Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

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Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« on: June 05, 2010, 06:55:16 AM »

Lakers beat Celtics in game one
Tougher Lakers beat Boston 102-89 in finals opener
By GREG BEACHAM, AP Sports Writer Jun 4, 4:51 am EDT

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Ron Artest(notes) proved it in his opening-minute scuffle with Paul Pierce(notes), tumbling to the ground with a vise grip on the Celtics star’s elbow.

Kobe Bryant(notes) emphasized it one last time with a rub-it-in 3-pointer in the waning seconds of an NBA finals opener that was already a rout.

These aren’t the same Los Angeles Lakers who got pushed around by their biggest rivals on the NBA’s biggest stage two years ago. They’re rougher and tougher—and surprisingly willing to play the Boston Celtics’ bad-tempered game.

Bryant scored 30 points, Pau Gasol(notes) had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and the defending champion Lakers did a remarkable job of the dirty work in a 102-89 victory over Boston in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Artest scored 15 points after his tangle with Pierce in the opening minute of the 12th finals meeting between the NBA’s most decorated franchises. Artest and Pierce backed into each other with their elbows locked while battling for rebounding position. Both got technical fouls after they crashed to the court and got up ready to rumble.

“That’s not a tone that we want to set,” Artest claimed. “I was a little emotional, and I had a little bit of anxiety at that point, and I was fired up.”

Yet other Lakers were grateful for the tone, and they weren’t surprised Artest set it. The Lakers’ defensive stopper is their only new player this season, and he quickly showed Pierce—the 2008 finals MVP—that trophies won’t be quite so easy to earn against the Lakers this time.

“I knew it was going to be physical. That’s a given,” Gasol said. “After consecutive finals, we understand the nature of the game. We understand who our rival is, how they play. You’ve got to compete, and you’ve got to match that physicality, that aspect of the game to be successful.”

The Lakers overwhelmed the Celtics in the third quarter, taking a 20-point lead with sturdy defense and a quick-strike offense. Los Angeles outrebounded the Celtics 42-31, outscored them in the paint 48-30 and put up a lofty shooting percentage until a fourth-quarter slump.

Bryant added seven rebounds and six assists to his 12th 30-point game of the postseason. Andrew Bynum(notes) scored 10 points on his injured right knee as the Lakers improved to 9-0 at home in the playoffs, with 12 straight postseason home wins dating to last year’s championship run—and not many were more physical than this one.

Pierce scored 24 points and Kevin Garnett(notes) added 16 after a slow start for the Celtics, who might not want to know Lakers coach Phil Jackson’s teams in Los Angeles and Chicago have won 47 straight playoff series after winning Game 1.

The Celtics were frustrated after giving up 100 points for just the second time in their last 10 games.

“They were the more physical team by far,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “They were more aggressive. They attacked us the entire night. I didn’t think we handled it very well.”

Game 2 is Sunday night at Staples Center.

While the Lakers played to their strengths, the Celtics’ ostensible advantages—toughness, defense and veteran savvy—weren’t so much in evidence. Rajon Rondo(notes) had 13 points—just three in the second half—and eight assists for Boston, which went 1 for 10 on 3-pointers.

“You can’t ease into the game, especially in the finals,” Pierce said. “That’s one of the better rebounding teams in the NBA. We’ve just got to do a better job rebounding the ball, eliminating easy opportunities. When I look up and we’ve given up 100 points, I haven’t seen that in a while.”

Ray Allen(notes) scored 12 points in just 27 minutes, saddled with constant foul trouble while trying to guard Bryant. Pierce also picked up early fouls, while Garnett simply struggled, going 7 for 16 from the field and grabbing just four rebounds—even inexplicably missing an open layup with 5 1/2 minutes to play.

That’s mostly because of Gasol, the Spanish 7-footer determined to assert himself after admittedly getting pushed around by Garnett two years ago. Gasol capped a strong game by sprinting downcourt and catching a long pass in stride for a dunk with 6:21 to play.

“Pau played a big game tonight,” Jackson said. “I thought they did a good job on him in the post, but his movement and his activity was important.”

