Paul Pierce has definitely been the MVP of the series up to this point. But it must be pointed out, in light of Pierce's sprained knee, how different he plays when he has two days off between games as opposed to one day off.
In Game One, Pierce had 22 points with five days off between the end of the Conference Finals and the Finals.
In Game Two, he had 28 points with two days off between games.
In Game Three, he had six points with one day off and an airplane ride between games. Sure he was in foul trouble but he still played 32 minutes.
In Game Four, he had 20 points but a lot of that was because he only played 32 minutes in the previous game.
In Game Five, he had 38 points but he played all but just a few seconds of the entire game.
I'm anxious to see how Pierce plays tomorrow night after just one day off and another plane ride between games.
With Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo disappearing, Kendrick Perkins ailing, and Ray Allen now having the additional burden of his daughter's sudden illness, it seems like there's even more of a burden now on Pierce to carry the offensive load.
Kobe Bryant will make much more of a concerted effort to stay out of foul trouble so that he can spend more time guarding Pierce in the second half.
7) The Celtics inability to close.
The Celtics are now 3-3 in these playoffs when they have an opportunity to close out a series. The good news for them is that they are 2-0 at home and they have two chances to close out the series in Boston.
8) Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom
Gasol and Odom combined for 39 points and 24 rebounds on an impressive 70% shooting between them. If those two guys, along with Kobe Bryant, score 65 points like they did on Sunday, then the rest of the team need only score 35 points to put them in a position to win.
9) It's all about the defense.
When the Lakers play intense defense, as they did in the fourth quarter of Game Two, the first half of Game Four and the first quarter of Game Five, they are able to play their style of offense.
When they play matador defense, like they did in every other quarter of the series, then the Celtics have the ability to set up their brilliant half-court defense while the ball is falling through the net and the Lakers are in-bounding the ball.
There is a direct correlation in the series between bad offensive quarters by the Celtics and good offensive quarters by the Lakers, and it's not merely a coincidence.
If the Lakers play with the same defensive intensity as they did in the first half of Game Four and the first quarter of Game Five, then they'll have a chance to win on Tuesday night. If they have to play come-from-behind basketball at the end of the first quarter, then the game will be over after just twelve minutes.
10) Age and experience
The Celtics have dictated tempo throughout the series. It's not difficult to figure out which team has only one player over thirty and which one has nine players over thirty.
Despite their youth, lack of experience, and in-ability to dictate tempo, the Lakers are one horrible half of basketball away from being up 3-2 in the series.
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