Uncool beans
After what seemed like about a year's worth of waiting, the Lakers-Celtics Finals actually kicked off and not a minute too soon for purple and gold enthusiasts. But had folks have known of the 98-88 fall awaiting them, they'd have been willing to give the festivities 366 days to commence. The night began in optimistic enough fashion, with L.A. outscoring Boston, 30-23, in the second quarter to wrap up the first half up by five. Crisp ball movement led to 14 assists, allowing the supporting cast to keep the Lakers in the driver's seat even as Kobe Bryant's shots failed to drop. Little time elapsed in the third quarter before Paul Pierce took an inadvertent shot to his knee from teammate Kendrick Perkins, forcing the Inglewood product to take a wheelchair ride back to the locker room for an eval. The Celts cappie was writhing on the ground, figuring he was out for the series with a serious knee injury. You never want to see a player get hurt, but from a purely pragmatic standpoint, the development certainly wasn't one that looked to hurt the odds of a Laker victory.
Then came Pierce's emotional rescue.
He was gone for less than two minutes, but his triumphant (some would say, not necessarily "Truth-ful") return definitely energized the crowd and certainly helped the Celts, in that Pierce never missed a shot upon checking back in. In particular, a pair of back-to-back trey balls provided a lift as the third frame wound down. Then again, the PP moment may have been theatrical, but the true drama for the Lakers came with their offense began breaking down. After briefly regaining his shot during part of the third, Kobe's struggles with the jumper returned. The Mamba said it was a case of faulty bunnies. Others would praise a tenacious Boston D. But in any case, it was hardly the night we've come to expect from The New Jack Bauer.
For that matter, it wasn't the night we've come to hope for from the key players assisting Bryant. Save Derek Fisher, who made his mark on both sides of the ball, Kobe's fellow starters came through in fleeting moments but failed to provide consistent help down the stretch. Pau Gasol's 15/8 in the box score isn't exactly horrible, but he failed to rack a board until the second half, reminiscent of a presence often not felt enough. Felt more than a largely invisible and foul-saddled Vlad Radmanovic, but nonetheless, still not enough. As for Lamar Odom, he picked his share of fouls and played way outside of Phil Jackson's liking as the final minutes approached, #7 found himself pinned to the pine. Throw in the typically strong young bench getting shown up by James Posey and P.J. Brown and the Lakers were staring down an awful lot of upstream swimming. But even with several guys playing their "B" to "C" game, it wasn't like the Lakers didn't have their chances placed in front of them. Knowing so will stick in the good guys' collective crawl, even if they know it's all behind them now.
The Bill Simmons take on Paul Pierce. He may have toughed it out for one night, but how effective will the small forward be as the series progresses?
323, 310 or 213 based fridges probably won't find themselves sporting this report card.
You have to take your hat off to Paul Pierce - the man turned into a basketball god last night. His performance was on par with the greatest Finals performances ever, putting him up there with Bird, Jordan, and Russell.
Looks like the Celtic D and rebounding will be the deciding factor in this series.
I liked the quote by one of the ESPN commentators last night:
When he said he asked Phil Jackson back in the fall if he thought this lakers team was a title team, he consistently answered, "If we learn to rebound."
This is why SHACK brought kobee 3 titles - SHACK rebounds. Ga-Shawl and Odum are finesse playas who would rather stay outside the paint.
Congrats to Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassell! These guards showed their superiority to laker guards last night.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 09:58 AM
This Lakers team is so good, even when they play completely awful they're still right in the game with a chance to win.
Their play last night was about a D-. Definite rust from the layoff, and a lot of terrible calls from the refs, especially in the 1st half.
Not to mention, it's tough to overcome a dude faking an injury and returning to the court. How much does Pierce get fined for that next year under the new flopping rules?
In game 3-5, the Lakers should trot out Andrew Bynum from the tunnel in a full Laker Uni sometime during the game just to get the crowd all riled up. Or maybe switch it up - have the Cap come out one game, Bynum another, Magic in the 3rd...
Posted by: Captain Obvious | June 06, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Fam,
It is a best out of 7 series! We still have that opportunity to make it happen. It is all on how the team and coaching staff responds. The Coaching Staff needs to show their Total Ring Experience and Comeback!
As far as this blog, it comes with both half sides. I honestly feel that we should just move on to the next game. We have a couple of days and await for a Dog Fight. Perkins is hurt and someone needs to go at Pierce
It's never easy.
Four the Hard Way.
Posted by: Charles | June 06, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Ga-Shawl is a softie who prefers the wrist-flick to banging in the paint.
