-I should have been the one touting this before the series started because he’s one of my favorite players, but, like everyone else, I counted him out. Of course, that’s when he shines the most—and I failed to remember that. Well, I can tell you this much, Sammy boy could be the X-Factor. In fact, between him and Paul Pierce, they might have enough veteran clutchness to out-clutch Kobe. I literally am pissing in my pants. An unexpected though admittedly should-have-been-expected wrinkle in the series.
-The NBA is all about match-ups. Fish was able to hang with Deron Williams and caused him all sorts of fits because he’s built like a bulldog and Deron can’t muscle him. Fish had a rougher time against Tony Parker’s quickness. In this series, however, he’s the perfect defender for Sam Cassell to abuse. Fisher is shorter, doesn’t have elite speed, and plays defense with heart and veteran smarts. The only problem is Sam Cassell is a master at footwork, spacing, and head games. Plus he’s fearless, clutch, and has won championships. Sammy went on a little mini run and swished three shots in a row on Fish despie solid defense. I don’t understand why P.J. mixed up his usual second quarter rotation and left Farmar out, but he should counter Sammy with Farmar and let the kid run up and down the court. Cassell has problems against more athletic/quick guards. There’s no reason we should be putting Kobe on Sam-I-Am in the second quarter.
-Great play by the Truth and/or Doc Rivers to fake that injury. The Lakers were making a run. Kobe just hit an impossible shot over Pierce to put them up by 4. Dude goes down, comes back less than two minutes later, energizes the crowd (that place went absolutely crazy) and hits two clutch 3 pointers. The Cs never looked back.
-Great timeout by Phil after the crowd got raucous with Pierce’s return.
-Kobe and Co. had a chance to ice the game when Pierce went out. Instead, Kobe missed two long jumpers (why not take it to the rim, force the fouls either way?), Odom missed two freethrows, and Fish missed a long jumper.
-The Lakeshow took a lot of long jumpers. Kobe did so because he was forcing his shots. Fish did so, because his left foot comes forward every time he shoots it, so even if his right foot is behind the 3 point line, his left foot is always just a little bit over which results in lots of long twos.
-KG took a lot of long jumpers. He did so because of Gasol’s length. Duncan put up big numbers against the Lakers, but one that wasn’t talked about that much is his 42 percent shooting. That’s partially thanks to some timely doubles, but mostly due to Gasol’s gangly arms. Boozer couldn’t work inside, and KG’s finding it hard to work inside as well. Sure, KG can hit that shot, but if you’re playing defense on him, that what you want him to do. The further KG is away from the basket, the better.
-PJ Brown did all the little things—boxed out, no turnovers, 2 assists, showed on screens, etc. An extremely understated 2 point-6 rebound statline.
-Lakers missed 7 freethrows. Lost by 10.
-Celtics defense held Los Angeles to 41 percent shooting. LA defense held Boston 42 percent.
-Boston’s big 3 brought it. Ray Ray, despite not shooting so well, still had 19 thanks to 8 freethrows and contributed across the board with 8 rebounds, 5 assists, a steal and a block. Pierce had a phenomenal game. KG dominated the glass.
-There is no reason to worry. Kobe missed 17 shots, but at least 6 of those shots were in-and-out. If all or even just half of those go in (like they usually do) we’re talking about a Herculean effort by Mr. Bryant and not the miraculous comeback of PP.
-The Lakers abused the Celtics when they started to pass. Passing is their forte, is what they do better than anyone else, and what they need to start doing in order to win this series. Unfortunately, they slowed the tempo too much and did a lot of one-on-one. I love Fish, but since when did we start calling ISO plays for him?
-Lamar Odom should attack whomever he’s matched up with. If it’s Perkins or P.J. Brown he needs to go around them. If it’s KG, he needs to try and attack to pick up fouls.
-The Lakers came out in the second half almost lackadaisical. They were in the game the entire way. Kobe had an off night, but it almost felt like he was doing a scouting report on the team. Like, he picked his spots, shot some terribly difficult shots, and analyzed how the Cs played defense. I wouldn’t be surprised if he spends the next four games picking apart every little nuance that Thibodeau throws at him.
-Odom, Gasol, Vujacic, Vlad Rad and Farmar (who should play a lot more) all got their feet wet in the finals, on the road. No shows for Eddie House and Big Baby and limited minutes for Leon Powe…at home.
-The Celtics got contributions from all of their big three (which rarely has happened these playoffs), used a “miracle” comeback, as well as their dirty-little secret (Sammy) all in the same game and barely won.
-On the flip side, the Lakers shot poorly (read, Kobe shot poorly), got out-rebounded by 13, missed 7 freethrows, and had a chance to win it. No worries whatsoever.
-I’m sticking to my prediction. Lakers in 5. Yeah, I know that means sweep.
-Well, unless the Alien plays out of this world…
Keywords: Boston Celtics, Eddie House, Farmar, Gasol, Kevin Garnett, KG, Kobe Bryant, Leon Powe, Los Angeles Lakers, Odom, Paul Pierce, Phil Jackson (P.J.), PJ Brown, PP, Ray Allen, Ray Ray, Vujacic
