LA Lakers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder: Good Riddance, OKC

Bloody, bloody heck. After six games of wondering if this Los Angeles Lakers team is ever going to learn how to win the games that matter on the road, I can finally say, at the top of my lungs, "Good riddance, OKC!"

For a few fleeting seconds, I thought Pau Gasol was going to be the goat for sending this heady best-of-seven NBA Western Conference Quarterfinal into a Game Seven.

There are a number of people I chat with on Topix that I've yet to hear, but I probably will soon, about the Los Angeles Lakers winning this series. I will be quick to say that I called for the Lakers to win it in six, and sprinkle it off with a little "I Told You So" (cheers, the late Johnny Warren).

But Oklahoma City...I will say this to you, Thunder fans. You should hold your heads high for making it as difficult as possible for the Lake Show to figure out your Thunder and that shifty ace that we know as Kevin Durant. 

After Los Angeles earned an early 2-0 series lead, you should be credited for reducing a best-of-seven to a best-of-three. However, the best teams that hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy are those who can win on the road consistently.

Home court advantage, at some point, was going to be turned on its head. Luckily for Phil Jackson's ball club, it was with 0.5 seconds to go.

Pau turned from goat to hero for the Purple and Gold with his only points of the second half.

All of a sudden, the partisan spectators in light blue and orange had a collected expression that looked as if a tornado, a flood, or a wildfire had ripped through their houses.

That wasn't any of them. That's just the defending National Basketball Association champions reminding those inside the Ford Center who their team lost to.

So keep your heads high for giving the Los Angeles Lakers everything and the kitchen sink. And once again, as always...good riddance.

As for us denizens of the Laker Nation on Bleacher Report and around the world...bring on the Jazz.