Odum a Kwame at PF?
The Celtics were largely without Kendrick Perkins and the Celtics front line STILL dominated the hapless lakers.
Where was kobee? Yelling at his teammates becuz he needed 28 shots to score 24 pts.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Let's go C's!
Let's go C's!
Let's go C's!
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 10:06 AM
There are some many things that happened in this game that will not happen again! We will win GAME 2.
Posted by: ajax | June 06, 2008 at 10:08 AM
IPau's face is still smokin' after getting annihilated by an emphatic KG dunk. Whew!
How about we discuss the guard situation? Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Sam Cassell all played very well against a supposedly "more Finals experienced" laker guard lineup.
sasha is quickly learning that a healthy ray allen is not an injured manu! And Sam I Am! What a gutsy performance from the man who undoubtedly took delight in hammering the popular kids from LA!
Rajon Rondo is amazing - the guy is a heady playa, and he really made Derek Fischer look like an aged bench playa. Rondo made assists and took control.
Let's all take our hats off to the Celtic guards.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:12 AM
This was just Phil's brilliant stratagem. Boston's fans and the team itself are very susceptible to hubris. You lose a battle to win the war. Now Boston will be arrogant and think all they have to do is show up. But LA will punish them from here on out.
Supposedly Kobe was contained but he still had 25. You know , judging by his fury last night in the post game interview, that he will explode for 45+ a game hereafter.
Pau was great. His offense was too much for Boston and his D was solid. He was called for a cheap foul on a blocked KG shot. Rad also got tagged with cheap fouls.
Fish was great, too. We will adjust now that we've seen this Boston Pathetics team and lulled them into a state of complacency and overconfidence.
Also, I don't believe Pierce ever hurt his knee. That was a pathetic ruse to rouse the crowd and team. Worked once but now the tricks are used up.
Games 2-5 will go:
G2: Lakers 109, Pathetics 89
G3: Lakers 128, Pathetics 81
G4: Lakers 139, Pathetics 72
And to close out the series, the worst whipping in NBA history:
G5: Lakers 155, Pathetics 58
Remember your stupid Memorial Day Massacre, Celt fans? After that the LAKERS destroyed your stupid little Celtics.
Don't get arrogant. Even dumb Bob Ryan knows you guys are stupid and have a penchant for unwarranted cockiness:
http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/articles/2008/06/06/remember_its_only_one/
Posted by: LakersUnstoppable | June 06, 2008 at 10:12 AM
I can handle a loss - no biggie. We lost the first game to Utah & San Antonio too, and came back so 'nuf said on that.
What I can't handle - and it actually made me throw up in my mouth a little - is PudgyPierce's fake injury. That whole crying thing, then the wheelchair, then the Rocky dance or whatever......C'MON.........
DUDE - you're from Inglewood man. You gotta represent better than that! You grew up loving the Lakers! Now that you're a Greenie Weenie have you totally lost it???? Come out with fire - with fight - with cajones. NOT with fake injuries and fake crying. This "Truth" nickname someone gave you is over. You are now "The Pudge".
Posted by: justanothermambafan | June 06, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Paul Pierce is the real MVP.
Kobe Bryant is the wanna-bee MVP.
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Hey PUDGE - one more thing - if you didn't know by now, you are no longer considered as being from Inglewood. You are the OTHER Red's love child.
Posted by: justanothermambafan | June 06, 2008 at 10:22 AM
So, do we think kobe is now going to "take over" in Game 2?
Doc Rivers, genius coach that he is, is banking on it!
The more frustrated kobee gets, the more he shoots. Look at last night - do you think Dwayne Wade or Steve GNASH would keep banging their heads against a wall like that when they were being stymied by a league-best defense?
28 shots to get 24 points?
This is the kobee that the great MIKE D'ANTONI loved to play. Let's see if kobee can get 50 points next game - would only take 70 shots at the current clip.
You really have to admire the coaching prowess of Doc Rivers.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Boston ain't no Utah or San Antonio.
Inglehood Pierce in the house.
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 10:23 AM
That "performance" last night by Paul Pierce made me sick..It's actually typical Boston, believe it or not.. They took advantage of the situation to make it look worse and then they have him come out to fire up the crowd with the Rocky theme song? They carry him off the floor and then use a wheel chair? Give me a break! What a wimp!
Sure he got hurt..But it was obviously highly exaggerated to pump up the home crowd..Paul Pierce should be embarrassed for using a wheel chair and then playing 3 minutes later.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 10:23 AM
The inside of the Boston Celtics sucks. Garnet made one shot out of 10 and floats to the outside because he's scared to be a man..
