NBA Finals Game #1 - Celtics @ Lakers

[RaisingArizona]

Dbacks/Dodgers: Did you all hear the Dodger crowd chanting Celtics Suck tonight? lol. Pretty funny/cool that the whole crowd was doing so when a person wearing a Celtic shirt was shown on the video screen. Intense rivalry to say the least

[Jajwanda]

One note on Artest that should bears attention, if his shot is falling and yet the Lakers aren't capable of scoring at a consistent rate against Boston Jackson could improvise. I haven't seen Boston play a Perkins-Wallace lineup throughout the post-season. Baby Davis is the primary backup for Garnett, which leads to something interesting:

PG- Fisher vs. SG- Tony Allen
SG- Brown vs. PG- Rondo
SF- Bryant vs. SF- Pierce
PF- Artest vs. PF- Davis
C- Odom vs. C- Perkins/Wallace

We've never tried it out but based on their rebounding averages Wallace is a garbage rebounder especially with a hurt back and Davis isn't anything special about average really. Odom is a better rebounder than Wallace and Artest in limited minutes has played well despite his height. I'm not convinced Wallace nor Davis could hurt the Lakers in post-ups against Odom and Artest, especially Wallace with his hurt back. The shot-blocking is a problem to some degree but Tony Allen and Rondo allow you to play zone with Kobe locked onto Pierce.

On the offensive end it's dynamic because we can run the break to hell, spread the floor, and Boston's backup lineup has no shot-blocking. It could be devastating offensively and hold up defensively. Even if Perkins is in the game, I'm not necessarily inclined to abandon the idea. Throughout the Finals, Odom was basically the C playing defense on Perkins while Gasol faced Garnett. Athletic teams have given Boston fits in the past but haven't been able to execute in the half-court set, it's possible the Lakers could alter that entirely. Remember in game 2 of the Finals:

PG- Fisher
SG- Vujajic
SF- Bryant
PF- Radmanovic
C- Gasol

Led to a major comeback and I wouldn't hesitate to put Odom against Perkins or Garnett if the Celtics go with a small ball lineup.

[Joe Kleazy]

reporter: Kobe, your such a student of the game how come your not into the rivalry as much as everyone thought you might be?

Kobe: Because I'm playing in it. I dont give a damn about it, thats for other people to get excited about, I get excited about winning!!!



THAT is the muth******* attitude I want to see. Watching mondays practice interviews have me thinking that this team will be READY fellas. This is something I'm seeing from the whole team, while the press is trying to push this rilvary.

[Magicalltheway]

Magic fan here,

I want nothing more than seeing you guys demolish the Celts. Not because they beat us, but because they are the most hated team in this league due to their arrogance. The only player of respect is Ray and I admire him the rest are pure actresses. PP the attention getter will crumble with a slightest touch. KG will bang his head against the sponge padded post to tell everyone how tough he is yet only dares to pick on small players and puts his tail between his legs against bigger players and walks away. Did you guys see him elbowing Q Richardson, yet Dwight gave him the elbow in the head and he walks away.
I have you guys in 5 as this will be the easiest win.

Good luck.

[Pablo Escobar]

Man I wish we could win on our home court but it's impossible since were going to sweep these Celtic morons

[pac213up]

well, it also came with a huge drop in efficiency from 58% to 52%. that was from round one to two though, the most relevant part to deep's post was the most recent series, conf. finals, where he put up 10/8 on 39% shooting.

And how about how he played on the defensive side of the ball? If he repeats the performance on both sides of the ball and shuts down Gasol...would that not be a major problem for the Lakers. Not going to say it is going to happen but you cannot just focus on how many points a guy is scoring, especially if they have been absolutely owning the other team on the defensive side...which KG has this entire playoff run.

