Celtics Take Game 1

Ugh....nothing else I can say...Ugh. 

Certainly not the end of the world and this series is by no means over, but there are certainly some concerns here. Here are my game 1 thoughts:

Officiating:

I'm going to get this out of the way now - and let me preface this with the fact that LA lost this game because of Boston's defense, poor shooting and getting creamed on the boards. BUT, the officiating in this game was so blatantly one sided it's ridiculous. Was watching the game with my stepfather and his good friend - they were on the phone with their buddy who's a big Celtics fan and even he was sarcastically commenting on the officials. Terrible, terrible game. Every single time the Celtics drove the lane the whistle was blown. The exact same contact/play on the other end of the court and the refs swallow their whistles. Outside of the blatant inconsistency my beef was this - let them play. They called way too many fouls in this game (51 combined). The amount of free throws that the Celtics shot down the stretch compared with LA was ridiculous.  The back court call on Gasol in the first quarter was not only a bad call, it was a lame call - who makes that call at any point in the game? Furthermore, there's no white line through the big graphic at mid court in the "Garden" so how in the world do they make the call? The other blatantly "made up" call was when Gasol blocked Garnett's shot (how in the world did that happen?) and the ref, who apparently could see through 4 players from his spot across the floor, made the call. Replays clearly showed it was a clean play. Unreal. 

Again, not at all why they lost, but the officials HAVE to be better than that. 

Pierce:

Let me now preface this little rant with this: as we were watching the game, we see Pierce go down and he looks as if he's in quite a bit of pain and all 3 of us said the exact same thing: "you hate to see that happen to Pierce. Good guy, hard player who's worked his ass off to get here, you really hope he doesn't go out like that." We genuinely felt for him and even as a Laker fan, you don't want to see that. As he's being carried off the court by his teammates a la Byron Leftwich during his senior year at Marshall, and then subsequently carted to the locker room in a freaking wheelchair we were thinking "he's clearly done". Then 4 minutes later he's hopping around like he's in his physical prime, bouncing out of the tunnel?

I dare any true, die-hard Celtics fan to justify that bush league performance as tough. I swear to everything holy if that was a Laker who did that exact same thing I would be utterly embarrassed. You don't get carried off the court wincing in pain, then carted off in a freaking wheelchair when you can clearly walk on your own. He made big plays in the quarter scoring 15 of his points on 5 three pointers, but I'm not talking about that - can't take any of that away from him as he's a good player. But, I lost all respect for Paul Pierce last night half way through the third quarter - now I almost hope he shreds his knee or something. Pierce has been relegated to the status of professional soccer player in my book (no offense Madeley) - he's a puss and he always will be for the rest of his career. The worst part? The media is eating this drama queen crap up so we'll be hearing this for the next few days. Pierce should be ashamed of himself. Seriously. 

Quick-Hit Reactions to Game 1:

• I'm calling you out Eric Miller - please defend Pau Gasol...please, I dare you to defend Gasol. 
• Gasol is clearly playing out of position - he's not a center and we know it. That's fine and I understand the challenge. BUT, he has to be more physical and go get rebounds - it's very obvious Gasol doesn't like physical contact very much. 
• Was saying this last night and I'll keep saying it - please continue to play Cassell Doc Rivers, PLEASE. His 7 good minutes still haven't made up for his season of street ball. I'll give him those shots he was hitting all series long because I guarantee you he won't be making those every game. Keep the alien coming. 
• Celtics played some great defense, we knew they would, but how many Laker shots (specifically, Kobe's shots) rattled in and out of the basket? I think Red Auerbach was out there tightening the rims before the game. 
• If the Lakers don't rebound better they should call the series right now because they have no chance - they only had 7 offensive boards for the game. That's a long night, especially when you're shooting so cold. 
• Will be interesting to see how Kobe responds after a 9 of 26 shooting night (that is beyond horrible). He got his points to lead both teams in scoring, but Boston has to be happy with that percentage. They did play some good defense on him and forced him into some bad shots, but the bulk of those shots he just missed. He won't "just miss" those same shots throughout the series. 
• I would have bet my right arm that the Celtics shot at least 50% from the field - they didn't. In fact, both teams shot the same percentage from the field. I'm looking at it right now and I still don't believe it. I have to believe that LA's percentage dropped off the map in the second half where Boston's picked up - I'm still not sure Garnett missed a shot this game. 
• Here's the bad news for the Lakers - all 3 of Boston's "Big 3" scored above their averages for the playoffs. Not a good sign at all. 
• The good news? I'm not one to say that there's any good that comes out of a loss like this, especially given it's the finals - no losses are good. Period. But, if you're looking for a silver lining here it is - Boston outplayed LA in every faucet of the game...big time. This was especially true down the stretch. Rebounding, offensive execution, role players, officiating - all advantages for Boston in this game...and the Lakers STILL had a chance to win it in the last 4 or 5 minutes. LA knows they can easily hang with this team, but they've got to execute, make their shots and get more production from the bench. Will be interesting to see if Boston can match their intensity in game 2. I picked LA to steal this one and was clearly wrong, but it won't stop me from picking them in game 2 - I just don't see Boston going to LA up 2-0. We'll see. 
  

