The Boston Celtics took a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Lakers last night by holding off the Lakers late and escaping with a 108-102 victory at home.
The storyline after game 1 was the Celtics advantage on the glass (46-33).
The storyline after game 2 is the Celtics advantage at the free throw line.
Boston shot 38 free throws in game 2. LA shot 10.
Credit Boston’s offense for attacking the basket and drawing fouls but game 2 was a horribly officiated ballgame.
The Lakers were robbed of at least 10 free throw opportunities. The most notable being a lob to Gasol in the 2nd quarter where he caught the ball in mid-air, finished, and was raked across the forearm and sent to the floor. No whistle.
With the Lakers leading 19-18 in the first quarter, Kobe Bryant was whistled for two questionable fouls within a minute and four seconds of one another. The first call took place under the Celtics basket when Bryant and Allen were jockeying for position on the baseline, the second came with Bryant sealing Allen on a post-up opportunity on the elbow. Neither call was warranted.
With Bryant forced to the bench due to foul trouble, the Celtics went on a 12-3 run before Phil Jackson was forced to burn a timeout to get Kobe back in the game at the 9:40 mark of the second quarter.
Once again, Paul Pierce led the way for the Celtics. Pierce scored 28 points on 9-for-16 from the field and 4-of-4 from the 3-point line. Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, and Trevor Ariza (7 minutes) have been completely ineffective defending Pierce in this series. They’ve fallen for nearly every pumpfake he’s thrown at them and that’s allowed Pierce to get into the paint, draw fouls, and create for others.
Time after time, Rajon Rondo penetrated the Lakers defense and got open looks and easy buckets for his teammates. Rondo finished with 16 assists. Four short of the Lakers total as a team.
Leon Powe came off the bench and provided instant offense for Boston. Powe was 6-of-7 from the field and 9-of-13 from the free throw line, scoring 21 points. Powe shot more free throws than the entire Lakers team and scored nearly as many points as the entire Lakers bench.
After shooting just 42% from the field in game 1, the Lakers shot 49% from the field in game 2.
Bryant scored 30 points on 11-of-23 from the field (48%) but attempted only 4 shots inside the paint.
The Lakers posted Kobe up on multiple possessions but it came at the expense of their offensive continuity. Once again, there was little ball movement. Pau Gasol shot 67% from the field but received only 12 shot attempts. Lamar Odom scored 10 points but was ineffective.
Odom lives off the strong to weakside passes that put the defense out of position and allow him to catch the ball at the free throw line extended. Those passes have been few and far between in this series.
The lone brightspot offensively for the Lakers has been the Bryant-Gasol pick-and-roll.
But the Lakers haven’t run that play enough.
Of even larger concern to the Lakers is their defense.
They’ve been unable to keep Pierce, Allen, and Rondo out of the paint. They’ve given up too many back-breaking 3-pointers in transition. And they’ve failed to match the physicality of the Celtics.
If LA is to have a chance of evening this series on their homecourt and forcing an elimination game in Boston, several adjustments are in order.
1. Place Kobe on Pierce
Pierce is averaging 25 points a game on 63% from the field and 88% from the 3-point line. The only Laker who has slowed Pierce down for stretches has been Bryant. Foul trouble is a concern but Coach Jackson has to trust Kobe to play smart and not fall for the shots fakes and jab steps that Pierce utilizes.
The Lakers have received next to nothing from their shooting forwards so the most logical solution is to play Bryant at shooting foward and insert Vujacic at shooting guard.
Shooting forward Trevor Ariza is a reliable defender but he’s still working himself back from injury and received only 7 minutes of playing time in game 2. It’s hard to believe Trevor couldn’t produce more than Luke Walton has. Walton is averaging 1 point and shooting 25% through the first two games of the NBA Finals.
2. Stop dribble penetration
Second year point guard Rajon Rondo is outplaying veteran point guard Derek Fisher. Fisher is shooting just 41% from the field and 29% from the 3-point line. He has been incapable of keeping Rondo in front of him defensively. Reserve Jordan Farmar has been effective defending Rajon but is averaging only 13 minutes a game while shooting 57% from the field and 75% from the 3-point line.
Despite a sprained knee, Pierce has routinely driven past Radmonovic and Walton as if they were running in sand.
3. Get back in transition
The Celtics have hit several game changing 3-pointers in transition where the Lakers failed to locate their defensive assignments on the run.