[pac213up]

Remember when we had Sasha on Ray Allen in the '08 finals to guard against the game winning shot and Allen blew right by him? Can't wait to see Kobe on Allen and Artest on Pierce. The advantage is hugely in our favor. Remember when Turiaf was our first big off the bench and we got slaughtered on the offensive boards? Can't wait to see Odom do some work. Bynum on one leg took a crap all over Robin Lopez, hope his knee is ready for one more series.

I can't wait for thursday.......

Remember when Rondo wasn't an 1st Team Defender and All-Star? Remember When Glen Davis was a rookie and only played a mop up role in a game 6 blow out? Remember when Perkins was 23 yrs old and defensively dominated the post in his 1st NBA finals? Remember 9-2?

[dockingsched]

i was just clarifying what i thought DEEP meant with his decreasing numbers comment.

in response to you though, i don't really expect KG to guard gasol that much. i think they'll roll with perkins on him most of the time since lamar is going to get the bulk of the minutes compared to bynum. kg hasnt guarded anyone in the paint this post season anyway. lewis, jamison, beasley/haslem? zero post offense.

[what would jack bauer do?]

Remember when we had Sasha on Ray Allen in the '08 finals to guard against the game winning shot and Allen blew right by him? Can't wait to see Kobe on Allen and Artest on Pierce. The advantage is hugely in our favor. Remember when Turiaf was our first big off the bench and we got slaughtered on the offensive boards? Can't wait to see Odom do some work. Bynum on one leg took a crap all over Robin Lopez, hope his knee is ready for one more series.

I can't wait for thursday.......

Remember when Rondo wasn't an 1st Team Defender and All-Star? Remember When Glen Davis was a rookie and only played a mop up role in a game 6 blow out? Remember when Perkins was 23 yrs old and defensively dominated the post in his 1st NBA finals? Remember 9-2?

LOL you're bragging about Glen Davis and Perkins when I'm talking about Ron Artest, Lamar Odom, and Bynum? LMAO at Rajon Rondo... him being your best player is the exact reason why Boston won't win another championship. He's a good garbage guy but you can't have a dirty work guy be your best player.

Oh yeah remember a guy named Trevor Ariza? He barely played in 08 he came back from a 6mo injury and played spot minutes because of his broken foot. haha this guys talking to me about glen davis and perkins... wtf

[wickerhd]

i was just clarifying what i thought DEEP meant with his decreasing numbers comment.

in response to you though, i don't really expect KG to guard gasol that much. i think they'll roll with perkins on him most of the time since lamar is going to get the bulk of the minutes compared to bynum. kg hasnt guarded anyone in the paint this post season anyway. lewis, jamison, beasley/haslem? zero post offense.

You're generally right, but KG did take a turn against Howard, as part of a 4 man rotation in the post. In this series, he's much more likely to work against Gasol or Odom rather than Bynum.

Should be an entertaining series, and a sweep is very unlikely, barring an injury. Celtics have the length (two seven footers) and the strength (Perkins and Davis) to contest the inside game, and will try to take away Kobe's drive penetration with their staggered D. Celtics will have to be happy giving up jump shots. If the Lakers can make those jumpers, they'll get the gold ball.

I think both teams play exceptional defense, so the team that is able to run off of misses and makes will have the advantage. Thats why, I believe that Rondo is the most essential player on the Celtics, regardless of his game stats. If he isn't pushing the pace, the Celtics can't win.

[snaquille oatmeal]

Dbacks/Dodgers: Did you all hear the Dodger crowd chanting Celtics Suck tonight? lol. Pretty funny/cool that the whole crowd was doing so when a person wearing a Celtic shirt was shown on the video screen. Intense rivalry to say the least

goes to show you, just because the non nonchalant corporate executives and Hollywood types can afford Lakers tickets doesn't mean that LA doesn't have real fans.

[GreenDreamer]

You guys are sleeping on Rondo bigtime. The Kobe strategy really doesn't work any more. Just playing into the kid's hands now. He WANTS that look.

