The Retun of the Cap'n

The Cap’n is Back

Boston takes 3-2 lead with inspired win

We finally got the game we were looking for. For the first time, Kobe had a monster game, a game where he can do no wrong, where he scores at will in all manner of forms. He has a game that confirms his status as a supreme basketball player. And for the first time, more than 2 Celtics played pretty decently with Pierce, Garnett, and Rondo all playing well. But in the end, a familiar result: Kobe can’t beat the entire Celtic team all by himself.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers warned that Boston would have to survive a Kobe moment, and Boston managed to survive Kobe's 38-4-5 stat sheet, with 19 of those points coming in an insane 3rd quarter where Bryant threatened Isiah Thomas' all-time single quarter record of 25 points. Boston aforementioned Big Three this night combined for 63 points with Pierce the high man with 27. Ray Allen was still quiet with 12 points with no points coming from 3 point range (he is now ofer since his record-setting Game 2).

Kobe's big night was obviously not enough to overcome the Celtics team effort, and this game had to be very pleasing to the Boston faithful. Game 3 was a game that was most reminiscent of the 2008 Series. The recipe for success back then was to let Kobe have his points and choke off everybody else This worked to perfection back then and it worked in Game 5. No other Laker had more than Gasol, who collected a measly 12 points. Perhaps the most telling statistic was that Kobe had only 4 assists. Playing against a suffocating defense, there's no way Kobe can beat the Celtics all by himself if he doesn't get his teammates involved. But the problem on this night, is that neither Bryant seemed willing to get others involved, which in turn creates teammates hesitant or unknowing of their roles.

Three things have become clear in this Series:

• Boston has been able to establish the physical rugged game which flustered LA back in '08, and despite the fact that it appeared that the Lakers could match that in Game 1, they haven't been able to sustain that intensity over the long haul. Bynum's obvious decline in this Series has perhaps been the determining factor, since it was his physicality that frustrated Boston initially in the Series, and now he is unable to exert his well due to his injured knee.

• Garnett has rediscovered enough game to outplay Gasol in the last 3 games, outscoring him 57-46 while holding his own on rebounds 22-28. But what is not measured in the box score, and what has always been the intangible in KG's game, is his defense and intensity, and on both fronts, Gasol has not been a match. KG is scoring more, blocking shots, being a defensive force, while Gasol has been limited to contributing on the offensive end only. Defensively, he still has a long way to go to catch up to KG's game, and as far as I know, it still is defense that wins championships.

• More importantly for Boston, Pierce has apparently solved the Artest puzzle (we wonder if Artest has figured it out) and found his offensive game. Consider Pierce's scoring arc in the last 4 games Series:

• G2: 10
• G3: 15
• G4: 19
• G5: 27

After being thoroughly frustrated in the Celtics Game 2 win, apparently what Pierce needed was some home cooking. He has increased his output in each game since then, looks more confident, and in Game 5 used his proven step back moves to score at will over the Laker defense. Artest, meanwhile, in addition to losing his defensive edge, has also been a complete non-entity offensively. He has been unable to knock the open 3 or do anything else to help his team score. The core issue here, as with the Gasol-Garnett matchup, is Pierce's ability to maintain intensity and focus over a long and wearing Series. Artest, meanwhile seems to drift in and out. I trust Pierce's ability to maintain more than Artest's to refocus and readjust, especially since Pierce traditionally plays well in L.A. (witness his 24 points in a Game 1 loss) and now with the championship almost at hand, Pierce should not disappoint.

Jackson can make all of the adjustments he wants, but the players still must execute the tactical moves. Kobe will be Kobe, but Bynum is done, Gasol has been had, and the Laker bench, which has been non-existent in the last two games, is just not ready for primte-time. The Celtics are tougher mentally, are one explosive game from Allen from clinching it (how long can he continue missing 3’s), have Pierce and KG playing at a high level again, and have a superior bench.

The shadows of Russell and Jones loom in the background of Celtic lore, ready to inspire. Like the balloons of years ago, the ‘tacos’ are going to stay firmly put.