4. Check out
Although the Lakers rebounded well in game 2, they still allowed the Celtics 10 offensive rebounds. Second chance points after a solid defensive possession take the wind out of a defense’s sails. The Celtics are getting second chance opportunities because the Lakers — 1 through 5 — are failing to put a body on their man after the shot goes up.
5. Continue to trust in their bench
The Lakers have received significant contributions from their bench during the playoffs. But they’re still a relatively inexperienced bunch. Inexperienced players rarely contribute on the road, much less in the NBA Finals. The familiar surroundings of the Staples Center should help them get back on track.
6. Reverse the basketball
It’s Kobe’s responsibility to move the ball and create for his teammates against the NBA’s best defense. Bryant is a great mid-range jumpshooter and connected on a good percentage last night but the Lakers have to make the Celtics work for full 24 second possessions rather than settle for one pass and a contested jumper nearly every time down the floor.
For the Celtics to steal a game in LA or close the series out on the Lakers homecourt, they’ll need to carry their defensive intensity and offensive execution to the West Coast but with the knowledge that they won’t enjoy the homecourt officiating they received in game 2.
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
June 9th, 2008 at 10:50 am
Nice job.
In Kobe’s defense, he had two fouls in the 1st quarter and his third in the second… it is awfully risky to attack the rim when you are in foul trouble, and when the refs are obviously not interested in calling a fair game. In the 4th quarter, Kobe DID penetrate, but he usually dished, giving dunks or layups to Turiaf, or jumpers to Radmanovic and Vujacic. That penetration doesn’t show up on a shot chart.
I also thought it was interesting how Sasha appeared to shut down Ray Allen in the 4th quarter.
The bench bunch should be trusted, but probably used in different combinations than we’ve seen before.
Lakers defense is pretty much an oxymoron. Traditionally, the playoffs have been slower than regular season games, and defense carries the day. The Lakers are allowing the Celtics to score MORE than their regular season average.
I think Jackson needs to think about rewarding defenders with minutes, rather than just telling the usual suspects how to play defense, then watching them do whatever they want when they hit the floor.
Powe’s coast to coast dribble and dunk almost made me walk out on the game.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:54 am
How about a more simple fix?
GIVE PAU GASOL THE BALL MORE OFTEN.
In two games, he’s 14-23 from the field and 4-5 from the charity stripe.
Instead of Kobe taking all of these ridiculous off-balance fadeaways and turnarounds, why not get the ball inside to Gasol?
Why not try to get KG in foul trouble? Instead the Lakers are solely playing from the perimeter. That’s dumb.
I don’t care what the final score indicates, the Lakers were totally outclassed and outplayed yesterday. As far as I’m concerned, they were blown out. Only once the Celtics put their guard down did the Lakers do anything in that game.
I never realized this until recently, but damn are the Lakers a poor defensive team. Say all you want about Kobe being a good defender (Pierce has totally outplayed him on both ends of the floor thus far), but collectively, as a team, these guys are so incredibly soft.
Look at that KG drive and dunk clip Hoffman posted. What horrible defense. Who comes over to help? God forbid someone on this Lakers team has to try to take a charge.
Know what? Based on what I have seen in these two games, I think the Celtics are going to win this series. They simply want it more, and that’s apparent. They’re going to play hard and tough. This Lakers might not be tough enough to hang with the Celtics. PJ Brown, Powe and Posey have been killing people.
I don’t know. Something has to change. I’ve always said Phil Jackson was an overrated coach, much like how Joe Torre was with the Yankees. These are guys who keep the calm when calm is needed. They massage egos when needed. They motivate. But when it comes to X’s and O’s and making adjustments, I don’t think these guys are up to par.
The Lakers right now have ZERO inside presence. They are solely a jump-shooting team. If I’m Jackson, I give Turiaf more minutes on the floor alongside Gasol. Hell, I might even give Mbenga or Mihm some minutes. The Lakers need to quit taking lower-percentage outside shots, and do a better job of going to the hoop. You have to bang a little and fight for those damn rebounds.
It’s not like the Celtics are playing great. They’re just more aggressive. They’re just trying to put the ball in the hole and get stops. The Lakers look like they’re thinking too damn much.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:58 am
[...] Lakers-Celtics Game 2 Recap Powe was 6-of-7 from the field and 9-of-13 from the free throw line, scoring 21 points. Powe shot more free throws than the entire Lakers team and scored more points than the entire Lakers bench. After shooting just 42% from the field … [...]