Congrats Boston fans! You have a 120 million dollar guy who puts back dunk rebounds.
Perkins is useless.. The Lakers had a chance at the end and that's all you can ask for in a road game.. Especially with Paul's pansy performance.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 10:26 AM
LakersUnstoppable,
Does your butt hurt from riding the bandwagon?
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 10:27 AM
And Ray Allen? He HAD game.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 10:27 AM
Sam Cassell is older than dirt. He hit 3 jumpshots and then sat down and iced his knee after a nights work. He sucks.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 10:29 AM
justanothermambafan,
Pudgy Face Pierce will give you a big pudgy face smile when he's holding the Finals MVP trophy.
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Let's all give a hand to Paul Pierce - his return was pure drama at its best!
He stole the show by taking a page out of his hometown Hollywood playbook!
Let's all bow to Paul Pierce for making last night one of the most memorable performances in Finals history! From the 4-point play, to the two consecutive threes, to the incredible comeback - wow!
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Perhaps the SUNS would better represent the WC. These lakers just don't seem to get the whole rebounding-defense thing.
SUNS do have a better Finals record vs. the Celtics than the lakers, after all.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Lakers in five.
Go Lake Show!
Posted by: The Outlaw | June 06, 2008 at 10:32 AM
Overall the game was horrible. The Lakers did not look like the same team from the Western Conference Finals. In my humble opinion the bad of the game was...
1. Kobe's shot was flat
2. Pau had a decent first half but failed to show up in the second half
3. Odom was on the floor....really? The guy didn't show up
4. Lack to intensity
5. Bench didn't come through
6. Missing easy shots & free throws
The reality of this series is that Boston has the pressure to win the championship and the Lakers don't. Yes the Lakers wants to win now despite being short-handed, but the Celtics have been the favorites since they acquired Garnett while the Lakers were considered a mess. The Lakers can win this series if everyone shows up to compete. The Lakers played like crap and they only lost by 10 points. If Kobe plays like Kobe and his supporting cast shows up to play all 48 minutes then the Lakers will be crowned this season's NBA Champions. Until then, we'll see how this series goes.
I was so annoyed to hear so much about how PJ is 9-1 when the Lakers win the first game of the series. How many people remember when the Lakers lost the first game of the Finals to A.I. and the Sixers? The Lakers came back in Game 2 and the rest is in the books.....Lakers win 4-1. Never give up hope
Posted by: SFLakerGirl | June 06, 2008 at 10:36 AM
I enjoyed Posey clotheslining kobee last night by the arm - sent a nice message.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Kobe will shoot better next game.
Where is Ariza? We need his size/defense on Pierce.
Boston will relax after the game 1 win.
The bench will respond with more points and intensity.
Lakers win game 2, all of a sudden the media is burying the Celtics.
Posted by: DrewPauKobe | June 06, 2008 at 10:37 AM
Paul Pierce coming out of the locker room - pure drama!
It may be time to admit the obvious - kobee could really use SHACK in this series.
SHACK rebounds, which Ga-Shawl and lamar do not. And SHACK is a physical man, whereas the laker bigs would rather jump shoot than play inside.
SHACK offered everything that kobee needs. But kobee needed more. He needed to lose a Finals on his own, without SHACK.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:39 AM
You can imagine if the internet was as huge in the 1980s, these same trolls would be excoriating Magic for his "lack of basketball IQ" in the 1984 Finals after key turnovers, and running out the clock when the score was tied! They'd be calling him "Tragic Magic", and snickering about how people could possibly consider him to be a great point guard with all the errors he made!
I'll leave you with this nugget from David Friedman at the 20 second timeout blog:
"The interesting thing about looking back at these championship series in detail is that there is an inevitable tendency to think that the great players of the past never committed turnovers, never missed shots and never made mental mistakes--but, as Part I made very clear, Bird, Magic and several other future Hall of Famers hardly played perfect basketball in the 1984 Finals. Championship play--not just in basketball but in any competition--is defined not by perfection but by heart and will and determination and the ability to maintain focus in spite of previous errors, bad calls and other real or imagined obstacles."
Posted by: Amazing_Happens | June 06, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Was Ariza MIA? How could Jackson leave him glued to the pine while Pierce continually torched Radman (and others)? Defense and rebounding win titles. Ariza was acquired mainly for his speed, heady play and D, all three qualities sadly lacking by the Lakes in Game 1.
