Call It A Comeback

Comeback is exactly what the Boston Celtics did on Thursday Night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Comeback from the largest deficit in NBA Finals history , 24 points. As a Laker fan , I have to say i was thoroughly embarassed. As I was watching the game , I was thinking to myself this is too much too early , referring to the big first quarter lead as the Lakers raced out to a 21 point lead at the end of one. As the lead was 17 points in the first quarter i can remember Jeff Van Gundy , former coach, now commentator saying that he was going out on a limb to say this series is tied 2-2. I was thinking, you’re crazy JVG! As a die hard and loyal fan of the Lakers and a guy who watches nearly every game , i knew that my boys would blow most of this lead if not all. But even I the pessimist, didn’t think my beloved Lakers led by Kobe Bryant would lose this game. I thought for sure , somehow , someway, we would pull it out. But, during the process i would probably develop a coronary, or have some anxiety attack. Nothing comes easy for these guys.

As the game went on the Celtics got stronger and buckled down on defense. Celtics cut a 20 point lead down to 12, here they come uh oh. Then my boys respond with a 8-0 run of their own and the lead is back to 20, whoo hoo! Once again the Celtics chip away but then just before the half , Jordan Farmar hits a running three pointer off one leg to open up a comfortable 18 point lead. Did i say comfortable? Because , no lead is comfortable with the Lakers. They give up the hugest leads with the least amount of time off the clock. Not to mention the fact that the Celtics have absolutely crushed them in every third quarter this series.

Kobe Bryant had a horrible night. His flow of the game was not there like usual. He was fumbling the ball all over the place and didn’t seem to have his usual explosion. There’s nothing like watching Kobe when he has it going and destroying the opposition with ridiculous fade away jumpers , or spin moves with great footwork as the opposition is left in awe and realizing that there is no chance tonight against this guy. However, as equally crushing is seeing Kobe get his shot blocked , him miss free throws, him be unable to get by his defender and not be able to impose his will. Simply put, i hate when Kobe looks human. It sucks.

Anyhow, the Celtics dominated the second half allowing the Lakers only 33 points after they gave up 58 in the first half. That great defense that was there all year for the C’s showed up again and probably won them the series. That is just a crushing way to lose and will be too devastating for the Lakers to recover.

The Lakers have a chance to make history of their own if they now can find a way to comeback from a 3-1 deficit because no one has been able to. Kobe can now take on a new challenge to impose his will first and foremost to send this series back to Boston for game six and take their chances from there. But if they’re gonna come back from the deficit , they’re gonna need Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol to man up big time.

I still believe! …..Well kind’ve , sort’ve.

Lakers , Celtics Series Preview

This is what everyone wanted. The basketball community will have all eyes glued to the screen over the next two weeks to watch two legendary franchises renew their rivalry. A staggering stat is that after this series is over , these two teams will have combined to make up half of the leagues championships. The Celtics having already won 16 titles and the Lakers winning 14 so far combined with them being in Minneapolis. Oh by the way, notice i said “so far” ?

Keys for Celtics to win

Find a way to get Ray Allen going on a consistent basis from the outside.

Continue to play great defense that has gotten them here.

Kendrick Perkins crashing the boards.

Paul Pierce find a way to get to the free throw line often.

Keys for Lakers to win

Have Kobe continue to shoot a high field goal percentage

Lamar Odom show up consistently.

Bench Mob shoot well in the series from the outside.

Make Pierce take alot of shots to get his points. Hes going to score but keep FG% low.

My Prediction

Even though i am a blatant homer for the Lakers , I don’t think it will be as easy as many have predicted. There will be big plays made at some crucial points in the series to win it . Look for Fisher to hit some huge shots from the perimeter and the energy of the Lakers bench along with the greatest player in the game to be just too much for the Celtics.

Lakers in 6