Celtics defeat 1) Lakers 108-102: Paul Pierce had 28 points and 8 assists, Kevin Garnett had 17 points and 14 boards, and the Celtics take a 2-0 lead heading to LA. Kobe Bryant had 30 points and 8 assists, and Pau Gasol added 17 points and 10 points for the Lakers, who head home with a lot of work to do.
Stud of the Night: Leon Powe. In probably the biggest game of his career in the biggest spotlight, Powe scored 21 points in 15 minutes off the bench for the Celtics, and the Celtics head to the West Coast with a 2-0 lead.
Man, what a great game! Lakers had a phenomenal fourth quarter, but came up just short in tying the series.
I underestimated Boston’s defense, they are as good as advertised. They kept Kobe frustrated for most of the night. Even though he finished with 30 points, he couldn’t find his rhythm. You could tell he was trying to take over in the third quarter, yelling at the team to step it up, taking most of the shots, but it wasn’t enough.
Can’t say enough about Leon Powe’s fantastic performance tonight. The Celtics bench has been so-so all season, but have gotten some good performances from Powe, House, Cassell, etc this playoff season.
I’m not joining forces with either team, but the free throw discrepancy was quite large. 10 for the Lakers, 38 for the Celtics. I’m not saying the Lakers played great, but they deserved more fouls called for them.
Looks good so far for the Celtics, Lakers have a lot of work ahead of them.
Boston benefited from a few questionable calls, but LA didn’t get hosed.
Still, Boston got a taste of what LA can do offensively when you allow them to get into a rhythm. They’re going to get more of a taste on the road.
That old saying states that a series doesn’t begin until someone wins on the road. That’s definitely true here. The corollary to that statement is that we really can’t pass judgment on which team is stronger until we get a couple of games in Los Angeles.
In the end though, it’s 2-zip C’s. The Lakers have already burned up nearly all of their mulligans. They really need to take all three in LA, or it could easily be lights out for Showtime.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
shizen wrote:
as a laker fan first thought is fuck the refs
as basketball fan, that was a great game with a very close finish.
This series is not over, lakers will win next two, steal one at boston then finish it at home thats my prediction.
The Finals format is 2-3-2, so Games 3, 4, and 5 will be in LA. Games 6 and 7 will be back in Boston.
You are right that the series is very definitely not over.
In 2006, Dallas won Games 1 and 2 at home, and then lost in six.
In 2005, SA won Games 1 and 2 at home in huge blowouts, but then had to hold on to win in seven.
Still, being up 2-0 is, historically, a very strong position to be in.[/quote]
ahh I see, lakers have to win all three of those and will in my opinion. This very well will be a 7 game series though, and I have no idea how that will turn out.
Teams have blown 2-0 leads in the Finals exactly three times. In 2006, Miami came back to beat Dallas 4-2. In 1977, Portland came back to beat Philly 4-2. In 1969, Boston came back to beat the LA Lakers 4-3.
Overall, teams that trail 0-2 in the Finals have a cumulative series record of 3-25, not counting this current series.
Again, it’s not over, but LA is not in a good position right now.
EDIT: More trivia, and edited a typo.
On 28 occasions excluding 2008, teams have taken 2-0 leads in the Finals. Three times has the trailing team come back to win the overall series.
On four other occasions, the trailing team has come back to tie the series before losing the overall series.
One of those four occasions had the trailing team actually taking the series lead before losing the overall series.
On the whole, of the 28 times in NBA Finals history prior to this year that a team took a 2-0 lead, the leading team has a series record of 25-3. The trailing team has come back to tie the series only 7 times out of 25.
Doc Rivers talked about how near the end, the most important thing was to not let the Lakers find their rhythm. Boston failed to do this and the Lakers nearly stole Game 2 from right beneath them. Now LA gets to go home with every confidence that they can outplay Boston decisively, while Boston goes to LA thinking “what the hell just happened?”
Boston absolutely cannot afford to take anything for granted at this juncture. Should be an interesting remainder of a series.
