NBA Finals Game 4: LAL @ BOS 6/10/10 6PM PST

[Silvie Lysandra]

Late at night so a bit rambly, but here's my take (as someone who likes Kobe and wants him to get #5 and beyond, at least until my team is ready to contend )

That's what happens when you have scrubs like Odom and Artest playing big minutes for you. Artest can still defend but Rivers has found a way to neutralize him, and on offense he is simply useless for long, long stretches. Odom is as inconsistent as ever and his natural length and athleticism are pretty useless against the Celtics hustle and toughness.

Fact is, the Lakers have no spacing, and their wings are utterly dependent on Kobe creating for them. If either Odom or Artest could consistently nail a 3, maybe Kobe or Gasol would have real kick-out options.

And can we now stop the damn "Gasol > Kobe" talk? Gasol got worked for the second game in a row by Celtics' bigs, only had 6 rebounds, and his team gave up about 18 more offensive boards than the Celtics. Gasol hasn't even been the best lakers BIG MAN this series (Bynum says hi, and there was a real difference when he couldn't play).

[crazy8ights]

Just woke up fellas, the stinging swelled down a bit from that lose. Last night 4th quarter line up was SOFT PERIOD. We need to lay some people on the ground get a flagrant or something shut the crowd up.

[kobe808lak]

Look at every highlight for the Cs in that fourth quarter...Lamar Odom is standing there on defense getting beat and not boxing out his man.. I can't put all the blame on him though since Pau was also enjoying the show not putting a body on anyone. We still had a shot at this game getting nothing from anyone but Kobe. Our bench is embarrassing.

Why can't Sasha see more minutes. He might provide a spark with a steal/3 or something. I'm sure he could give us more than Brown/Farmar.

If we want to win game 5, obviously we need to want it more than them. That is basically what it comes down to. Even on a bad shooting night, you can still win by getting 2nd chance points, more boards, and just more hustle plays. It is what we did in games 1 and 3, and what the Cs did in 2, and 4.

G5 is ours

[leeyker]

Sasha in the game? Are you serious? This guy can't even guard anyone in the league nor I remember the last time that he made a bucket since 2008 finals. Don't know why Phil is not playing Luke Walton. Luke plays very decent defence and can make shots too.

[Jajwanda]

I think the only guy that Luke Walton can probably guard is Tony Allen.

You either rest Bynum until Tuesday and have him go in his best condition regardless of a 3-2 deficit or you push him here and hope home court helps enough to get through. I would prefer trying to win with the fresh backup bigs, Powell and Mbenga in it. What would be key would be getting Rasheed that last technical. He's been a major presence against Gasol for the Celtics. As long as the Lakers get to the 7th game they have a great shot one way or the other.

[ShowtimeFan]

Lakers choked last night Gasol and Odom provided ZERO inside defense and with Bynu, spectating (or is it lactating?) the Celtic ruled the middle, sheese Phil, Mbenga could slow down some of their bigs...