The fact of the matter is that you guys have never really faced THIS Celtics team before. Rondo is the central figure now, and you don't have anyone that he really respects to defend him. He doesn't care about your on the ball defenders, and he doesn't care about your bigs. The only big in the league who really bothers him is already in the rear view mirror.

Tony Allen wasn't getting much run before. provided that he is healthy, he is going to be a problem for you. Why? Ask Wade and LeBron. They found him to be no picnic, and it isn't as if he needs to shut kobe down. He will be one of three quality defenders on Kobe. It will wear severely on Bryant.

Ray Allen is locked in. The guy is in the zone right now. the problem for you guys is that Kobe doesn't get an oncourt vacation in the series. Not only will somebody be all over him on one end, but he will have to GUARD somebody dangerous on the other end. The Celtics don't need to do that. Fisher is an easy guard for Rondo, as is Artest for Pierce. It isn't that they can't put the ball in the basket, but they will not demand a ton of energy to defend. All three of Rondo, Ray, and Pierce WILL demand that effort. Kobe will almost always be stuck with guarding one of them, and they will attack him. They will make him work. He will either be chasing Ray around on screens, wrestling around with Pierce, or trying to catch lightning in a bottle with Rondo. There are no easy outs. Kobe has been gutsy fighting through his injuries, but I think that he will be in big trouble having to carry this load. The Celtics will seek him out and conduct a war of attrition with him.

[snaquille oatmeal]

all good points greendreamer

[crazy8ights]

My take is simple, Kobe is going to get his and I'm leaning towards him having a better finals than the WCF. Yes that is pretty hard to beat but as the playoffs progressed dude is doing work and all signs point to yes he is. Now someone else always has to show up or else we lose. In the previous 2 games Fisher & Artest did work. Kobe was alone on our 2 loses in Phoenix.

On to the second point. Pau Gasol better step up his defense, in game 6 he fell alseep let nash hit that open 3 it was also his fault for that wide open nash layup earlier in the quarter. We can also add in the 2 Dragic drives on him. Also we can add when nash had his way on a switch defense hitting every shot on our spaniard 7ft'er.

Last point I want to see mamba in that post getting attention and feeding our bigs, he does an extremely good job hand feeding Bynum & Pau against the C's. We saw plenty of this in Utah as well.

Fisher has done a good job defensively on all previous series point guards and we got plenty of offensive fouls in our favor thanks to his screen battles. I say let him guard Bow Wow.

Go Lakers!

Edit **

Just saw this match up preview.

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/10playoff_preview_d.html

[ShowtimeFan]

Ten questions that will determine who wins:
1) Does Rondo being better than two years ago, offest Boston's Big Three being two years older?
2) Can Artest do what he was brought in for?
3) Can Perkins NOT get another "T"?
4) Does HCA help the Lakers?
5) Can Bynum play enough to matter?
6) Will Sasha, Brown, Farmar & Walton show up and make a difference?
7) Can the Lakers offense find a way to flourish?
8) Will the real Odom show up consistantly?
9) Can Pau outshine Garnett?
10) Will Pierce do another Wheel chair routine?

[LApwnd]

10) Will Pierce do another Wheel chair routine?

all you gota do it brush against him and he'll fall down and roll around on the floor like he just got shot.

[Edrees]

He'll do the wheel chair routine after he's already in a 0-2 hole

[miggs]

You guys are sleeping on Rondo bigtime. The Kobe strategy really doesn't work any more. Just playing into the kid's hands now. He WANTS that look.

The fact of the matter is that you guys have never really faced THIS Celtics team before. Rondo is the central figure now, and you don't have anyone that he really respects to defend him. He doesn't care about your on the ball defenders, and he doesn't care about your bigs. The only big in the league who really bothers him is already in the rear view mirror.

How one-dimensional, so Rondo doesn't care what other people think and wants a challenge, wow big deal dude! I love Rondo's game but there are a few NBA Players with that mentality, it's called being a star. Rondo's breaking out but thinking that his mentality will out-do Kobe's defense is a straight up empty statement built on Rondo's success against others who've guarded him (Williams? Nelson?) this is Kobe, the man who plays both sides of the court. You have no idea how hungry Kobe will be to shut down Rondo, i'm sure Kobe is gonna go out and guard Rondo as much as possible. Rondo will do good but not great, just not his time.

