NBA Finals: Officiating Costs Lakers Game 2 & Possibly Their Season

The Los Angeles Lakers played average at best in game two.

Lamar Odom was confused and played a below average game scoring only 10 points and getting only 8 rebounds. They allowed Rondo to get 16 assists and Powe to get 21 points in only 15 minutes.

However, the Lakers lost game two because of the terrible officiating.

The Celtics got to the line 38 times, while the Lakers, who have the best player in the planet, got to the line a mere 10 times. Leon Powe, some nobody off the bench, got to the line 13 times, three more than the whole Lakers team.

Every time the Celtics drove and got touched, the refs would call a sissy foul and bail them out. On the other hand, when the Lakers were driving (mostly Kobe), they would get hit much harder and more often and not get a call—resulting in a tough attempt usually ending with a bad miss. 

Times like these would also give the Cetics the opportunity to run in transition and be effective—especially with Rondo distributing to Ray Allen for three three-pointers.

All of the Lakers haters and Celtics fans are going to say Lakers fans are just whining.  Additionally, the media is saying the frontcourt (mostly Gasol and Odom) are soft and have no toughness.

The Lakers are by no means a physical team. They are a finesse team—mostly because of Bynum's absence in the middle.

The haters are also going to say that the Lakers took a lot jumpers and weren't aggressive like the Celtics who drove to the basket more. They are wrong.

In game two, the Lakers had 42 perimeter shots and 41 shots in the paint while getting to the line only 10 times. The Celtics took 45 perimeter shots and only 23 shots in the paint while getting to the line 38 times.

As bad as the Lakers played—or as bad as the officiating was—and as good as the Celtics shot from both the field and from the three-point line (53 percent from the field and 64 percent from the three-point line), the Lakers were still in the game and had a chance to steal one on the road.

The league wanted Boston to win game two because now the series is going to last 6-7 games which David Stern and all of his executives have been dying for.

They know the Lakers are going to hold serve and win their three games at home, and that they are going to be up 3-2 going into game six in Boston.

This could cost the Lakers their season. 

It will be extremely difficult for them to win four games out of five against a very good team and clinch the series by winning in Boston to end the Celtics' magical season.

However, I think the Lakers are going to win the next four games in a row. They are going to hold serve at home where the officiating will be much more fair, and their bench and role players will play a lot better while the role players of the Celtics will play worse.

Then, in game six, the Lakers are going to win a close game with Kobe dominating the fourth quarter and securing his fourth championship with a legendary performance to shut up all of his haters.