Game 6 began with a rafter-shaking Star-Spangled Banner from Christina Aguilera, then the Lakers began sinking everything and getting to most of the loose balls. The Celtics are clanging off the rim a lot, and Kendrick Perkins has gone to the locker room holding his knee. Only 31 points in the first half! Lakers up 51-31 at half time.
* Time Warner Cable strikes again: Cable channels go dark in wide swath of Los Angeles during third period. Much Twitter emotion expended; outage extended beyond cable, apparently. When the signal came back, Lakers began the fourth period up a startling 76-51. No idea if Time Warner is to blame, but nobody would be surprised if they were. Update: Channel 7 tweets that Time Warner lost a router and was down for about 15 minutes.
** OK, it's a final: 89-67. Game 7 of the NBA Finals is Thursday at 6 p.m. at Staples Center. At the media podium after the game, coach Phil Jackson said Andrew Bynum asked to sit out of the 2nd half, his knee acting up again. Asked if it concerns him for Game 7, Jackson said "of course it concerns us."