NBA Ticket to the Playoffs

Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

The Boston Celtics hammered the Los Angeles Lakers, 131-92, in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, leaving no question who the NBA Champion is for the 2007-2008 season. The Celtic defense continued to hound MVP Kobe Bryant, who shot a putrid 40% in this series.

Ultimately, like so many champions before them, the Celtics played dominating defense that no team or superstar could handle. The Lakers had made strides defensively, but had no where near the talent and cohesion of the Celtic defense, especially at home.

The NBA Finals MVP was Paul Pierce, who has been the scoring leader all year (all decade, really) for the Celtics. In Game 1 Pierce came back from what looked to be a scary leg injury. And came back he did, knocking down clutch 3's throughout the series and being one of the gang of Celtic wing defenders to slow down Kobe Bryant.

Ray Allen's inconsistency in the earlier part of the playoffs disappeared later on, and his 7 / 9 three point shooting for 26 points helped put the Lakers away early in Game 6. Allen also has been well documented for his work on the perimeter defending Bryant and the other Laker guards, and was doing well in the previous series' too (except against Joe Johnson).

Kendrick Perkins was striken with foul trouble and was not really a factor, but James Posey hit 3 threes and had 3 steals to help off the bench. Rondo had a beastly game defensively with 6 steals, and despite 8 / 20 shooting Rajon had 21 points 7 rebounds 8 assists to go with the steals. Besides Kevin Garnett, no player for the Celtics has had the type of impact on defense than Rajon Rondo.

Kevin Garnett had one of his best games in the playoffs in Game 6 at Boston, with 26 points 14 rebounds 4 assists 3 steals. More importantly it was Garnett's role as the anchor of this top-notch defense. This Laker team was not slowed down much by San Antonio but they were definitely at a loss for handling the Celtics. Even in the Celtic losses, it was close.

Pau Gasol was rendered ineffective throughout as well, clearly frustrated by the physicality in the post from Perkins and Garnett's athleticism. Gasol collected a fair amount of rebounds, but recorded just 3 blocks in the entire series which is indicative of the defense at the Laker rim. Having a healthy Andrew Bynum would have and will make the Lakers defense much better, but the fact of the matter for this series is that Paul Pierce and the Celtics got to the rim with little trouble.

Posted by Ken Walker at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

AP Photo / Charles Krupa

After a week's worth of anticipation, the LA Lakers go into the Boston Garden but are held off by the resilient Boston Celtics, 98-88. MVP Kobe Bryant has a rough night offensively, shooting 9 / 26 from the floor with nary a three pointer. Meanwhile, Paul Pierce goes down after a weird twist in his knee, but returns shortly thereafter to lead the team.

The Los Angeles Lakers actually held a five point lead going into halftime despite Bryant's struggles from the floor. Fisher (15 pts 4 rebs 6 assists), Odom (14 points 5 rebs), and Gasol (15 pts 8 rebs 4 assists) had solid if not unspectacular showings.

A big turning point in the game was in the 3rd quarter, after a struggling Radmanovic knocked down a three, he was called for a questionable foul to put him in dire foul trouble at the time. This stunted the momentum from Radmanovic's three pointer that tied the game, and the Celtics went on to outscore the Lakers by 15 points in the second half.

On Boston's side, the big turn of events for the night occurred when Bryant drove to the lane and Paul Pierce landed awkwardly, holding his knee. Pierce was fortunate to come out shortly after from the training room, as he could have been looking at his first Finals from the sideline. Instead Pierce came back into the game and hit a key three to lead the second half charge.

Kevin Garnett started off hot with 20 quick points, but as usual his scoring dipped towards the end. Still, 24 points 13 rebounds 3 assists is a nice first Finals game for KG. That he shot 9 / 22 is a sign that he is settling a bit too much for jump shots in the second half and needs to keep his first half aggression up to get high percentage shots for himself or teammates.

Ray Allen had a decent all around game with 19 points 8 rebounds 5 assists, but marred with 4 turnovers and just 5 / 13 shooting from the field (2 / 6 from 3pt land). Allen though was one of the Celtics that hounded Bryant all night into difficult shots.

And the veteran Sam Cassell broke out of his playoff slump to produce 8 points 1 assist 0 turnovers in 12 minutes, which could have been even sleeker had he knocked down one of his two three pointers attempted. The Celts though did not get much help from the other bench members, and Kendrick Perkins had just 1 point 4 rebounds in 23 minutes.

The NBA Finals are spread out more than the other playoff series. Instead of every other day, there are a few days between games. NBA Finals Game 2 will be played at 9pm eastern Sunday Night in the Boston Garden.

Posted by Ken Walker at 5:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)