June 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Basketballogy,
My pointing out Bryant’s 4 shots in the paint wasn’t meant to be critical in nature. It was more of a compliment to the Celtics defense.
Rajon Rondo received an assist on that near coast-to-coast dunk by Powe. Makes me wonder how many of his other 16 assists were legit.
How do you feel about placing Kobe on Pierce?
Ray Allen might score more but he won’t beat the Lakers by himself. Pierce is killing LA right now.
V-Rad, Walton, and the still recovering Ariza are overmatched.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am
[...] Lakers-Celtics Game 2 Recap The Lakers have received next to nothing from their shooting forwards so the most logical solution is to play Bryant at shooting foward and insert Vujacic at shooting guard. Shooting forward Trevor Ariza is a reliable defender but he’s … [...]
June 9th, 2008 at 11:17 am
A-Train,
You’re right.
Gasol needs more touches. Pierce hasn’t outplayed Bryant when matched up with him. It’s been the exact opposite. In fact, the steal by V-Rad with a little more than a minute left was a product of that. Pierce was hesitant to attack Kobe for fear of turning the ball over so he forced a pass that was intercepted by Radmonovic.
If Radmonovic is guarding Pierce, Paul scores and the game is over.
I’d like to see Turiaf receive more minutes alongside Gasol if Odom continues to be an afterthought.
I know things look bad for the Lakers now and it looks as if Boston will finish the series in LA but the 0-2 deficit isn’t the death sentence it used to be.
Utah and Cleveland came back last year. San Antonio came back against the Hornets after being trounced in the first two games.
We’ll see if the Staples Center can revive the Lakers bench.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:21 am
The referees were letting hand fouls go and calling body fouls last night. In other words, it favored an aggressive style defense that wouldn’t leave it’s feet. Everytime the Lakers left their feet they made body contact with the driving celtics – and the whistle was blown. The Celtics defense loves to push, grab, reach, etc on the ball and in the passing lanes. This is why I think LeBron had difficulty getting into rhythm – the Celtics were always pushing him and grabbing him no matter where he was.
I really don’t think the officiating is the STORY of the game though. LA’s offense has been putrid with the exception of the 4th quarter, which was really just a lot of 3s going down. The story was Leon Powe and Paul Pierce.
I didn’t think the Lakers played well enough to deserve winning last night – so I’m not going to put an asterisk next to the game because of the FT disparity – plus there were some pretty bad calls/no calls that favored the Lakers late in the game – the 6 step travel by Vlad Rad was comical.
For all the accolades that the Lakers have been getting this season – they really haven’t brought any of them so far in the finals. Phil Jackson has not made any adjustments – as A-Train pointed out, Pau Gasol was unstoppable and yet the team didn’t get him nearly enough touches – and I saw Kobe visibly pissed yelling at him teammates who were taking shots early in the shot clock – and they he proceeded to put up a brick fest (before the 4th quarter)
Based on the post game conferences and the bloggersphere, the Laker organization doesn’t believe it has been outplayed, it believes it has been cheated.
Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson should be talking less about the FT disparity and talking more about how they’ve played like ass for 2 games now – in what was supposed to be Kobe Bryant’s “I’m better than Jordan” – series and Phil Jackson’s “I’m better than Red”-series.
That being said – i STILL think the Lakers will win this series. My logic is simple. All year I’ve been bombarded with people telling me the West is so much more dominant than the East. Well, the Lakers were CLEARLY the best team in the West, and I honestly think the Cavs were a better team than the Celtics in the playoffs – but they totally blew game 1 and they very easily could have won games 5 and 7 whereas I never thought Boston had a chance to win any games in Cleveland. They ended the series with a positive point differential against the Celtics.
It’s very difficult for me in my pessimism to believe that the Cavs could have contended with a Western Conference team. Well, I’m not seeing anything different from the Celtics this series that I didn’t see the last 2 series from them – with the exception that Kevin Garnett can no longer hit a wide open jumper like he did all series against Cleveland.
Therefore, I believe that the Lakers are just horribly underachieving right now on offense, and that they just aren’t a good defensive team. The underachieving is a reflection of their leadership – they have way too much talent and the best player on the court – they should not lose this series under any circumstances. Really, I think they should have already won a game, but it’s a long series, they have plenty of time to regroup. The longer they whine about fouls and yell at each other for taking open shots early in the shot clock – the less chance they have. But if they get back to playing Laker basketball, moving the ball and playing scrappy on defense, they will win.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hoffman – you point out that Kobe has outplayed Pierce when he has defended him. Well, Ray Allen hasn’t exactly been SHUT DOWN by Kobe’s defense.
