It’s cliché but it’s true.
The team that wants it more wins the majority of the time.
Boston wanted it more last night.
Playing in their first NBA Finals — Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett — played with a sense of urgency from the onset and seized control of the momentum from the opening tip.
Garnett was 6-of-9 from the field in the first half; tallying 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Rather than settle for jumpshots, Allen attacked the basket and made things happen for his teammates. Ray was 5-of-13 from the field but grabbed 8 rebounds and dished out 5 assists.
The Celtics owned a +13 advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Lakers 46-33 in game 1.
Los Angeles has been routinely outrebounded in the playoffs but they’ve made up for that deficit by shooting 47% from the field as a team.
Boston held the Lakers to 42% from the field last night.
If the Lakers are to bounce back in game 2, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom have to match Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett’s intensity under the basket. Center Gasol was the Lakers leading rebounder with 8, tying shooting guard Ray Allen’s total.
Credit the Boston defense for making Kobe Bryant a perimeter player last night. Kobe shot just 9-for-26 from the field (35%) . Bryant forced at least 4 shots and had only two attempts in the paint. Boston’s rotations were nearly flawless but Kobe has to attack the basket with more ferocity.
Both Bryant and Derek Fisher dominated the basketball too much.
One of my keys for the Lakers in this series was to move the basketball. Their offense was stagnant and it’s incumbent upon Fisher and Bryant to get the Lakers into their sets and create for their teammates.
The Lakers played well defensively. They held the Celtics to an identical 42% from the field but Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Sam Cassell took turns torching Fisher, Sasha Vujacic, and Vladimir Radmonovic.
The Lakers celebrated “Bench Mob” failed to deliver anything of worth. The only Laker to shoot better than 50% was Jordan Farmar and he received only 7 minutes of playing time. Walton was 0-for-3 from the field and committed 3 fouls in 13 minute of action.
Adjustments for Game 2
1. Trust in the triangle. The Lakers seemed in a hurry from start to finish. The triangle offense is predicated upon taking what the defense is willing to give. Making the appropriate cuts and passing the basketball. Not forcing shots early in the shot clock. The Lakers have to make the vaunted Celtics defense work for long possessions.
2. Post-up Kobe behind the defense. The Celtics are great at rotating and giving helpside defense above the free throw line. It would be in the Lakers best interests to post Kobe on the wing below the free throw line and space Fisher and Radmonovic behind the arc.
3. Match Boston’s intensity. The Lakers were outworked from the top to the bottom of their roster last night. Losing the battle of the boards by 13 is inexcusable and points to their lack of hustle.
4. Shoot the ball with confidence. The Lakers have shot 37% from behind the arc in the playoffs but connected on just 3 of their 14 attempts from long-distance last night. They got plenty of looks but the ball just didn’t drop.
5. Adjust defensively. David Friedman of 20 second timeout noted that the Celtics went to whichever wing or guard player wasn’t being defended by Bryant. With Kobe on Allen, Ray deferred to Pierce. When Pierce was defended by Kobe, he looked for Sam Cassell and Allen. Coach Phil Jackson was essentially forced to switch Kobe on the hot hand the entire game. Fisher, Vujacic, and Radmonovic are overmatched against Allen and Pierce. Even Cassell got into the act by posting up Derek Fisher and hitting his first two shots. I’d like to see Trevor Ariza get some quality minutes against Pierce and Allen.
6. Stay the course. Another clichéd phrase that remains true. Despite a subpar shooting night and being killed on the glass, LA was in position to steal the game at the end. They even trimmed the deficit from 8 to 4 with Bryant on the bench to start the 4th quarter.
The Celtics have to ecstatic about last night’s victory. For the third time this season, they held Bryant to less than 40% from the field.
Their bench was productive.
And they closed the game in the 4th quarter.
The homecrowd was electric from start to finish. The ovation Paul Pierce received upon returning to the floor from what may be a torn meniscus gave me chill bumps.
Aside from a few botched possessions in the 4th quarter, I don’t know if the Celtics can play much better than they did last night.
But if they do, there will be many ‘experts’ and ‘pundits’ (myself included) eating their words.
Hold on to your seats, this should be a great NBA Finals.
June 7th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Good job as usual, my friend.
I’d say the 3 adjustments the Lakers need to make are:
1. Rebound
2. Move the ball
3. Defend for 48 minutes
1. Rebound – If history is any indicator, the Lakers will not win a championship if they continue to allow the Celtics to out rebound them. All 9 of Phil Jackson’s championship teams out rebounded their opponents. By the way, the Celtics were +19 in rebounds, not +13… counting the team rebounds.
2. Move the ball – Again, all 9 of PJ’s championship teams had more assists per game than their opponents. In the first half, when the Lakers were more effective, they had 14 assists on 19 field goals. In the second half, the Lakers had just 7 assists on 13 field goals. The Lakers stopped moving the ball, especially (as you said), Bryant and Fischer. You’d think the only two Lakers with championship rings would know better.
3. Defend all 48 minutes – The Lakers gave up 30 points in the 3rd quarter. If they would have held the Celtics to 23 points that quarter, like they did in the 1st and second quarter, they would have been completive in the 4th quarter.