What we learned in the NBA Finals

Fox Sports: Because teams, players, coaches and referees all reveal themselves in various ways, every play of every game is fraught with meaningful revelations. And the pressure inherent in a championship series certainly ups the ante.

So then, here are some nuggets of transcendent meaning that can be gleaned from the latest Lakers-Celtics set-to.

- While Doc Rivers did a superb job, he was way off-base in deriding Phil Jackson for “whining” about the refs after the lopsided 38-10 foul situation in Game 2. Since he’s been there before, Jackson knew that the public airing of his grievance would work to his team’s benefit — and it did. In fact, it always does. In other words, loudly complaining about being short-changed by the refs in a playoff series is as much a part of a coach’s job description as formulating a game plan. Besides which, Jackson’s protestations were entirely justified.

- With all due respect, the only plausible reason for Lamar Odom’s lack of on-court awareness is that he suffers from Attention Deficit Disorder.

In any case, Odom is imminently dispensable and must be dealt for someone like Ron Artest, Udonis Haslem or Shane Battier.

- Sometimes how a team plays is more significant than whether they’ve won or lost a specific game. Which was the case with the Lakers’ sloppy, error-filled victory in Game 5 that certainly pointed to the probability of their getting swamped in Game 6.

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