[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Stoke[/quote]
Kobe has been waiting for this moment for such a long time and I predict he will score 50+ tonight!!! You heard it here first.
NBA FINALS GAME 1 RECAP:
- Celtics defeat 1) Lakers 98-88: Kevin Garnett had 24 points and 13 boards, Paul Pierce had 22 points, and the Celtics are up 1-0 in the Finals. Kobe Bryant had 24 on a rough shooting night, and Pau Gasol added 14 points for the Lakers.
Stud of the Night: Paul Pierce. After going down with a knee injury, Paul Pierce re-enters the game, hits back to back threes, and finishes with 22 points and a 1-0 series lead for the Celtics.
Great way to start the Finals. Awesome job by the Celtics to pull off the win. Pierce coming back from a knee injury, then hitting two threes (including a SICK shot on Vladimir Radmonovic) and got fouled was huge. It seemed like the Pierce injury was the turning point for the Celtics.
Kobe had a rough shooting, barely hitting one-third of his shots. He didn’t get much help either from his supporting cast, which is where he really needs it the most.
KG missed quite a few shots in a row late in the game, but followed it up with a monster put-back dunk, as well as hitting a couple of free throws.
Celtics look good, got good team contribution tonight. Lakers need more than Kobe to help out if they want to win.
Getting Game 1 was huge for Boston. But, unlike the Detroit series, they never quite controlled the game. It felt as if the Lakers had Boston slightly off-balance all game long.
Despite the C’s being up 1-0, I’m not comfortable at all. Doubly so if the knee will bother Pierce once it really cools off and the injury sets.
Still, holding LA to 37 2nd half pts, and shutting down Kobe in crunch time with suffocating defense, was a strong performance.
Great game. Tough loss. Does not worry this Lakers Fan. The Celtics did play crippling defense, but even still, Kobe missed at least a half dozen clear and open shots. He did not have a good shooting night, I expect him to come out very strongly out the gate of game two.
I thought Odom was really struggling against the low post presence of Garnett, But I thought that Gasol handled it pretty well. Fisher had a great night as well. The Bench did pretty well overall, but the Celtics Bench matched them pretty decently. I would have liked to have seen Farmar making more of an impact, and I hope he does in the future games.
Paul Pierce’s Knee may or may not be a big factor in this series. That seemed like a pretty serious spill, and just cause he was able to slap himself out of it doesn’t mean that it won’t cause him grief for the remainder of the series.
The Refs made funky calls all night for both teams. I thought that Posey should have been called for a Flagrant when he fouled Kobe and then after the whistle fouled him even harder. I thought that was ridiculous. Also, I could have sworn Garnett’s foot was in fact on the line when he saved that backcourt ball, of course the line was largely obscured by that giant trophy(I watched it in slow-mo on the tivo, but didn’t have the best angle).
But, the Lakers got away with their fair share of questionable moves as well, and that is not what decided the game, still felt the officials were making strange, out of focus calls.
man I really dislike peirce, his whole injury seemed so fake.
I maintain my Celtics in 6 prediction.
This is one of my favourite topics. You guys have covered a lot of what I was thinking so I have little to contribute, just suffice to say that the write ups are outstanding and the pics wonderful. Let’s see this every year!!
[quote]Malevolence wrote:
Great game. Tough loss. Does not worry this Lakers Fan. The Celtics did play crippling defense, but even still, Kobe missed at least a half dozen clear and open shots. He did not have a good shooting night, I expect him to come out very strongly out the gate of game two.
I thought Odom was really struggling against the low post presence of Garnett, But I thought that Gasol handled it pretty well. Fisher had a great night as well. The Bench did pretty well overall, but the Celtics Bench matched them pretty decently. I would have liked to have seen Farmar making more of an impact, and I hope he does in the future games.
Paul Pierce’s Knee may or may not be a big factor in this series. That seemed like a pretty serious spill, and just cause he was able to slap himself out of it doesn’t mean that it won’t cause him grief for the remainder of the series.
The Refs made funky calls all night for both teams. I thought that Posey should have been called for a Flagrant when he fouled Kobe and then after the whistle fouled him even harder. I thought that was ridiculous. Also, I could have sworn Garnett’s foot was in fact on the line when he saved that backcourt ball, of course the line was largely obscured by that giant trophy(I watched it in slow-mo on the tivo, but didn’t have the best angle).
But, the Lakers got away with their fair share of questionable moves as well, and that is not what decided the game, still felt the officials were making strange, out of focus calls.
[/quote]
That Posey play was necessary with the way refs call continuations in the NBA. A guy can take 2 steps after the whistle and they’ll still call it in the act of shooting. Kobe kept playing after the whistle, so Posey did too. Besides, Kobe did a little acting to make it seem more dramatic.
Pierce’s injury will affect him for sure, but he relies a lot more on his skills than his athleticism at the offensive end anyway. Defensively, he probably can’t be put on Kobe at all.
