard Ray Allen probably said it best: “This is definitely a special treat just for the NBA, knowing that we’re going to a Game 7, this is The Finals and it’s the Celtics and the Lakers.”

Kobe Bryant says if he has to tell his teammates how important this game is then his team doesn’t deserve to be champions. He is also approaching this game with the same fervor and intensity he has brought to the court since the start of the playoffs.

“No different to me. Hate to be a buzzkill,” Bryant claimed. “I know what’s at stake, but I’m not trippin. It’s a game we gotta win, it’s as simple as that. I’m not going crazy over it.”

Bryant continued: “My approach is doing what I always do. Because it’s a Game 7 you’d do anything different? If you play hard all the time you just gotta do the same thing you’re accustomed to doing.”

But Kobe is not the only one overflowing with confidence heading into the league’s ultimate game.

“We got some ballers on our team, guys that are ready to play,” Allen boasted. “You can’t shake the character on this team. We’re a group of trash-talking guys, and we compete at everything we do. Everybody believes they can make the shot or stop the guy from scoring. When it comes to Game 7, this is what we’re born to do.”

A few streaks are on the line as the Finals move into the final game of the season:

– Phil Jackson is 47-0 after he wins the first game of a playoff series, which his Lakers did.

– The team that wins Game 3 after a series is tied 1-1 is a perfect 10-0 (the Lakers won Game 3, 91-84) in the NBA Finals since the league adopted the 2-3-2 format.

– The Celtics have never lost a playoff series (7-0) when Kevin Garnett plays.

– The Celtics are 11-0 in their franchise history when leading 3-2 in a best-of-seven series in The Finals.

– The Celtics are 7-0 all-time in Game 7s and 4-0 against the Lakers in Game 7.

Pierce believes the Celtics can’t afford to put forth the same weak effort they displayed in Game 6, a game in which the Lakers dominated from start to finish and won going away, 87-69.

“We have to find a way to come out here and play to a certain level to compete with them,” Pierce said. “You have to understand they’re the defending world champs with a chance at a title. We gotta come out a lot harder. And I promise you, when I stand here Thursday, we will not be talking about energy.”

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Orlando Magic forward Hedo Turkoglu scored 25 points and had 12 assists against Boston in Game 7. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

On a day when the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, the two marquee franchises of the league, were pushed to a Game 7, the player who came up huge was not named Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Paul Pierce or Dwight Howard.

When the Orlando Magic needed someone to turn the lights out at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Coach Stan Van Gundy – who has been heaviliy criticized for losing Game 5 to the Celtics – did not call on Howard’s number or Rashard Lewis’ number. Instead, Van Gundy put the ball in the hands of Hedo Turkoglu.

Turkoglu scored 25 points, making 4-of-5 threes, grabbed five rebounds and had a career-playoff high 12 assists to lead Orlando to a 101-82 victory in Game 7 and ended Boston’s reign as NBA champions. When the Celtics made a push in the fourth quarter to close the gap, similar to what they did in Game 5, Turkoglu made sure history was not going to repeat itself.

“The thing that I probably liked the most about it is, through a good part of the second half. It looked very, very similar to Game 5. But we looked we had learned from it and we continued to play, and Turk was outstanding down the stretch,” Van Gundy said.

Turkoglu, one of the best fourth-quarter players in the NBA, made nine of 12 shots from the field Sunday night in 36 minutes. Last year, he hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to defeat the Celtics during a regular season game in Orlando.

Howard was solid (12 points and 16 rebounds) and so was Lewis (19 points). But make no mistake about it, the Magic was able to overcome Boston’s fourth-quarter comeback and earned a trip to the Eastern Conference finals because of Turkoglu. Playing point forward, the 6-foot-10 Turkoglu not only made the big shots but he also created shots for his teammates. The Celtics lost a playoff series for the first time after leading 3-2.

They call Turkoglu the Michael Jordan of Turkey. After his clutch performance in Game 7 at the new Boston Garden, they might start calling him Hero Turkoglu.

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