I’m just unhappy that Bill Simmons is looking smart. Don’t get me wrong, I love his articles. But I love when he swings and misses during his Boston homer rants.
[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
I’m not joining forces with either team, but the free throw discrepancy was quite large. 10 for the Lakers, 38 for the Celtics. I’m not saying the Lakers played great, but they deserved more fouls called for them.[/quote]
I’ve only seen the first half so far (my friend’s bride didn’t pick an ideal date for the wedding) but this was painfully obvious. And yes, I know LAL should be the last team to complain about officiating, but that first half was pretty piss poor.
I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole game, but that fourth quarter was the most lopsided officiating I’ve ever seen. The Lakers couldn’t buy a call and the Celts couldn’t walk up the floor without going to the line. That play where Pierce threw up a wild shot and went to the line with the Lakers down 2 killed their chance. Total bullshit bail out. Powe played his ass off [guess there’s a reason he was a top 5 prospect coming outta highschool], but he got a ton of bail outs in the first half. If the Celts win this series there should be an asterik by it.
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole game, but that fourth quarter was the most lopsided officiating I’ve ever seen. The Lakers couldn’t buy a call and the Celts couldn’t walk up the floor without going to the line. That play where Pierce threw up a wild shot and went to the line with the Lakers down 2 killed their chance. Total bullshit bail out. Powe played his ass off [guess there’s a reason he was a top 5 prospect coming outta highschool], but he got a ton of bail outs in the first half. If the Celts win this series there should be an asterik by it.[/quote]
Then the NBA can stamp an asterisk of LA’s Western Conference Championship trophy for a matching set.
Get over it. The officiating was in Boston’s favor, but the one-sidedness was not egregious to the point of absurdity. Boston was far more aggressive on offense, and LA’s defense was very shoddy. They were often out of position, which, when paired with aggressive offense, leads to a crap load of free throws.
Further, I guarantee you that LA will get similar treatment in LA at least once. If the Lakers lose, it will be because Boston exposed them as a one-man team with cruddy defense, not because of the officiating in Game 2.
At least let the series play out before you start whining and crying about asterisks.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
WhiteFlash wrote:
I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole game, but that fourth quarter was the most lopsided officiating I’ve ever seen. The Lakers couldn’t buy a call and the Celts couldn’t walk up the floor without going to the line. That play where Pierce threw up a wild shot and went to the line with the Lakers down 2 killed their chance. Total bullshit bail out. Powe played his ass off [guess there’s a reason he was a top 5 prospect coming outta highschool], but he got a ton of bail outs in the first half. If the Celts win this series there should be an asterik by it.
Then the NBA can stamp an asterisk of LA’s Western Conference Championship trophy for a matching set.
Get over it. The officiating was in Boston’s favor, but the one-sidedness was not egregious to the point of absurdity. Boston was far more aggressive on offense, and LA’s defense was very shoddy. They were often out of position, which, when paired with aggressive offense, leads to a crap load of free throws.
Further, I guarantee you that LA will get similar treatment in LA at least once. If the Lakers lose, it will be because Boston exposed them as a one-man team with cruddy defense, not because of the officiating in Game 2.
At least let the series play out before you start whining and crying about asterisks.[/quote]
You’re joking right? The Spurs got way more calls than the Lakers did. No one here is “whining and crying” jerkoff. I fully expect the Lakers to get homecourt benefit in LA, but on the off chance they don’t is why I said “if the Celts win”.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
WhiteFlash wrote:
I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole game, but that fourth quarter was the most lopsided officiating I’ve ever seen. The Lakers couldn’t buy a call and the Celts couldn’t walk up the floor without going to the line. That play where Pierce threw up a wild shot and went to the line with the Lakers down 2 killed their chance. Total bullshit bail out. Powe played his ass off [guess there’s a reason he was a top 5 prospect coming outta highschool], but he got a ton of bail outs in the first half. If the Celts win this series there should be an asterik by it.