PJ had better wise up soon and start thinking about using Ariza to counteract PP. Otherwise, this series is over in five games.
The Celts are wienies and none are bigger than "Doc" -- but they're going to win this series if the Lakes don't start hammering back.
Posted by: EMLakerFan | June 06, 2008 at 10:41 AM
Repost---sometimes these new threads are a pain
Good Morning Charles---Good Morning Everybody...
Well that didn't go so well did it?---but better than the ass whomping I sort of expected---like some have said, there is still a lot of hope because we played fairly bad and still had a chance to win etc....
To me the biggest factor in the loss was .....wait for it......MISSED FRICKING FREE THROWS! --for the love of all that's good and holy MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS LAKERS !!
and excessive fouling on the other end gave them a lot of free throws and they are a good free throw shooting team---both sides of the free throw issue needs to be addressed....
The other factors obviously, getting out rebounded (especially on the defensive end)---and we reverted to a jump shot shooting team with the shots unfortuanately going in and coming out all night---frickin' Leprechauns !!
EVERY time we ran the pick and roll we scored it seemed, and rather easily---WHY DON'T WE RUN THAT DOWN THEIR THROATS AND UP THEIR ASSES? WHY ? WHY? WHY?
And why for the love of Spam don't we run more screens for Kobe---the team just seems to rely on Kobe creating off the dribble (which he is fairly good at) but sometimes we need to send a series of screens to help him get to the rim---Indiana made that idiot Reggie Miller into an all star by constantly running screens until he was open for his jump shot etc---sort of the same could be done for Kobe with either an open jump shot or a slam dunk being the end result...
Lamar needs to show the hell up on Sunday---I thought Pau played pretty well, though a box out or two would have been helpfull...
MY PREDICTION: WHO EVER WINS ON SUNDAY WILL WIN THE SERIES. Game 2 is crucial to say the least...
AS ALWAYS, AS EVER, STILL YET ANOTHER GREAT DAY TO BE A LAKER FAN !!!
GO LAKERS !!!
Posted by: Floyd | June 06, 2008 at 10:42 AM
Laker Nation -- Chill out everyone -- It's a long series. These are the same celtic fans now that have been MIA for the past 20 years -- 20 years ago little Johnny was livin with his Maaa in the basement collecting unemploytment and chearing for the Celtics -- then between 1988 and 2007 lttle Johnny was livin with his Maaa in the basement collecting unemploytment and not chearing for the Celtics -- this year fat Johnny is still livin with his Maaa in the basement collecting unemploytment and chearing for the Celtics. Not much has change din 20 years--- Aaaah how you like them apples aaaahhhh --
Posted by: HmrHed | June 06, 2008 at 10:44 AM
Roll call!
Ray Allen - Rajon Rondo - Sam Cassell - Paul Pierce - KG - Posey - PJ Brown - Leon Powe - Doc Rivers
Check!
kobee? where did you go? sasha? lamar? ga-shawl? PJ?
Absent.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:46 AM
Okay, okay, okay. I want to make one thing extremely clear here. Just because we lost one game is no reason to sink to the level of the trolls. Think about it. Why should we lower ourselves by taking stabs at the Celtics?
I mean, sure Cassell's face would lose a beauty contest held for butts, but we only make ourselves look bad by pointing this out.
And of course, we could say Pierce is The Half Truth for faking that injury but that takes away from the fine game he played. Those kind of cheap shots...leave them for the trolls.
Another thing: You won't hear me saying that Danny Ainge looked more attractive when Ceballos threw that towel in his face. What's the point?
I'm actually glad we Laker fans don't sink to the level of the trolls. I know we have ammunition about No-Ring Garnett, and how, without cheating, the Celtics would have maybe only 9 rings. But those kind of sour grapes don't belong here.
I'm tired of hearing bad words associated with the Celts and their fans, like Crybabies and Dirty and Overrated and Uneducated and Backward and Inbred and Hypocritical and Ugly. Let's rise above it.
And finally, I'm as aware as the next guy that the Lakers will eventually win this series. But that's no excuse to gloat. I won't do it.
I just won't.
Posted by: Marty | June 06, 2008 at 10:48 AM
Game 1 of the NBA Finals garnered a 10.4 overnight rating. This has to be considered disapointing and begs the question, is the NBA a particular popular league if a matchup between it's two most storied franchises, coming from markets #2 (Los Angeles) and # 7 (Boston), gets a rating at least %50 lower than than that of of any NFL wildcard game this decade? Note, that ratings for finals tend to go downward after game 1 - until a game a game 6 and certainly a game 7.
