Lakers vs. Celtics Game 5: Mount Kobe Erupts, But Rest of Lakers Fizzle

Kobe Bryant went hyper-nova during the second half of the Boston Celtics’ 92-86 victory in Game Five of the NBA Finals.

The Los Angeles Lakers still lost, which calls into question the validity of Kobe’s supporting cast.

Here’s who did what and why.

Pau Gasol scored 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the field. He was aggressive on the offensive glass, with seven rebounds on L.A.'s end, and during a few brief moments late in the third quarter into the fourth.

However, he was a non-entity on defense and underperformed on offense.

Three of his made baskets were put-backs. One was an open jumper and only one other was an aggressive assault on the basket. He wasn’t doubled aggressively, only got to the free throw line three times, and didn’t manage an assist.

An unacceptable performance instrumental to Los Angeles’ defeat.

Andrew Bynum has no elevation, and was therefore beaten to too many rebounds. In 12 minutes, he only secured a single missed shot. His defense also suffered as a result of his bad knees. He was only an offensive force when moving in straight line drives.

In his stead, Lamar Odom was completely absent until the fourth quarter. While he successfully grabbed offensive boards and scored on broken plays, Odom hasn’t been enough of a factor in the triangle to put pressure on Boston’s defense.

He’s also made poor decisions and has been mistake prone. Lamar was defenseless when guarding Kevin Garnett, and when switching onto Paul Pierce after screen/rolls.

Ron Artest offered another nightmare performance. He scored seven points on 2-of-9 shooting, with two assists and one turnover.

The Celtics have ignored Artest when doubling elsewhere—like when Pierce rotated across the court to defend the Lakers 1-2 screens that were so effective in Game Three.

Pierce’s physicality has taken away Artest’s ability to score off the dribble and in the post. And when Artest uncorks a jumper, nobody knows where it’ll land.

Artest also holds the ball too long. He's also a poor passer and a questionable decision-maker.

Artest’s defense was countered by a bevy of screen and rolls, which he’s simply too big to navigate. After softening Artest up with screen and rolls, Pierce was able to hit a score of his trademarked step back isolation jumpers. He also got to the rim several times.

In other words, Artest can no longer hide behind his defense to justify his performance in this series. His offense has been a disaster, and his defense is showing some cracks.

Derek Fisher struggled on both ends, mainly because he was flopping and trying to buy calls, although the refs smartly held their whistles. He succeeded once, suckering the refs into calling a foul when Pierce blocked Fisher's three early in the game. Since every coin has a second side, however, a blatant Ray Allen charge into Fisher went untooted.

The refs were well aware of Fisher’s shenanigans.

In the NBA Finals, acting is a dangerous profession.

Jordan Farmar was out of control and forced his offense. Luke Walton executed the offense, but was too passive.

Aside from Bryant, only Sasha Vujacic matched a personal expectation level needed for L.A. to succeed in the finals, and that's only because Vujacic’s modest two-for-five shooting performance is a step up from his normal occurrences.

Even Kobe wasn’t perfect. He continued to pass while in the air. He failed to box out Rondo on the defensive glass.

So while he had a sparkling scoring second half, and was a sagacious decision-maker within the confines of the offense for the first half, his four turnovers and loose defensive changes that directly led to Celtics stops or scores.

The Lakers put on a dismal performance and had no chance, given that the Celtics played their most complete game of the series.

The Celtics were cognizant of getting Pierce on track early, using a staggered ball screen that resulted in the Lakers switching and Pierce getting an open look.

Pierce didn’t make that shot. The Lakers established that Pierce would wind up with a big man switched onto him when the Celtics ran high screens. When the Lakers tried to simply show with their big man, Artest would get stuck on the screen, and their interior rotations weren’t crisp enough to pick up Pierce and a free roll guy at the basket.

With Pierce getting his mojo going, post ups, spot-up threes, and a healthy dose of step back jump shots were the prescriptions Doc Rivers ordered.

Pierce wasn’t as much of a factor on the boards. However, his defense on Artest was terrific, and his decision making was near-flawless. Pierce scored 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting, with two assists and zero turnovers.

Garnett may have played his best all-around playoff game as a Celtic. He was six for 11 from the field and six for seven from the free throw line.

More importantly, he had 10 rebounds, three assists, and just three turnovers. He attacked the basket with drives and step-throughs instead of settling for turnaround jumpers. He was active on defense with five steals and two blocks as he neutralized Gasol.

Allen still can’t find the touch as he missed all four shots from the three-point line.

However, he connected on five of six shots within the arc, including twice when he posted Fisher and sank short jumpers.

Rondo made more plays—nine-of-12 from the field with eight assists—then mistakes— seven turnovers.

Tony Allen played adhesive defense despite continuing to be an offensive liability.

Nate Robinson’s offensive abilities haven’t been contained yet in the series.

It’s mind-boggling how good Rasheed Wallace has been during the later stages of the playoffs, after having such a disastrous regular season. In Game Five, he sank a pair of jumpers, including a three, while playing exceptional team defense and individual defense on Gasol and Bynum. Sheed’s simply playing his best basketball since winning a ring in 2004.

Rivers also deserves credit for making all the subtle adjustments to match the Lakers: Pinching in his wings so Allen doesn’t have to defend Kobe on an island; using more screen/rolls to get Pierce going; featuring Garnett early so that Garnett’s energy level surges throughout the game; and perhaps most important, knowing when to trust his bench and when to give them a short leash.

Phil Jackson has made a nice adjustment to get Kobe the ball with more space—running him off of weak-side down screens to dislodge his defenders from him. But now the onus is on Jackson again.

How is he going to get Artest and Odom going? What adjustments will he make to the Celtics screen/rolls with Pierce? How can he spark his bench into playing solid minutes and not making colossal mistakes? How will he reverse Pau Gasol’s trend of playing worse and worse as the series moves forward? Can he perform a miraculous operation on Bynum’s torn meniscus?

The Lakers now return home wounded and desperate. Let’s see if they play wounded and desperate to bring the series to a climactic Game Seven.

And let’s see if the Celtics have the killer instinct to finish things off on the road in Game Six.