Tony Allen wasn't getting much run before. provided that he is healthy, he is going to be a problem for you. Why? Ask Wade and LeBron. They found him to be no picnic, and it isn't as if he needs to shut kobe down. He will be one of three quality defenders on Kobe. It will wear severely on Bryant.

Ray Allen is locked in. The guy is in the zone right now. the problem for you guys is that Kobe doesn't get an oncourt vacation in the series. Not only will somebody be all over him on one end, but he will have to GUARD somebody dangerous on the other end. The Celtics don't need to do that. Fisher is an easy guard for Rondo, as is Artest for Pierce. It isn't that they can't put the ball in the basket, but they will not demand a ton of energy to defend. All three of Rondo, Ray, and Pierce WILL demand that effort. Kobe will almost always be stuck with guarding one of them, and they will attack him. They will make him work. He will either be chasing Ray around on screens, wrestling around with Pierce, or trying to catch lightning in a bottle with Rondo. There are no easy outs. Kobe has been gutsy fighting through his injuries, but I think that he will be in big trouble having to carry this load. The Celtics will seek him out and conduct a war of attrition with him.

Nor Wade or LeBron had the cast that Kobe has so Kobe has options therefore he won't have to force offense due to a lack of options like Wade & LeBron so while Tony Allen's defense is respectable, its definitely NOT gonna "wear severely" on Kobe.

As for Ray Allen being locked in, he doesn't scare me either. Ok so big deal, Allens will be in the zone. We'll have Rondo on check, KG on check, Pierce on check so even i'm smart enough to know that one guy will do very well for you guys. That guy will probably be Ray Allen because of his ability to catch fire quick and being able to knock down the big shots, HOWEVER, Rondo/Ray/Pierce v.s. Fisher/Bryant/Artest is not easy one-side in your favor as you think. Ok so they demand effort, dude this is the NBA Finals anyone not in purple & gold demands effort, simple as that. You also forget to point out that your boys gotta play defense, i mean your whole outlook is from an offensive point, to which i counter with "defense wins championships". Our Fisher/Bryant/Artest will handle Rondo/Ray/Pierce on the defensive end enough to neutralize at least two of those players offensive impact. On defense, Pierce will have a hard time getting his easy looks cuz Artest is NOT gonna let him dominate in this series, Artest has been waiting, like the rest of the team, for this re-match so our intensity will be much higher than we've shown in these playoffs, so try to imagine that kind of intensity.

Here's a happy thought for you, remember 08 when you guys were too hungry and intense for us, well now the tables have turned old rival, now we'll put your face in the dirt and forever close you guys out of championship contention. Not tryin to talk trash, just talkin facts. If you wanna spit some then go for it but in here in LA, we're like hungry lions on the prowl for some Celtic green, we're gonna eat you up bones and all. No easy outs? haha you make me laugh with your overrated starting 1,2 & 3 guys.

[Jajwanda]

Refs will heavily influence the series. A fair series with an even FT margin favors L.A. heavily.

I still can't believe the **** that happened in game 2 of 2008. Unbelievable.

[Ben-N1ce]

Dbacks/Dodgers: Did you all hear the Dodger crowd chanting Celtics Suck tonight? lol. Pretty funny/cool that the whole crowd was doing so when a person wearing a Celtic shirt was shown on the video screen. Intense rivalry to say the least

Rivalry? Both teams have to be competitive when it counts most to be a rivalry. 9-2 head to head in the finals is no rivalry just like when LA has whips Utah and the Spurs all the time in the playoffs isn't a rivalry. That is just some made up garbage from the 80's when LA finally broke through and beat the C'z and it's Larry against Magic blah blah blah.