We get a couple of days here before game 2 - I suggest that the Lakers practice their shooting and go sign a physical player who's not afraid to put a body on someone. 

Game On

Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with this asinine comparison to the Lakers/Celtics match ups from the days of old - utter waste of time. I will admit this though, I was surprised to see the Lakers favored here, especially given how important home court has been throughout the playoffs. 

Here's a quick look at the key aspects of the series and how I see this playing out. 

Coaching:

I'm starting with this one because it's the easiest one. This is really no contest - not dissing Doc Rivers, but he's no Phil Jackson nor will he ever be a Phil Jackson (few ever will). Jackson's calm presence, trust in his rotation/system and his experience with coaching big-time players in big-time games will have an affect on this series, no doubt. Advantage Lakers. 

The Marquee Players:

One of my biggest concerns going into the San Antonio series was how can this team contain Duncan - hell, just slow him down. That concern was justified given Duncan's numbers throughout the series, but yet LA still had a very impressive and dominant series. The same concern can and will apply to KG - I suspect The Big Ticket will go off in most of these games simply because he can. Gasol hasn't yet learned how to play defense and Odom/Turiaf simply aren't anywhere near the same level of talent. 

The trick will be Pierce - this guy has career games against LA throughout his career. I don't see Kobe starting the game guarding Pierce, but look for that switch to happen if he starts going off as I suspect he will in at least a few of these games. Not so concerned about Ray Allan at this point, but we'll see as he's started to wake up a bit in the last few games in the Detroit series. 

The good news for LA? Kobe Bryant. This guy has stepped up his game more and more as the playoffs have gone on. He has a sense of urgency that some could argue equals or exceeds that of Garnett (who's been DYING to get a chance at a championship his career). Kobe wants this so bad it's as if he'll do anything within the realm of the game to get it. Or, he may stab someone in the eye if they lose it. Either way, look for Kobe to kick if up a notch if you can even begin to imagine that possibility. Although Kobe is quite a bit ahead of Garnett and Pierce I'm giving a slight edge to Boston here simply because they have both of those guys. 

Role Players:

This is very tough as Boston seems to have a different guy step up each night. Perkins scares the hell out of me. Seriously. LA really needs Odom to play with a bit more consistency in this series. He had a few spells of disappearing over these playoffs, but has certainly come up big in some of the games too. I'd like to believe that Odom quietly has a great sense of urgency as well, we just aren't sensing it. 

And Gasol. Pau, Pau, Pau, what to think about him. Gasol will get his points off of Kobe drive/dishes and tip ins, but where he really needs to go create opportunities is on the glass. If he can rebound like he did in the last Spurs game (19 boards, 10 offensive) give the trophy to the Lakers right now. Of course doing that over the course of a series would be unprecedented, but either way, get your white, skinny ass on the boards. And STOP COMPLAINING every single time you miss a shot. Seriously, his hounding of the refs has gotten him/his team nothing so knock if off and just play. Look for 1 or 2 REALLY big games from him as well as 1 or 2 REALLY bad games. Edge: Even. 

Random Intangibles: 

• The Lakers have lost as many games this entire playoffs as Boston is losing per series leading up to this point - 3 (they only lost twice against Detroit, but you get my point). Let's also point out that the Lakers have beaten more quality opponents and even closed out Utah on the road (best home team in the league by far). 
• Boston's record against the West in the regular season should not be taken lightly - playoffs (and moreover, the Finals) are completely different, but don't discount this. 
• Lakers lost to Boston both times they played this year....they didn't have Gasol or Bynum in either of those games. 
• Kobe is the best closer in the game today....by 100 miles. Pierce has shown flashes of being a dominant close as well (game 7 of Cleveland series where he threw up 40 points). Can Pierce be counted on in multiple games? Because Kobe can be in all of the games. 
• Garnett is NOT a closer. Not at all. 
• The format of the Final almost favors the away team - Lakers get 3 straight games at home. 
• Lakers haven't lost at home these playoffs...Boston has only lost once at home these playoffs. I'll say it again, home court plays an advantage here.
• Boston has faced 2 elimination games thus far (against one very bad team and one pretty good team) - LA has faced none in these playoffs. I say this as a good thing for Boston in terms of short-term experience.  

Tonight's Game:

If the Lakers going to steal one from Boston I really think they need to do it tonight - it's their best chance. Both teams have been off for pretty much a week so fatigue shouldn't come into play until a game 5 or so...if at all. Here's one for you - the NBA has set it up so that there are 2 days of rest between consecutive games in Boston with only one day rest between the switch from Boston to LA. Someone explain that one to me. 

I'm taking LA in a very tight game tonight. For the series? Lakers in 6.