The Lakers managed to stay alive for another two days with their 103-98 victory on Sunday night. The Celtics set an NBA Playoff record with their ninth road loss of these playoffs.
Here are some news, notes and observations from Game Five.
1) The Third Quarter
For the first time in seven meetings against the Celtics this year, the Lakers outscored the Celtics in the third quarter. This was especially big considering the Celtics outscored the Lakers 30-16 in the second quarter to cut their seventeen-point first quarter deficit to three by halftime.
2) Jordan Farmar
The team that has had the highest-scoring reserve has won each game of the series thus far. Even though the Celtics bench outscored their Lakers counterparts, the highest scoring reserve for the game was Jordan Farmar with eleven points off the bench.
Farmar came up huge for the Lakers. At a time when it seemed that nobody could knock down an outside shot, Farmar was the only player who had success taking the ball to the basket. Part of that was due to Kevin Garnett's foul trouble but Farmar deserves credit nonetheless for coming up with big baskets to save the Lakers season.
3) He's still in the league?
Phil Jackson put Chris Mihm in the game for some inexplicable reason. In just three minutes of play Mihm committed one turnover and two fouls. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we won't be seeing Mihm in Game Six.
I'm curious as to why Jackson hasn't used Ira Newble in the series. After spending the first three games in street clothes, Jackson activated Newble for the last two games in place of DJ Mbenga.
With Kobe Bryant in foul trouble in the third quarter and Paul Pierce having his way with every Laker who tried to defend him, I'm surprised that he didn't give Newble at least a couple of minutes to see what he could do.
Newble spent the past seven years in the Eastern Conference and is definitely accustomed to the more physical style of play that's played in the east. I have a feeling we'll be seeing Newble on Tuesday night.
4) Where was Trevor Ariza?
In Thursday's game, Trevor Ariza scored six points, had five rebounds, one block and one steal in just nine minutes. So Phil Jackson rewards him on Sunday by giving him just one minute of action.
5) Fisher and Farmar in the same backcourt.
I can't recall another time this season when I saw Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar in the game at the same time. I still haven't figured out why it happened last night. It's not as if either of them were playing great defense.
Farmar's defense was downright pathetic. You can see the eyes of their opponents light up when they see him on the court. If he doesn't improve his defense he'll never be the future point-guard the Lakers envision him to be. He's certainly not going to learn how to play better defense in the forty-eight hours before the next game.
That reminds me...
I don't think I've seen the Lakers take a charge in this entire series. I've seen them flop but I haven't seen them take a charge. You can't underestimate the value of a charge. Not only is it a turnover but it's also swings momentum and spreads through a team like a contagious disease.
6) One day versus two days.
4 comments Last one added 12 months ago — Leave a Comment
RedSox Maniac about 1 year ago
You are still heated about that? Wow. I still enjoy your articles. But I only used yours as a dynamic. I'm sorry if I offended you, but its funny that you don't take criticism.
If anything, all of my articles are un-biased. I even wrote an article telling Celtics fans to hold their horses, since they were hollering about having a parade.
But anyways, read my stuff. You're missing out. I have no hard feelings, and I like your writing. But I wouldn't criticize you if I didn't think you were good. If you don't like my opinion, you can ignore it. But you wrote a 3 paragraph note about me, so I guess I got to you. Sorry.
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Erick Blasco about 1 year ago
Another great article.
1) Doc Rivers gave Rondo too much time in the third quarter and the Lakers were able to take advantage by sagging into passing lanes on defense, and running in transition on offense. Also, Lamar Odom was able to get down low against James Posey for a number of aggressive layups.
It isn't a coincidence that the Lakers have played their best defense the last few games in quarters Rajon Rondo got heavy minutes in, or that Lamar Odom played great without Kendrick Perkins pushing him around.
2) Farmar was a huge shot in the arm. Very few bench players stepped up for either team. Cassell and Posey did for Boston, Farmar did for Los Angeles, and it was enough.
3) I think Jackson wanted to get more length on the floor that Ronnie Turiaf couldn't provide. Fortunately for the Lakers, Jackson realized his error pretty quickly.
4) Ariza did nothing in the second half of Game 4, and I believe his only play of note in Game 5 was misplaying a screen allowed Paul Pierce to blow by him for a layup.
Then again, Luke Walton and Vladimir Radmanovic did the same thing...
5) I'm sure Jackson put in Farmar because Vujacic had been struggling for a couple of days and wanted to keep a quick sparkplug in with Fisher. Farmar's defense was terrible, but his scoring made up for it.
6) An interesting point I haven't paid attention to. I also wonder how much energy Pierce will have since he was Boston's offense from the end of the first quarter till the final buzzer in Game 5. He's expended a lot of energy and it's impossible to expect another batch of valiant performances.
I'm willing to excuse Allen's poor game because he's been good all series and played good defense, but Garnett's 3 missed free throws late, inability to grab a rebound with less than a minute to go, two missed tips (including a gimme over Farmar) late in the game, his mediocre defense on Gasol, and his inability to stay on the court were epic mistakes on par with his history.
8) Gasol played pretty well, and Odom was great. Props to each for stepping up. I'd be concerned if I were Boston with Perkins out. Boston doesn't have much length on the bench they can go to in his stead. They have strength, but Odom can just shoot over Davis and Powe.
9) Another proponent of the Lakers coming prepared to play every game, and by their ability to force Boston to play four-on-five when Rondo's on the floor. The Lakers definitely know how to blitz early. They eliminated the Jazz partly because they'd jump out to leads the Jazz didn't know how to come back from.
10) The Lakers play with heart and energy but they make a lot of mistakes and don't pay great attention to detail. A lesser team would have been wiped out by Utah and certainly by San Antonio. If Perkins doesn't play, and Pierce's gas tank needs to recharge, then the Lakers certainly have a solid chance of forcing an anything happens Game Seven.
I don't have much confidence in LA's ability to defend in Boston, and I'm not sure about their poise. But then again, I have no confidence in Garnett, and I have to side with Kobe over Pierce. Everything points to Boston being a better team, but then again, the Lakers outplayed the Celtics in Game 3 and half of Game 4, and they made all the right plays to steal Game 5.
Game 6 should be another fun one (they always are).
P.S. Don't be too harsh on the Maniac. I'm jealous my articles aren't good enough for people to "revisit!"
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John McClory about 1 year ago
All valid points in the article. Not sure Boston fans can endure another heartbreaking collapse. The Lakers seem to be in "nothing to lose" mode since the media all but declared the end to the series when it was at 3-1.
Pierce is gimpy, Perkins is a question mark, Garnett is losing his mind, Allen is dealing with family life, their plane was delayed with apparent "mechanical issues," and the refs, as always, are completely unreliable.
But I'm far more enamored with the first potential Bleacher Report blogger feud. Seriously though, let's not take any of this too seriously. Consider it a compliment.
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RedSox Maniac 12 months ago
I looked over this:
You are biased.
See you next year, chump.
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