Then the NBA can stamp an asterisk of LA’s Western Conference Championship trophy for a matching set.
Get over it. The officiating was in Boston’s favor, but the one-sidedness was not egregious to the point of absurdity. Boston was far more aggressive on offense, and LA’s defense was very shoddy. They were often out of position, which, when paired with aggressive offense, leads to a crap load of free throws.
Further, I guarantee you that LA will get similar treatment in LA at least once. If the Lakers lose, it will be because Boston exposed them as a one-man team with cruddy defense, not because of the officiating in Game 2.
At least let the series play out before you start whining and crying about asterisks.[/quote]
Not to get into big debate, but it was absurd for most of the game. At one point it was like 30 free throws to 2… thats utter bullshit any way you look at it. Regardless LA deserved to lose for playing like shit, only reason they really came back in 4th is because Boston gave up playing quite a bit.
All those fouls will take even the best team out though, take away the rythem give the other team free points and send your best players to the bench and force them to play soft.
I’m not going to make a real judgment on who I think is better though till I see the lakers play at home.
The foul situation was absurd. Whether or not it balances out with an absurd situation in LA’s favor won’t change the fact that the officiating in game 2 was awful.
[quote]Malevolence wrote:
The foul situation was absurd. Whether or not it balances out with an absurd situation in LA’s favor won’t change the fact that the officiating in game 2 was awful. [/quote]
I hope it does not, I hate watching a game where they are calling fouls all the time. They should just let them play basketball, slowing down the tempo of the game is horrible; made the game very boring for the most part. Of course call the obvious fouls, but ticky tac fouls should be removed from the game, this is professional basketball it doesn’t need that crap.
I’m not arguing that the officiating was even-handed in Game 2, because it clearly wasn’t.
But you guys are acting like the sky is falling because of the FTA discrepancy (38-10). Recall that Boston was very aggressive on offense and on the glass, while LA settled for jump shots for most of the night. Leon Powe was the biggest single reason for the FTA inequity because of his 13 FTA’s, and nearly all of them were due to his aggressive offense, not ticky-tack’s. The way the teams played had a lot to do with that FTA discrepancy.
Note that LA settled for jump shots vs. SA as well, and they had a large FTA discrepancy for that series too. Boston did the same vs. Atlanta; check the FTA between Boston and the Hawks during that series.
Even with “fair” officiating, Boston would’ve outshot LA by something like 34-16 at the foul line. That’s how the two teams played the game.
Lakers led in Rebounds most of the game(and finished 36-37, with one more Offensive board than boston), they also had more points in the paint for most of the first half. They weren’t exactly timid on boards or paint(gasol and odom both shot the majority of their FGs from the low post as). Boston was more aggressive… physically, and they got away with it.
[quote]tGunslinger wrote:
I’m not arguing that the officiating was even-handed in Game 2, because it clearly wasn’t.
But you guys are acting like the sky is falling because of the FTA discrepancy (38-10). Recall that Boston was very aggressive on offense and on the glass, while LA settled for jump shots for most of the night. Leon Powe was the biggest single reason for the FTA inequity because of his 13 FTA’s, and nearly all of them were due to his aggressive offense, not ticky-tack’s. The way the teams played had a lot to do with that FTA discrepancy.
Note that LA settled for jump shots vs. SA as well, and they had a large FTA discrepancy for that series too. Boston did the same vs. Atlanta; check the FTA between Boston and the Hawks during that series.
Even with “fair” officiating, Boston would’ve outshot LA by something like 34-16 at the foul line. That’s how the two teams played the game.[/quote]
It’s not just the free throw difference, although that is a big part of it. It’s disrupting rhythm, calling bogus techs and allowing the game to feel like it’s being played 8 on 5. LA played like shit, I think we’re all on the same page there. But, when Boston slacked towards the end and the Lakers started to mount a comeback, the refs made it their personal mission to see that LA wouldn’t win. That Pierce call with LA down 2 was as blatant a bail out as I’ve ever seen.