What did we learn?

[jfs1000d]

Game 1 went about what I expected.

Kobe didn't miss bunnies. Look at the shot chart. Kobe had one make, and only two shots attempted, inside the paint. They forced him to long fade away jumpers. He is great, and maybe more of those fade aways will go down. But, that is hardly "bunnies." Those are the lowest percentage shots he can take. Maybe he hits 4 or 5 more, but that is still great defense. More importantly. They kept him out of the lane in the second and didn't allow him to create. They turned him into a one dimensional jump shooter.

Here is what we learned. The national media is transfixed by Kobe they never figured out that the Lakers can't guard the Celtics. Boston shot 43 percent from the floor, KG missed 8 straight shots, 6 were more open than "Kobe's bunnies", and they still scored 98 points.

Pierce 22 points on 10 shots? They flat out can't guard him if he is healthy. I thought Ray Allen was strong. I read on a Laker board they thought Gasol bothered KG to those misses. The defense had nothing to do with the misses. Garnett got anywhere he wanted to go and the shots he missed were open and good looks. They weren't contested.

Lakers can't guard the Celts, and they got hammered on the boards.

Exactly everything this board predicted came true. Boston was more physical, tougher to guard, and controlled tempo.

If LA is going to win the title on 20-foot fall aways, God Bless them.

[Rondo_Fan]

L.A. was 13 of 39 in the second half, and got killed on the boards all game long. End of story.

If they can't rebound or break down our defense, they're done for.

What you expect in that case is that they shoot the lights out for one or two games at home, and win, but lose the rest of them.

[Gant]

The Lakers bench is in no way superior.

Rondo held his own and could be a huge factor as the series continues.

The Celtics owned the interior.

If there is a coaching mismatch it did not show itself in Game 1.




The injuries to Pierce and Perkins are clouding everything though. I think Powe could fill in adequately for Perkins, but Pierce has to be ok.

[Athanacropolis]

Interesting observations, jfs! I think you're right on, especially about Garnett's shots not going down due to bad luck and a bad shooting touch, not superior defense.

You know, I was watching this game with a friend who really knew nothing about basketball, and for the first half all he could say was how fluid and beautiful the Lakers's style of play is on the offensive end--which it is--and how the Celtics seemed to have to struggle to get a shot off and really didn't have a flow. I told him to just keep watching. And a few minutes into the third, and especially in the fourth, he said "Wow, the Lakers just look tired, and the Celtics don't. The Lakers look worn out."

That is what happens when great defense meets great offense. It's far easier to outlast your opponent with defense than by outshooting them all night. Jumpers won't always fall, but you can always get into your defensive rotation.

That said, it's one game, and Kobe still scares me.

[tombattor]

Our D played very well against Kobe into taking tougher shots, although he does make a lot of those tough shots too. We gotta continue to make him work, give him different looks, and hope that he keeps missing shots.

Our front court played very physical and basically took it to the Lakers. Gasol has shown flashes of what made him such a dangerous offensive player and even had a few nice defensive plays, but most of the time, we were able to push him around. But FWIW, he was for the most part, their best player in game 1 with Kobe struggling.

Leon and PJ Brown were awesome. Gave us some great energy and hit the board very hard. PJ Brown was the man!

Also, I think it's time to see Eddie House. Cassell almost gave the game away by himself with his usual selfish **** bull! At best, he'll make a few shots and kill the offense in just as many possessions by being a selfish cock sucker.

[Truthiracy]

No idea why our defense didn't show up for the first half, but it sure as anything showed up in the second half. Let's just play defense for 4 quarters in game 2...

[tombattor]

No idea why our defense didn't show up for the first half, but it sure as anything showed up in the second half. Let's just play defense for 4 quarters in game 2...

Well, in their defense (no pun intended), I think they weren't sure what to expect. The Lakers were rolling in the first half with Kobe setting everyone up and Gasol looking like a big time player.

IMO, the Lakers are by far the best offensive team we've seen in the playoffs, so they'll get their points. And as scary as it may sound, I don't think we've seen their best yet. Not even close... I'm pretty sure Kobe will go for his 45 one game, before the series is done.

[sully00]

Kobe didn't miss bunnies. Look at the shot chart. Kobe had one make, and only two shots attempted, inside the paint. They forced him to long fade away jumpers. He is great, and maybe more of those fade aways will go down. But, that is hardly "bunnies." Those are the lowest percentage shots he can take. Maybe he hits 4 or 5 more, but that is still great defense. More importantly. They kept him out of the lane in the second and didn't allow him to create. They turned him into a one dimensional jump shooter.