[quote]escot4 wrote:
That Posey play was necessary with the way refs call continuations in the NBA. A guy can take 2 steps after the whistle and they’ll still call it in the act of shooting. Kobe kept playing after the whistle, so Posey did too. Besides, Kobe did a little acting to make it seem more dramatic.[/quote]
I really liked that Posey foul the same way I liked both teams’ execution for most of the 1st quarter – reminded me of the golden days of the 80s where hard fouls and hitting open jumpers were pretty standard.
A part of me is concerned about LAL’s weak rebounding and lack of assertiveness in Game 1. But then, we haven’t seen any coaching adjustments yet. And besides, it’s hard to get too uncomfortable if you can remember that 148-114 “Memorial Day Massacre” that occurred the last time these two teams began the Finals in Boston. Fresh off the heels of that embarrassing loss, LAL finally took down BOS by winning four of the next five.
[quote]escot4 wrote:
Malevolence wrote:
Great game. Tough loss. Does not worry this Lakers Fan. The Celtics did play crippling defense, but even still, Kobe missed at least a half dozen clear and open shots. He did not have a good shooting night, I expect him to come out very strongly out the gate of game two.
I thought Odom was really struggling against the low post presence of Garnett, But I thought that Gasol handled it pretty well. Fisher had a great night as well. The Bench did pretty well overall, but the Celtics Bench matched them pretty decently. I would have liked to have seen Farmar making more of an impact, and I hope he does in the future games.
Paul Pierce’s Knee may or may not be a big factor in this series. That seemed like a pretty serious spill, and just cause he was able to slap himself out of it doesn’t mean that it won’t cause him grief for the remainder of the series.
The Refs made funky calls all night for both teams. I thought that Posey should have been called for a Flagrant when he fouled Kobe and then after the whistle fouled him even harder. I thought that was ridiculous. Also, I could have sworn Garnett’s foot was in fact on the line when he saved that backcourt ball, of course the line was largely obscured by that giant trophy(I watched it in slow-mo on the tivo, but didn’t have the best angle).
But, the Lakers got away with their fair share of questionable moves as well, and that is not what decided the game, still felt the officials were making strange, out of focus calls.
That Posey play was necessary with the way refs call continuations in the NBA. A guy can take 2 steps after the whistle and they’ll still call it in the act of shooting. Kobe kept playing after the whistle, so Posey did too. Besides, Kobe did a little acting to make it seem more dramatic.
Pierce’s injury will affect him for sure, but he relies a lot more on his skills than his athleticism at the offensive end anyway. Defensively, he probably can’t be put on Kobe at all.[/quote]
Pierce’s injury is nonexistent, he does this great acting job has to be carried off in a wheel chair then comes back in less then 3 min and performs BETTER.
[quote]shizen wrote:
escot4 wrote:
Malevolence wrote:
Great game. Tough loss. Does not worry this Lakers Fan. The Celtics did play crippling defense, but even still, Kobe missed at least a half dozen clear and open shots. He did not have a good shooting night, I expect him to come out very strongly out the gate of game two.
I thought Odom was really struggling against the low post presence of Garnett, But I thought that Gasol handled it pretty well. Fisher had a great night as well. The Bench did pretty well overall, but the Celtics Bench matched them pretty decently. I would have liked to have seen Farmar making more of an impact, and I hope he does in the future games.
Paul Pierce’s Knee may or may not be a big factor in this series. That seemed like a pretty serious spill, and just cause he was able to slap himself out of it doesn’t mean that it won’t cause him grief for the remainder of the series.
The Refs made funky calls all night for both teams. I thought that Posey should have been called for a Flagrant when he fouled Kobe and then after the whistle fouled him even harder. I thought that was ridiculous.
Also, I could have sworn Garnett’s foot was in fact on the line when he saved that backcourt ball, of course the line was largely obscured by that giant trophy(I watched it in slow-mo on the tivo, but didn’t have the best angle).
But, the Lakers got away with their fair share of questionable moves as well, and that is not what decided the game, still felt the officials were making strange, out of focus calls.
That Posey play was necessary with the way refs call continuations in the NBA. A guy can take 2 steps after the whistle and they’ll still call it in the act of shooting. Kobe kept playing after the whistle, so Posey did too. Besides, Kobe did a little acting to make it seem more dramatic.
Pierce’s injury will affect him for sure, but he relies a lot more on his skills than his athleticism at the offensive end anyway. Defensively, he probably can’t be put on Kobe at all.
Pierce’s injury is nonexistent, he does this great acting job has to be carried off in a wheel chair then comes back in less then 3 min and performs BETTER. [/quote]
Pierce was noticeably gimpy after he came back in. It obviously wasn’t a debilitating injury, but Pierce was not doing any driving, cutting, or pivoting after the injury. His lateral quickness was noticeably missing.
Haven’t you ever had a minor to moderate injury that you mistakenly thought was severe the moment it happened?