Did they REALLY give Rondo an assist for the coast to coast dunk?????????!!!!
No way. That must have been a mistake.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Tsunami,
Ray Allen is doing his damage coming off of screens and hitting 3’s in transition. He hasn’t hit too many baskets when defended by Bryant straight up.
Pierce has hit more baskets than I can count when defended by V-Rad and Walton in iso situations.
Check out Hollinger’s article in ESPN’s Daily Dime (click the link under the Ballerblogger essentials), he writes that the Celtics gave Rondo an assist on that play.
The Celtics have outplayed the Lakers for two straight games. There’s no denying that.
But there’s also no denying the fact that LA was robbed of at least 10 free throw opportunities last night.
Not to mention the two bogus calls that were assessed to Bryant in the first quarter that completely changed the complexion of that game.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Hoffman,
I didn’t start watching the game until the 2nd quarter, so I can’t comment on the early fouls. However, I know what you mean how that can change the complexion of a game.
The problem is, guys like Kobe and LeBron are seen as always getting the benefit of the doubt on calls – and in reality, I watch the games, they don’t always get the benefit of the doubt. Both players are at their best when they are aggressive, and bs foul calls often take them out of their comfort zone and they are reduced to firing jumpers out of rhythm.
Even if the officiating is bad, I hate when players and coaches talk about that in press conferences. It’s one thing when it’s in the moment and you are fired up – it’s another when you’re in the locker room after a shower and all you can do is make excuses for the loss – and not improvements.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
According to Curt Schilling’s blog, all Kobe did was yell at his teammates last night.
“Kobe. This one stunned me a little bit. Who doesn’t know Kobe Bryant right? I only know what I have heard, starting awhile back with the entire Shaq debacle. I don’t really have an opinion one way or the other on or about him other than to know that people feel he might be one of the 4-5 greatest players to ever lace it up. What I do know is what I got to see up close and hear, was unexpected. From the first tip until about 4 minutes left in the game I saw and heard this guy bitch at his teammates. Every TO he came to the bench pissed, and a few of them he went to other guys and yelled about something they weren’t doing, or something they did wrong. No dialog about “hey let’s go, let’s get after it” or whatever. He spent the better part of 3.5 quarters pissed off and ranting at the non-execution or lack of, of his team. Then when they made what almost was a historic run in the 4th, during a TO, he got down on the floor and basically said ‘Let’s f’ing go, right now, right here” or something to that affect. I am not making this observation in a good or bad way, I have no idea how the guys in the NBA play or do things like this, but I thought it was a fascinating bit of insight for me to watch someone in another sport who is in the position of a team leader and how he interacted with his team and teammates. Watching the other 11 guys, every time out it was high fives and “Hey nice work, let’s get after it” or something to that affect. He walked off the floor, obligatory skin contact on the high five, and sat on the bench stone faced or pissed off, the whole game. Just weird to see another sport and how it all works. I would assume that’s his style and how he plays and what works for him because when I saw the leader board for scoring in the post season his name sat up top at 31+ a game, can’t argue with that. But as a fan I was watching the whole thing, Kobe, his teammates and then the after effects of conversations. He’d yell at someone, make a point, or send a message, turn and walk away, and more than once the person on the other end would roll eyes or give a ‘whatever dude’ look.”
June 9th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Hoff said: “My pointing out Bryant’s 4 shots in the paint wasn’t meant to be critical in nature. It was more of a compliment to the Celtics defense.”
Really, Hoff, just say it. LOL. If I can drive into the paint and get my shot off in an NBA game, Kobe can. Truth is, Kobe and most guards with his dribbling ability, can get into the paint whenever they want. It’s just the closer you get to the basket, the less space to operate you have because people collapse on you (at least, they’re SUPPOSED to).
No defense in the world is going to stop an NBA guard with decent penetration skills from getting to at least the free throw line.
Kobe didn’t penetrate. Period. Don’t credit Boston for disallowing him to do so. Kobe should have driven to the hoop more.
June 10th, 2008 at 5:24 am
[...] Vladimir Radmanovic, Luke Walton, and Trevor Ariza (7 minutes) have been completely ineffective defending Pierce in this series. They’ve fallen for nearly every pumpfake he’s thrown at them and that’s allowed Pierce to get into the … Source: Lakers-Celtics Game 2 Recap [...]