Bingo. I love Kobe taking 17ft fall away jumpshots. Ray and Rondo doubled Kobe and Fisher up on the glass and that is because they go to the rim after their misses and Kobe is falling out of bounds on the sidelines on his.

[LongTimeFan]

Let's not forget, the refs called the game pretty even.

We get Pierce and KG in foul trouble and all of a sudden our defense breaks down very quickly.

That said we are video driven and that first half with all the defensive mistakes will not be repeated. We will get a lot better on defense as we did in the second half. Those open lanes for Gasol will be closed from now on.

This team is humble and still motivated to get better. We will not repeat the mistakes of the first half.

Pierce is a super man. He gets stabbed near his heart and practices three days later. Last night he becomes a cross between Red and Rocky. That re-entry into the game was a legendary moment. Red has to be smiling.

Fun game.

[UGA Hayes]

Surprisingly Mgaic Made a good point in the postgame yesterday. The Lakers really don't have a lot of guys who penetrate. We were really cheating off guys a lot yesterday to bring help on Kobe.With the exception of the botched pick and rolls I thought the Lakers were just making a lot a tough shots in the first 3 quarters. I'm optimistic that we have the sort of defense that can make them sort of uncomfortable.

Also they are really a bad rebounding team. On paper I'm surprised they aren't worse than they are. I think if we are smart we will continue to press the issue on the offensive board-I think its a worthwhile gameble since the Lakers, while an up tempo team, isn't really a fast break team.

[Datruth345]

don't forget he got his teeth knocked out by Amare, has Dental surgery and doesn't miss a game...wasn't a dirty play, just a tough fall

who remembers that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjU3nvru9wA

40 seconds in

[hermes]

don't forget he got his teeth knocked out by Amare, has Dental surgery and doesn't miss a game...wasn't a dirty play, just a tough fall

who remembers that

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjU3nvru9wA

40 seconds in

ouch

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^Yeah one where a foul wasn't even called...

I wish the whole series could be called by the refs last night...best called game of the entire playoffs, although a couple of goofs (Gasol's block of KG was clean, Fisher plowed into Paul on a break, 3 of Perk's fouls were BS non-calls, Odom absolutely charged into PJ in the 4th)

[LongTimeFan]

DaTruth:

It isn't once either with the teeth. Until Perkins Chigago ejection Pierce led the league in oral surgery.

I love Pierce and when all is said and done, he is going to be the greatest offensive threat the Celtics have ever had. I'm so happy he's on a real Celtics team and guys like Perk have his back.

Too bad he had his knee last night, too.

[Rocky5000]

I was a little disappointed in KG's shot selection in the 2nd half. He may have been taking makeable shots for him, but I'd much rather have him go right at the basket when Gasol is on him like he did in the 1st quarter. He should be able to get anything he wants in the paint.

I thought Ray played really well, despite not shooting that great, and had a big impact on both sides of the floor. He did make a couple of mistakes like the behind the back pass to Fisher and dribbling the ball off his foot, but he really stuck with Kobe and made the Lakers pay for putting guys like Vujacic and Farmar on him.

[tlifeset]

I come to you as a Lakers fan that grew up in Cape Cod and followed the C's for a long time.

I think the game was very competitive with neither team able to surmount a double digit lead until the end of the game. I say competitive because neither team certainly played well. I think this is Boston's goal is to "muck" up the series, make it much more physical and play in the 80s point totals. It makes a lot of sense. Do I think it will work? I'm not really sure.

You can call it subjective or biased or whatever you like ... but I just don't see the C's closing out games. The Lakers could not have played worse in that 4th quarter and the C's let them hang around. It's a dangerous game to play when the other team has Kobe.

So, to answer your question ... What have we learned? Well, we learned that when the home team gets some bounces they are put in a very good position to win. I think the game went pretty much as expected ... it was a close game and it came down to the little things in the end. Sometimes those little things will be KG making one shot the whole quarter, but that shot being an exclamation point. And sometimes those are going to be Sasha hitting a clutch 3.

Should be a good series. I hope the chippiness continues.

[GonzoLays]

You can call it subjective or biased or whatever you like ... but I just don't see the C's closing out games. The Lakers could not have played worse in that 4th quarter and the C's let them hang around. It's a dangerous game to play when the other team has Kobe.

If that's the case, then I don't see the Lakers closing out a single game either because they choked worse than the Celtic's last night.

The Celtic's could not have played a worse 4th quarter if they tried and they still beat the Lakers by double digits.

[GreenGrizz]

What did we learn?? Lebron is much tougher than Kobe and should be the MVP of NBA.