Celtics-Lakers: NBA Finals Game Two Preview

After all of the talk of the rivalry, the legends, and the entire history of the match up, Game One was played. The Celtics out-played the Lakers ,and took the first game.

I’m not going to say that Paul Pierce faked the injury as some have. I totally disagree with that statement. He is a relentless competitor, an excellent player and true professional. He was terrified, as any athlete that hears a ‘pop’ in their knee would be. He was experiencing intense pain, as anyone who ever had a knee injury can attest to.

I thought the reaction of everyone not named Paul Pierce was strange. You could see the concern in everyone’s face, because no one wants to see an injury. I can understand him being carried off the court to eliminate the possibility of further injury and assess the damage.

It left me with a few questions. Was the wheel-chair really necessary?

Was the ‘Rocky’ music necessary when he came back to the bench?

Enough with the Willis Reed references. The only similarity is that on both occasions. the crowd went wild. Two entirely different scenarios as far as injuries are concerned.

Paul Pierce may have had one shot of cortisone; he was working off of adrenaline and that adrenaline helped him lead the Celtics to the Game One win.  The Lakers failed to match the Celtics intensity.

If you’re scoring at home, Defense 1 Offense 0. The Celtics played tremendous defense, and were able to clog the middle and cut down the passing lanes in the second half. The Celtics were more physical, and killed the Lakers on the glass, 46-33. Boston’s Big Three all contributed, and the Celtics bench also out-played the Lakers bench.

In a seven game series, each game is like a chess match, and each game takes on its own personality. The NBA Playoffs are all about adjustments. The team that loses the previous game needs to make adjustments for a different outcome in the next game. The Lakers now need to make some adjustments to counter what the Celtics did to them in Game One.

The Lakers, even though they were out-played, did have an opportunity to win Game One. The Lakers were down by five points with three minutes to play.

The Lakers need to out-play the Celtics. Pau Gasol isn’t going to change overnight, meaning he isn’t going to all of a sudden change into a physical rebounder. Pau Gasol needs to use what he has to be effective, and that is his footwork, skill, and length. He has a high basketball IQ ,and needs to be more aggressive around the basket.

It is time for Pau Gasol to step up! His shooting percentage has dropped every series. He is a skilled big man that needs to expect the contact and attack the rim. Paul Gasol and the Lakers need to be more physical. He is still 7-feet, 260 lbs. Establish him as a post presence, and play inside out.

The frontline of the Lakers (Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Vladimir Radmanovic) needs to crash the boards hard. The Lakers need to do a better job of boxing out their guys to eliminate second chance opportunities.   

Game One was like two different games. The Lakers played well in the first half, as seen by their 14 assists, and that all changed in the second half, when the assist total dropped to seven.

Kobe Bryant had a bad shooting game, and I’ve got to credit the combination of the Celtics defense and Kobe missing shots, 17 shots to be exact. Kobe made some spectacular plays, but missed several open shots. The Lakers overall shooting needs to improve.  

The Celtics kind of put up a wall around the painted area against Kobe Bryant every time he worked off the dribble. The Celtics off the ball defenders took a step toward him to help clog the lane and induce him into taking too many jumpers.

The Celtics forced these tough shots, but they are shots Kobe can and should make. Although some were too early in the shot clock, it also helped the Celtics remain organized on defense and control the defensive boards.

I’m expecting one of the adjustments we’ll see is the offense being run through Pau Gasol & Lamar Odom, especially now in light of Paul Pierce’s injury.

I expect Pierce to play, but not be at 100 percent. He was double-teamed on post possessions, and got a lot of his points in transition, including the two big three-pointers in the third quarter. He will not have his normal explosion.

The Lakers will have to test his knee on both ends of the court.

The Lakers need to move the ball,  their ball movement and player movement in the first half was good and the team needs to improve for them to be effective. 

I hate to put it all on one guy, but Lamar Odom has to be more of a factor.

He’s a guy with a tremendous amount of talent, and should be a 20-point, 15-rebound, six assist a night guy, but he isn’t. After a good game, Lamar Odom has had Lakers fan’s asking the “Why can’t he do that every night?” question. He is a good guy, and an excellent teammate who had difficulty being the number two scorer on the team.

That changed when the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, but Lamar Odom being the consummate teammate, he seems to defer to Kobe and Pau a little too much. He has to be more aggressive and attack the rim. He is similar to a talented role-player that can impact a game. However, Lamar is better than a role player, and needs to rise to the occasion.

He has a height, speed and talent advantage over whomever the Celtics put on him, and he has to annihilate whoever the defender is for the Lakers to win. Lamar Odom is an enigma; it’s time to stop the Jekyll & Hyde impersonation. He has to figure it out and become a factor.  The Lakers will have to play better defensively and stop fouling.

Prepare yourself, Game Two should be another epic battle.