And why is everybody all over Pierce for this one thing (where he was actually injured), but everybody kept orgasming over Dwyane Wade’s “toughness” in the 2006 Playoffs when he faked injuries every other game?
He was worse than a European soccer player two years ago, and all we heard then was “Fall down seven times, get up eight!”
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
shizen wrote:
escot4 wrote:
Malevolence wrote:
Great game. Tough loss. Does not worry this Lakers Fan. The Celtics did play crippling defense, but even still, Kobe missed at least a half dozen clear and open shots. He did not have a good shooting night, I expect him to come out very strongly out the gate of game two.
I thought Odom was really struggling against the low post presence of Garnett, But I thought that Gasol handled it pretty well. Fisher had a great night as well. The Bench did pretty well overall, but the Celtics Bench matched them pretty decently. I would have liked to have seen Farmar making more of an impact, and I hope he does in the future games.
Paul Pierce’s Knee may or may not be a big factor in this series. That seemed like a pretty serious spill, and just cause he was able to slap himself out of it doesn’t mean that it won’t cause him grief for the remainder of the series.
The Refs made funky calls all night for both teams. I thought that Posey should have been called for a Flagrant when he fouled Kobe and then after the whistle fouled him even harder. I thought that was ridiculous.
Also, I could have sworn Garnett’s foot was in fact on the line when he saved that backcourt ball, of course the line was largely obscured by that giant trophy(I watched it in slow-mo on the tivo, but didn’t have the best angle).
But, the Lakers got away with their fair share of questionable moves as well, and that is not what decided the game, still felt the officials were making strange, out of focus calls.
That Posey play was necessary with the way refs call continuations in the NBA. A guy can take 2 steps after the whistle and they’ll still call it in the act of shooting. Kobe kept playing after the whistle, so Posey did too. Besides, Kobe did a little acting to make it seem more dramatic.
Pierce’s injury will affect him for sure, but he relies a lot more on his skills than his athleticism at the offensive end anyway. Defensively, he probably can’t be put on Kobe at all.
Pierce’s injury is nonexistent, he does this great acting job has to be carried off in a wheel chair then comes back in less then 3 min and performs BETTER.
Pierce was noticeably gimpy after he came back in. It obviously wasn’t a debilitating injury, but Pierce was not doing any driving, cutting, or pivoting after the injury. His lateral quickness was noticeably missing.
Haven’t you ever had a minor to moderate injury that you mistakenly thought was severe the moment it happened?
And why is everybody all over Pierce for this one thing (where he was actually injured), but everybody kept orgasming over Dwyane Wade’s “toughness” in the 2006 Playoffs when he faked injuries every other game?
He was worse than a European soccer player two years ago, and all we heard then was “Fall down seven times, get up eight!”[/quote]
I felt the same way with Dwyane Wade also, but it was probably because he basically carried that team to a championship if pierce is able to do the same it will be the same. I mean if pierce would have at least limped off on some peoples shoulders it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal. But he made it seem like he had almost career ending injury yet was able to come back in no time.
Overall I think the celtics stole one from the lakers that game, I felt the lakers were playing better for most of the game yet the celtics came through when it mattered and kobe for once could not pull his team to victory in the end.
I have my feeling this is going to be a closer series then I at first thought.
I still think Lakers in 7. I think the Lakers will take one in Boston.
[quote]shizen wrote:
…
Overall I think the celtics stole one from the lakers that game, I felt the lakers were playing better for most of the game yet the celtics came through when it mattered and kobe for once could not pull his team to victory in the end.
I have my feeling this is going to be a closer series then I at first thought. [/quote]
Boston did lead for most of that game. Also, LA lost control of the game for good, and the small lead they had, mid way through the third.
LA controlled the flow of the game in the first half - even though Boston led for most of the half - while Boston controlled the flow in the second half.
What did you watch that gave you reason to believe that Boston would be an easy win for the Lakers? Right now, Boston leads 1-0 despite a less than sterling performance by the Celtics in Game 1.
The C’s struggled on the road early in the playoffs, but they’ve been strong at home all playoffs long and now seem to have gotten their act together on the road. It was no accident that they went 66-16 in the regular season and sent LeBron and the Pistons home in the playoffs.
The Lakers may well win the series, but it will not be easy. I personally doubt the Lakers will win period, but we’ll see.
Paul Pierce is a go for Game 2, Perkins is still considered a game time decision but says he is willing and wants to play.
Celtics up by ten at the half, 52-42.
Big game for Pierce so far, the knee does not seem to be a problem, Allen and KG both contribuing, Powe is also having a huge game so far.
Kobe in early foul trouble with 3 fouls at the half. Gasol is having a decent game, but the rest of the Laker bench has to step up.
I can imagine the Lakers are pretty frusterated right now.
I hope we can get some fair officiating, I’m not saying lakers are playing great but fuck 2 to 19 free throws is ridiculous. All these ticky tack fouls are bull shit in a physical finals.
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