Lakers, Celtics: 2010 NBA Finalists Are Down, but Are They Out?
The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics were the 2010 NBA championship finalists, but their respective conference semifinal debuts raised serious doubts as to whether they could resume their epic postseason rivalry yet again.
In Boston's case, the situation is a little worse because they are now facing a 2-0 deficit to a hungry Miami Heat team that looks like a shark who smells blood in the water.
The Lakers have a chance to even their series with the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2, but they must first explain and then correct the mistakes from their monumental collapse in Game 1.
Los Angeles let a 16-point lead evaporate at the expense of the jumps-shooting Mavericks and instilled hope in a team that few even saw competing in the series.
It should sound familiar because New Orleans also defeated the Lakers in Game 1 of their first round series, but unlike the Hornets, Dallas has enough talent to catch the two time defending champions sleeping.
Dirk Nowitzki showed plenty of heart in the closing minutes of Game 1; although I tend to disagree with TNT analyst Charles Barkley's opinion that Dirk is a better player than Lakers star Kobe Bryant, he did have a bigger impact.
The Lakers and especially the Celtics find themselves in potentially dire situations right now, but is there any chance that one or both can make it back to the 2011 NBA Finals?
History says that the Celtics face much longer odds as more than 70 percent of teams who have seized a 2-0 lead in a series have gone on to advance.
It seems as if Boston has instantly aged in the first two games of their series, as the speed and athleticism of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat have dominated the conversation.
But the Celtics do have the advantage of experience and the propensity to excel under adverse circumstances.
If any team in this year's playoffs has the ability to rebound from a 2-0 deficit, it's the Celtics and they have proved their resiliency time and again.
But the loss of center Kendrick Perkins may have dealt the Celtics a wound that will not heal, and I'm not sure if experience of the Big Four will be enough to counter the talent of James, Wade and Associates.
The Lakers face shorter and much simpler odds than the Celtics, but it's yet to be determined how they will respond after the loss in Game 1.
Kobe Bryant is rumored to have cursed at Pau Gasol for his play late in the fourth quarter, but he should have reserved some of the foul language for his own inability to seize the moment.
The Lakers had established what seemed to be an insurmountable 16-point lead, but witnessed it disappear in a hail of errant jump shots from the perimeter.
Instead of feeding the ball into the post and taking advantage of their series mis-match, the Lakers decided to launch shot after shot from the perimeter.
Center Andrew Bynum failed to score double digits and probably touched the ball less than 20 times in Game 1, yet he is the one player the Mavericks can not physically match.
The Lakers could remove much of the suspense from their series with a steady serving of Bynum in the paint, and head coach Phil Jackson has acknowledged this.
Bynum is playing aggressively in the post and demanding the ball, and Jackson has previously said that if Bynum ever learns to perform with mentality, he could be unstoppable.
If Bryant and his teammates recognize this dynamic, then a trip to the 2011 NBA Finals is still a possibility, but the Celtics have a much tougher task to conquer if they hope to meet the Lakers there.