While the rating is still relatively high for a finals game 1 - the highest game 1 rating since Pistons/Lakers 2004 - it's only %30 higher than last year's game 1, Spurs/Cavs, a series noted for it's miserable ratings.
Even in Los Angeles, the rating wasn't great in a historical context. A 22.8, down %22 from the 29.3 LA gave game 1 of Detroit/LA.
In Boston, the rating was 22.1. The rating for Red Sox/Rockies world series game 1 in Boston was 49.8.
The national "concern" for the NBA with the ratings are that this could possibly be "as good as it gets" for the league. Unless the New York Knicks somehow became an exciting, star laden, great team that faced the Lakers in the finals, one can't think of a better finals matchup for the NBA..
The confirmation here, is that without any ambiguity, the NBA stuck as the third most popular American team sport after baseball, and is not showing signs of moving up.
Posted by: 10milliondollarzen | June 06, 2008 at 10:49 AM
By the way, VERY COOL television spot with Magic and Bird doing the split screen thing!
Posted by: Marty | June 06, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Let's all send our prayers to Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins for a swift and speedy recovery.
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Anywho,
On a more serious note -- The Lakers have to figure out a way to loosen up the D without another inside scorer -- that will be tough. I'm hoping PJ can come up with something -- come on LO -- this team will be better next year, but there is no time like NOW.
On Pierce -- His nickname is the "Truth" -- but after last night I propose "Moderately Exaggerated" or "Completely Fabricated" -- Hey Pierce, Ronaldo called and he even thought your act was cheesy. Look for KG to go down on Sunday with a compound fracture of both legs and miraculously return in 2 minutes.
Posted by: HmrHed | June 06, 2008 at 10:51 AM
I used to be a fan of "Show Time" ,
but this Laker team will be done in NO TIME !!!!
Posted by: BUTLER | June 06, 2008 at 10:53 AM
I love this blog. So many player haters. Ray Allen haters. Paul Pierce haters. When the C's win, I'll be back to remind each and every single one of you bandwagon fanatics of your "C"heapshots.
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 10:55 AM
EM,
The biggest Lakers problem last night was not their defense, it was their offense. Ariza's presence would have made the offense worse, and wouldn't have made that big a difference on defense.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | June 06, 2008 at 10:55 AM
Let's hope Paul Pierce comes back so they can still have their glimmer of hope they will win this series..The Boston Celtics are just full of pansies.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Hey AK/BK,
Can you block BUTLER? Please? This f*****g *-bag is getting on my last nerve.
-bozz-
Posted by: bozz | June 06, 2008 at 10:58 AM
AK / BK,
Question -- any word on the Posey (?) foul on Kobe and another foul to the face of another Laker? Aren't those flagrant?
Thanks!
Posted by: teamn | June 06, 2008 at 10:59 AM
Celtics suck! They don't have a chance now that Paul "Pansy" Pierce could be out the next game..I think it's Boston playing "games" again though because they need every advantage they can get..This is Boston's last chance to win..Sam Casselll just got his senior card..Ray Allen is on his last legs.. This is their only hope to win..They suck!
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Doc Rivers? Doc Rivers?? Are you kidding me? This team has no chance with Doc Rivers as the coach.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 11:02 AM
What's with all of the fake Laker fans?
I bet you Fakers only began to be "fans" 2 weeks before the playoffs started, then became real Laker "fans" when Kobe won the MVP.
The real MVP for the Lakers is the Memphis Grizzlies.
Inglehood in the house.
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 11:02 AM
The only reason Doc Rivers has lasted this long is because he has an assistant who does tough defensive schemes.
Posted by: zen | June 06, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Ko-cry-bay-bee scored 22 points on 25 shots.
MVP!
MVP!
MVP!
Oh, did i mention that the Lakers LOST!!!
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 11:04 AM
These trolls remind me of how goldfish act when you drop some food in. They swarm around for awhile nibbling, but then they really don't live very long, do they? I'm sure the stench will be gone from the blog in a few days.
Posted by: justanothermambafan | June 06, 2008 at 11:05 AM
Old man Sam is the Man.
I love it when Sam I Am does the grabbing his nuts walk after hitting a big shot.
Posted by: Let's go C's! | June 06, 2008 at 11:05 AM
I like the way troll talking to himself. KEEP'EM HUNGRY GUYS!!!
Posted by: LAL_Fan | June 06, 2008 at 11:07 AM