Big Baby Boon

“Yeahhhhhh”

Nate Robinson celebrates aboard Big Baby

It became a Series when Boston won Game 2 at the Forum. And that trend continued when LA reclaimed home court with a Game 3 victory in the Garden. If Allen was the star of Game 2, Derek Fisher was West “clutch’ in Game 3. The adjustment was simple. Phil Jackson tells Derek Fisher: “chase Allen all over the court relentlessly, don’t let him get off, and do it all night long.” Fisher did exactly as told and held Allen without a trey all night long. As an added bonus though, Fisher made huge plays on the offensive end to spark the Lakers to a victory. The signature moment was when he got a rebound, and took it around KG at mid-count, then raced to the basket and floated a bank shot over three Celtic defenders. Absolutely spectacular clutch shot! Despite playing very poorly offensively (aside from KG, who had his best offensive game with 25 points), Boston had a chance to win the game but just couldn’t overcome Fish’s inspired performance.

If Game 2 and Game 3 defined the series, Game 4 is where this series became a street fight. Entering the fourth quarter, the Lakers held a 2 point lead, but the Lakers starters let the Boston bench beat them. Big Baby and Nate Robinson spelled an ineffective Rondo and Garnett and sparked Boston with energetic play. Robinson hit a key three and made a nice driving layup and played with his self-described “energy.” Bench players are always said to bring in energy, but Big Baby brought a lot of skill and heart. He made 4 key baskets against the Laker front-court that was missing Andrew Bynum due to his recurring meniscus injury. In the fourth quarter when Big Baby and Robinson were doing damanage, it was remarkable to see the Celtics starters wait and wait and continue to wait to enter the game as the bench sealed the game.

The pivotal Game 5 promises to be a dog fight. Since no team has won two straight games, I believe Boston will have to win its last game at home if it wants to have any hope of winning this series. With attrition starting to take its toll, Boston must take advantage of the fact that Bynum is not 100% and take a 3-2 lead into L.A. Although Wallace is also struggling with a bad back, Bynum’s injury has a greater bearing on the series.

The last three games of this series should be a classic. We still have not seen a classic Kobe performance nor have we seen more than 2 of the Celtics Big Four play well all in one game. In order for this series to be called a Classic, there’s got to be one of those games where all of the stars shine. If that happens, we’re all in for a real treat.

Boston smacks LA back to win Game 2.

“We ain’t coming back to L.A.”

Pierce yells out to the Laker faithful.

Now the series has truly begun. The Lakers came out swinging in Game 1

and knocked Boston back on its heels. Game 2 was the counter-punch !

After taking one in the gut in Game 1, Boston struck back to win the crucial second game it needed to avoid a statistical and emotional cliff. Teams that are down 0-2 in a series in NBA history only win 10% of the time, not very good odds, and specifically not when playing against Phil Jackson, who is a perfect 47-0 after winning Game 1 of a 7 game series.

So who has the advantage now ? Why was Kobe so damn serious at the

press conference after the Game 2 loss ? Why was Phil Jackson still

commenting about the officiating ? What about all of the pundits that were about to write off the Celtics after they lost Game 1 in convincing fashion ?

The Celtics won despite poor performances from KG and Pierce. KG's output was particularly painful to see (6 points, 4 boards, 0 offensive confidence). But they got monster games from Ray Allen (a record 8 3-point shots), a triple-double from Rajan Rondo, sparks from the bench ( 7 points each from Wallace and Robinson and 8 from Big Baby). More important than the points were Wallace spelling Garnett while he got into foul-trouble, and Robinson allowing Rondo a much needed rest.

The Lakers, meanwhile, had pretty good games from their bigs again (Gasol and Bynum for 46 points and 14 boards), and 21 from Kobe in a foul-plagued game. The problem was that the other two starters had next to nothing (Artest and Fisher combined for 12), and they got absolutely nada from Lamar Odom (again – when is the real Odom going to show up ? Oh wait a minute, this is the real Odom).

So what were people thinking writing off the Celtics after only one

game ? That they won, on the Lakers home court, with two of their big stars, having sub-par games, is simply due to the fact that when they're on, the Celtics can play better defense than the Lakers, and that defense will always beat the Lakers high-octane offense.

