The Moment. Try 48 of them.

The final box score will forever read: Lakers 89 Celtics 67.

But as with many runaway games, that score does not tell the true story of exactly how far apart the two teams were.

There was no neat wrapping paper on the gift the Lakers gave to their hometown fans on Tuesday night. Game 6 was a box of want-to, ripped open from the first minute of action. The contents of the package erased any and all doubts about the Lakers’ ability to bounce back from the brink.

Forcing a Game 7 was about loose balls - and the floor burns accrued by the boys in gold who tracked them down. Tips and taps. Hustle and sweat.

Nothing you’ll find in any playbook. Nothing you can draw up on any dry erase board.

Effort. Energy. THEN execution.

Play-calling essentially an afterthought. Fortitude setting screens for frenetic fancy.

Game 6 was about how much the Lakers wanted a Game 7.

Now that they’ve got it, the do-or-die stage is set.

And the entire 2010 NBA season comes down to a 48-minute window - where one team can seal the title while the other watches The Moment pass them by.

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