The last time the Lakers departed for the middle three road games in the NBA Finals tied at 1-1 *in a Finals they won, they swept the next three to win 4-1. That was against the Philadelphia 76ers, this is the Boston Celtics.
By losing Game 2 at home, the Lakers have relinquished home court advantage and placed themselves in the same precarious position as 2008 – win two games at TD Banknorth Garden. Granted, we’re not talking games 6 and 7 down 3-2, but no one wants to see the Lake Show return home down in this series trailing by the same margin.
As much of a dream as Game 1 may have been for us, Game 2 was just as much of a nightmare. Rajon Rondo systematically dismantled the Lakers’ defense with his first NBA Finals triple double (19 pts, 12 rebounds, 10 assists), even doing what Kobe couldn’t by closing the game out late in the fourth. He controlled the entire flow of the game by executing fast break opportunities with surgical precision.
The man Rondo continuously found on the break was none other than, old reliable, Ray Allen, who reprised his role as Jesus Shuttlesworth to show us all that he’s still got game. Allen sucked the air out of the Staples Center by going 7 for 8 from three-point range in the first half, finishing the game 8 of 11, setting an NBA Finals single-game record for threes in the process.
While Allen’s damage was largely contained in the second half, being held to just five points, by then, the Celtics had already figured out how they were going to win the game and perhaps, the series.
The Lakers just had no answer for Rondo in transition, but more so than poor transition defense being the culprit, as Assistant Coach Frank Hamblen pointed out to ESPN’s Doris Burke during halftime, the impetus was more so our inept offensive execution. The Lakers took bad shot after bad shot (5-22 from deep), failing to move the ball on too many possessions, leading to easy rebounds and run-out opportunities for Boston.
This game however, was not solely lost through the running game. The Lakers blew one defensive assignment after another and were also handily out-rebounded 44-38 (13-10 offensive) by the C’s, 12 of which as aforementioned, belonged to Rondo. If the Lakers are going to give up four offensive boards to the smallest guy on the court without much resistance, then brown smog will not be the only dark cloud hanging over Los Angeles in a little over a week.
NEXT: Big Waste
The Lakers’ dominant forces in the middle, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum were the only bright spots for the home team last night as they combined for 46 points (13-20 FG), 14 rebounds (6 offensive) and 13 blocks. That’s correct by the way, 13 blocked shots.
Their colossal effort would have been quite monumental had the rest of the team brought their lunch pails to work.
Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom all picked a heck of a time to have perhaps their worst games of the entire postseason. The four of them only managed a total 37 points and tallied 19 personal fouls, with Artest fouling out with the game still within reach.
The foul trouble especially hampered Kobe’s offensive production as he went 8 of 20 from the field, hesitant to drive the ball into the paint, failing to not only set himself up for scoring, but his teammates as well. Again, the stagnant offense led to easy transition setups for Rondo so needless to say, the Lakers must address their ball movement and defend without fouling as the series now shifts to Beantown.
We can only hope that the upcoming schedule in Boston with a game to be played every other day, will not severely restrict the mobility of Andrew Bynum. Drew was forced to play 39 minutes due to Odom’s foul trouble and as great as he played, the fact that his best game as a Laker (all things considered) was lost, is a rather painful reality to accept.
Pierce and Garnett afforded us every gleaming chance to win the game. Pierce was held to 10 points on 2 of 11 shooting and KG only managed an anemic six points and four rebounds, having another atrocious outing in the Finals. We should all be quite aware by now that not only can we lose a game in which our bigs dominate, but we can also lose when two of Boston’s four superstars have regrettable outings.
Something’s going to give and soon at that.
NEXT: And now to Boston…
Is it time to panic? Not quite. For as bad as the Lakers played, they battled back to lead by three with five minutes to go after being down by as many as 13 in the first half. With only one day off as well, there is no time to sulk over one game.
As Kobe Bryant stated before the commencement of this year’s NBA Finals, “we’ll see how much we’ve grown and matured”. The Lakers’ last trip to TD Banknorth Garden in the playoffs could not have spelled a more heart-breaking result than the 39-point thrashing we all endured and have never gotten over.
We may have failed to protect our home floor, but all that means is, we must give the Celtics the same gift over this next week of games. One thing to consider is that Boston went a relatively mediocre 24-17 at home during the regular season and lost many double digit leads in the fourth quarter en route to that mark.
It’s clear that we clearly have a tremendous advantage on all affairs involving the paint so it is critical that our back court, starters and bench included, execute competently on the offensive end and play defense with disciplined focus. Kobe is known to be one of the best, if not the best, bounce back players in the game today so there is no doubt that he will come out in Game 3 and look to set the tone early in what will be the most hostile environment he will ever have played.
Both games 1 and 2 were won via the boards and the hustle game. While it was the Lakers who injected their hearts and will into Game 1, the Celtics did the same in Game 2, winning the majority of 50-50 plays and controlling the glass. These teams are so evenly matched that it’s going to be those dirty little things that will go the longest way in determining the 2010 NBA champions.
Lamar Odom is going to be the key on the road. If he is going to allow Big Baby to outplay him, the Lakers could potentially be in a world of trouble. LO is the biggest mismatch that we have out on the floor and he has to take it upon himself to exploit the advantage. Eight points and 10 fouls in two games is unacceptable by any standard.
There’s really no mystery Laker fans, defense and rebounding is how the series is going to be won. Our effort and attention to detail will have to be at an all-time high from here on out as the series has become a best of five, with three to be played in Boston.
We will see how much we’ve grown – or not.