Hey Chris, can you shed some light on why L.A. is favored by 9 out of 10 experts on ESPN to win this series over Boston? Okay, Kobe is the best player in the game, we get it. But why don't they also realize that Radmanovic won't be able to guard Pierce if his life depended on it, Odom will get nothing on Garnett, and Perkins should be able to hold his own relatively well against a soft player like Gasol? Not to mention home court in Boston's favor. For 9 out of 10 experts to be picking L.A. i just don't get the logic behind it. Please shed some light on this.
My Lakers have the been the best team in the playoffs this year and have beaten much better competition than the Celts. It took Boston 7 games to beat the Hawks and Cavs, whereas the Lakers dispatched the Nuggets, Jazz and Spurs with only three losses. More than anything, I think it'll come down to the point guard play and the experience of Phil Jackson vis-a-vis Doc Rivers. Rivers hadn't so much as won a playoff series until this season, whereas Phil Jackson is Phil Jackson and is once again coaching the greatest player in the world. Lakers in 6, hopefully 5.
This is flawed logic at best. And it's the same logic that everybody is using to justify a Lakers series win. Basketball is about matchups, not who you played in the previous round. And if Ginobili was anywhere near his normal self, that series would have gone six or seven games without a doubt. Anyway, the Lakers are the best offensive team in the league, have the best coach, and best player, but the Celtics play a better overall game. They play on both ends better than L.A does.
I sure did. I don't have any problem admitting i was wrong on that prediction, but this is a different matchup. If you actually look at the series objectively, instead of through rose colored Laker fan glasses, you'll see that these two teams are evenly matched, and i would be "shocked" if the Lakers dispatched the Celtics in 5 like you said.
I agree and disagree with you at the same time, Bry. I agree with you in the sense that it isn't going to be a cakewalk for the Lakeshow. This Boston team is much deeper, tougher and vetted than people actually want to recognize. They have a lot of talent, of course, in the Big Three. Their role players such as P.J. Brown, Sam Cassell and Leon Powe are experienced and can do a phenomenal job picking up where the starters leave. And most importantly, they have a good bench. The exact same thing can be said for their Western counterparts. The Los Angeles Lakers have, quite frankly, the most talented player in the league in Mr MVP. There is no question that Kobe Bryant has found his Robin in Pau Gasol. Lamar Odom seems to perform better as a third option, rather than that defection-role he struggled to come to grips with. Derek Fisher is all you can ask for in a point guard and the "bench mobs" , as they are known, have done well against Denver, Utah and San Antonio. Basically, there isn't much between these two teams. However, here is where i disagree. At least on paper, the Lakers have a stronger starting five. Derek Fisher is more experienced and a better point guard than Rajon Rondo. As we saw in the Celtics-Pistons series, Rondo was overpowered in Games 1, 2 and 3 by Chauncey Billups and, put simply, was taken to the school of PG. Ray Allen, for his efforts in Game 5, has struggled in this postseason. His shooting is down, he isn't scoring effectively and more often than not, he seemed to be out of the arena. Oh, did i mention that he plays absolutely no defense? If he carries on that way, Kobe will make him look like a fool. It is unnecessary for me to begin to count Kobe Bryant's numerous basketball talents and there is nothing he loves more than a chance to elevate his status on the greatest stage of them all. Paul Pierce, the Celts' best offensive player, will likely be guarded by Lamar Odom, or even occasionally double teamed. And let's face it, he sometimes struggles when he is double teamed and there is no one to take over when he's struggling. Pau Gasol is much better on the inside than Kendrick Perkins and even though his length might bother Gasol and make him take the jumpshot, it's not a safe bet. Don't be surprised if KG is assigned to cover Gasol. The Celts have solid rebounding, great ballhandling and of course, home court advantage going for them. The Lakers, however, run the fast break very efficiently, are perhaps the best offensive team in the league, exploit mistakes and mismatches efficiently, and lest i forget, have the ultimate game-closer in Kobe Bryant. Expect a hard fought, gritty series but i favor the Lakers in 6 or 7.
The Celtics took game one. I have to give them credit. They closed the show in the 4th quarter when the Lakers couldn't hit any open shots. I'm not worried. Ain't but 1 game. Sunday can't get here quick enough.
I actually expected for us to lose game 1, figured Garnett would be too hyped up to let that one go. No worries here either.
Hey, the Bulls lost Game 1 in 1998, ditto for the Lakers in 2001 and remember that Miami were 0-2 by Game 3 in 2006. So its not a done deal? Even though the Lakers lost that game, it was much closer than the scoreline suggested. They did hit some good shots down the stretch, the fast break was phenomenal and they did okay defensively. I worry for their bench though. If they play the way they did, they might not win more than a game or two but hopefully, they can turn the tables around.
Celtics 108, Lakers 102 We're down 0-2 and yet I'm still not worried. If we could get some calls, we might've pulled this game out.
The Celtics did what they were supposed to do by taking care of home court, but they got lax in the 4th quarter and stopped playing. Hopefully Doc rips them a new one for that 4th quarter performance by them. If you're a Laker fan, you should never be worried, but if they can't start boxing out and doing better on the boards, they're gonna lose this series sooner rather than later. They look soft.
I agree wholeheartly. The Celts bigs are a tougher bunch. Big advantage when rebounding. Not only that, their smaller players are contributing on the boards as well. That's a serious problem. The comeback in the 4 quarter was great to see. The next two games should be very interesting.
Lakers 87, Celtics 81 Complained about the freethrow disparity and we damn near blew the game because we couldn't hit any. None the less, it's good to get the win.
Yes, an ugly win but that what it'll take in this series and Pau needs to elbow PJ Brown in the fucking face.
Lakers need to get their shit together and start playing more like a team. These next two games are going to be the determining factor of the series. We need to tie up the series on Thursday and take the lead in Game 5.
No doubt SoCal, Anytime only one starter scores in double figures, work must be done. I might give Pau a mulligan because he would've been in double digits had he those free throws. But he and Odom are starting to piss me off. I hadn't watched a Laker game all year but if this is how Sasha Vujacic has played all year, I'm a fan of this guy. I don't expect Garnett and Pierce to have subpar performances in game 4 so everybody needs to contribute.
LAKERS ARE DOWN 3-1, DAMN, DAMN, DAMN. Kobe is frustrated as hell, but I think they jsut been exposed to kobe being their only superstar, Odem was showing signs, but......DAMN, DAMN, DAMN.....But it is going to be great to see K.G. & Longtime Celtic get a ring Get a ring.
Hey newpowermoves, you've been supporting the Lakers through thick or thin, win or lose, and i admire that. However, i have to say that i am on cloud 9 right now!
Bryant, I'm a die-hard. What can I say? Being down 3-1 has historically been insurmountable. That's a fact. I say Lakers take game 5 at home then play competitively in a game 6 loss. While the foregone conclusion that the Lakers losing burns me to the core, THESE Celtics are the only team that I don't mind winning against the Lakers. I like KG and Pierce quite a bit. I also don't mind one bit that Doc is coaching a championship winning team. The Celtics pretty much have everyone going down to some type of injury and yet they're coming back from 24 points deficits. How is that possible? This can't be blamed on the Lakers cruising because I still saw effort. Doc's preaching defense at half time and the team's execution was the key. Pierce pretty much shut down Kobe single handedly. This loss hurts me ALMOST as much as when Tyson got knocked out by Buster Douglas.