After Artest and Pierce got wrapped up, the mood didn’t improve much in a game featuring 54 fouls. Yet the Lakers’ aggressiveness was reflected in 10 free throws apiece for Bryant and Gasol, who made 16 of them, along with steady guard penetration from Bryant, Derek Fisher(notes) and backups Jordan Farmar(notes) and Shannon Brown(notes).

Bryant also praised the defensive effort of Artest, whose block on Glen Davis(notes) triggered the fast break that led to Gasol’s dynamic dunk.

“I think he does a great job for us of setting the tone defensively with his intensity and with his energy,” said Bryant, who greeted Artest with a hug after that block. “I was just letting him know it was well appreciated.”

NOTES: An entertaining jump ball occurred midway through the second quarter when 5-9 Nate Robinson(notes) tied up the 7-foot Gasol. The Spaniard won the tip. … Celtics C Kendrick Perkins(notes) didn’t get his seventh technical foul of the postseason, which would have resulted in an automatic one-game suspension, but technical-foul legend Rasheed Wallace(notes) got one for arguing late in the third quarter. … Fans near courtside included Jerry West, Leonardo DiCaprio, Charlize Theron, David Duchovny, Will Ferrell, boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., Terrell Owens, Steven Spielberg, Snoop Dogg, Mike Epps and Hilary Swank. Chris Rock, David Spade, Kevin James and Adam Sandler sat together at courtside to promote their “Grown Ups” movie, opening in three weeks.

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rogergatal

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #1 on: June 05, 2010, 06:55:37 AM »

Series at a Glance

vs.

Lakers lead series 1-0
1. Game 1: at LAL
   BOS 89, LAL 102 - Final

2. Game 2: at LAL
   Sun, Jun 06 - 8:00 pm EDT

3. Game 3: at BOS
   Tue, Jun 08 - 9:00 pm EDT

4. Game 4: at BOS
   Thu, Jun 10 - 9:00 pm EDT

5. Game 5: at BOS
   Sun, Jun 13 - 8:00 pm EDT

6. Game 6: at LAL
   Tue, Jun 15 - 9:00 pm EDT

7. Game 7: at LAL
   Thu, Jun 17 - 9:00 pm EDT

« Last Edit: June 05, 2010, 07:07:59 AM by Roger G »

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ejramasola

Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #2 on: June 06, 2010, 03:47:15 AM »

lakers ko

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OMG

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #3 on: June 06, 2010, 07:11:36 AM »

congratulations La Lakers for the win last Thursday. hope you will win again tonight.

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rogergatal

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #4 on: June 06, 2010, 07:15:49 AM »

Quote from: Mikey G on June 06, 2010, 07:11:36 AM

congratulations La Lakers for the win last Thursday. hope you will win again tonight.

hope so.. go go go celtics..

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #5 on: June 06, 2010, 10:40:00 AM »

Quote from: Roger G on June 06, 2010, 07:15:49 AM

hope so.. go go go celtics..

Celtics?

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rogergatal

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #6 on: June 06, 2010, 08:37:57 PM »

Quote from: Mikey G on June 06, 2010, 10:40:00 AM

Celtics?

yes i am..

and its a tie now 1-1 for lakers & celtics whew!

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josh

Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #7 on: June 07, 2010, 01:43:11 AM »

Quote from: Roger G on June 06, 2010, 07:15:49 AM

hope so.. go go go celtics..

go go go go lakers!

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john

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #8 on: June 07, 2010, 02:43:11 AM »

go go go Laktics

go go go CelKers

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rogergatal

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Re: Updates for NBA Finals 2010 - Lakers vs. Boston

« Reply #9 on: June 07, 2010, 04:08:31 AM »

Boston Celtics even NBA Finals series vs. Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2
By Jimmy Smith, The Times-Picayune
June 06, 2010, 11:24PM

LOS ANGELES – Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers insisted early Sunday evening he team would do nothing different than it did in a Game 1 NBA Finals loss.

What they did, however, they did a whole lot better than last Wednesday night, across the board.

The result was a stunning 103-94 victory in Game 2, tying the NBA Finals at one game apiece, sending the sellout Staples Center crowd home numb.

Point guard Rajon Rondo put up a triple-double with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and Ray Allen, burdened with foul trouble in the Game 1 loss, was on fire from beyond the 3-point line, hitting eight of 11 for a game-high 32 points as the Celtics stole away home-court advantage in this best-of-seven series.

The Finals move to Boston for the next three games beginning Tuesday night.

“It was just an entire team effort,” said Rondo, “and that’s what we’ll need to win this. We just stick with it, and it was a total team effort.”

But it was Allen’s incredible shooting night, especially in the first half, that sparked the Celtics.

And while Phil Jackson-coached teams entered this series 47-0 when winning the first game of any series, the Lakers have been somewhat ordinary historically in second games of Finals’ series: the Lakers are just 14-16 in Game 2s, 12-12 in Los Angeles and 2-4 in Minnesota.

That could set the tone for a seven-game Finals, despite the fact that the Celtics, for the second straight game, got relatively nothing from power forward Kevin Garnett, who finished with six points and four rebounds after early foul trouble, which continued throughout the game.

But the Celtics insisted they played poorly in Thursday’s loss and would redeem themselves on Sunday.

“It’s interesting that when you watch the tape,” said Allen, “it doesn’t lie. We were out of position a lot in Game 1. We were giving them driving gaps. But tonight, we got into position and made them uncomfortable. And we got into transition a lot more. Everybody did their job tonight.”

As Rivers predicted beforehand.

“They both were terrific,” said Rivers of Rondo and Allen. “Ray in the first half, when he gets into those zones, I was happy. Our team could see it and did everything they could to get him the ball. Most of (the points) were in transition, though.

“To do that, we had to get multiple stops. And if our bigs ran, our shooters would get open. We needed points. Ray gave them to us.”

The first half, for example, indicated just how important foul calls can be to game flow.

Allen, who could not buy a favorable whistle in Game 1, saddled with foul trouble all night, which limited his minutes and his scoring, was the beneficiary of a great acting call, drawing a charge on Kobe Bryant with 3:20 to go in the second quarter.

It was Bryant’s third personal. He would finish the game with 21 points.

And it merely added to the phenomenal half Allen was already displaying offensively.

Allen’s effort in Game 1 was off-kilter primarily because of the foul difficulty, to which Lakers guard Derek Fisher admitted players must adjust their games.

“I mean, completely,” Fisher said. “The referees aren't in control of necessarily how you play in terms of your focus, your attention, the things you're trying to do out there. But if they decide to call a tighter game and make sure things don't get out of hand, it's something you have to adjust to and still try to figure out how to be effective out there on the floor. You have to trust if you get into a bad situation or you pick up a couple fouls extra that you have guys next to you that can pick up the slack and get the job done.”

Allen wasn’t getting that much help in Game 1.

But Game 2 was a different story altogether.

The Celtics, who chastised themselves for lacking Game 1 aggression, made a point to come out differently Sunday night, attacking the glass, which resulted in improved rebounding but as a result opened Boston’s transition game.

Rondo was running and facilitating, picking up eight first-half assists, several on Allen 3-pointers in the transition attack.

Allen hit seven straight 3-pointers before missing for the first time with 58 seconds remaining in the half.

But Boston had built a 14-point lead, which the Celtics saw whittled to six at halftime thanks to a 9-2 Los Angeles run in the final four minutes, capped by Bryant’s 3-pointer off a steal of an errant pass with 0.2 to go before the break.

The Celtics came into the game with a different mindset, and it showed.

“You can’t run unless you get stops,” Rondo said, “and we didn’t get any (in Game 1). If they continued to score (as in Game 1), we’ll be a half-court team.”

But the Lakers turned things around in the second half, opening the third quarter on a 9-2 run and regaining the lead (57-56) for the first time since the 4:08 mark of the first quarter when Pau Gasol, who led the Lakers’ with 25 points, hit a jump shot with 10:03 to go in the third.

It was clear that, though it appeared earlier that it might, Game 2 wasn’t going to be a blowout.

And that this series was going to be a close one.

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