Not that I think the Lakers will wilt. They have a laser-focused Kobe and the best coach in the world. But they must prove that they can maintain their offensive efficiency, ruggedness, and desire against the best defense in the league, and in Boston, they'll have to play some rugged defense themselves.

LA won Game 1 impressively. But it is difficult to keep up the intensity over a series, especially when you have guys like Artest (whose mind can drift), and Odom (who makes a habit of disappearing in big series). If there's any consolation for LA it's that the Celtics are as good a road team as they're a home team. LA will need at least one win to take this back

to Tinsel Town.

Indeed, this series has truly begun. The roller-coast ride is about to

continue. The difference, I believe is this: the Lakers can win in Boston,

but the Celtics have already proved they can win in LA. I think this Celtic team can repeat the feat of the 1969 Celtics, when Russell and Jones beat a loaded LA team (West, Chamberlain, Baylor) at the Forum in Game 7 and left all of the balloons hanging in the arena rafters.

They're Back

LAKERS – CELTICS RENEW HISTORIC RIVALRY

They’re at it again. For the 2^nd time in 3 years, it’s the Lakers playing the Celtics for the NBA Championship. Evoking memories of Russell and Wilt, Cousy and West, Magic and Bird, the current generation of Celtics and Lakers are ready to write their own chapter in the book of this historic rivalry. It’s Kobe versus Pierce, Allen against Fisher, and KG against Gasol. The Celtics beat the Lakers in 2008 and the Lakers won the championship last year by beating Orlando in 2009. Consider it a rubber match of sorts. And what’s scary is that if Kevin Garnett had not been injured in 2009, this probably would be the third meeting of the two teams in the same number of years. That would have made history on par with the epic Lakers – Celtics encounters of the 60’s and 80’s. The rivalry is renewed as the golden franchises of the league are doing battle again. What fan could not rejoice in this basketball bliss.

As a hard-core Celtic fan, it doesn’t get better than this. I grew up watching the NBA in the 70s, but my interest, like most hard-core fanatics of the game, was elevated to a completely different level with the arrival of Bird and Magic to the NBA in the early 80’s. There were other players for sure, but these two not only defined the decade, but are considered to have rejuvenated a league besieged by

all kinds of problems. (The recent book about Magic and Bird written by Jackie McMullan adds more convincing evidence to this argumet.) To add regional interest, one of the great Celtics of that time, Kevin McHale, played with the Gophers at the same time that I attended the University of Minnesota. The lanky 6’10” “Iron Ranger” was as unstoppable a power forward as has ever played. Together with Robert ‘The Chief’ Parish and Larry Bird, they are considered the greatest frontline in the history of basketball. At the other coast, Magic and the “showtime” Lakers were actually the better team of the decade, winning 5 championships to the Lakers’ 3. The great thing about that matchup is that it was the Magic versus Bird rivalry. Magic is considered the best point-guard ever, Bird is considered the best small forward ever, and no basketball fan will ever argue that point.

So this is it, the stage is once again set. To borrow the infamous 80’s Laker moniker, it is showtime !

Expect at least 6, if not 7 evenly matched games. There may be a couple of mismatches, but both coaches and coaching staffs are too good and are adept at making the kind of subtle adjustments that negate the other team’s advantages. I seriously can’t see any team winning a couple in a row in this matchup.

This series is riddled with a number of astonishing matchups not only between players, but between coaches, assistant coaches, organizations, playing philosophies, and of course basketball tradition.

The matchup between coaches features the Grandmaster against the upstart, the Zen Master against the player’s coach.

Philosophically this is a matchup between the offensive genius of the triangle versus the best defense of the last decade, architected by Tim Thibodeau. LA can score and Boston can prevent you from scoring. LA’s finesse against Boston’s ruggedness.

The player matchups are all fascinating, but the two key matchups according to all of the experts are Artest vs Pierce and Gasol vs. Garnett.

Pierce has also been playing great basketball, but he faces a huge obstacle in Artest, who is easily the finest defensive player of a generation, and who was specifically brought in to defend Pierce in the Finals. But Pierce is a Laker killer, a native of Inglewood who grew up idolizing Riley’s Lakers and now happens to be on the other side. He always plays great against the Lakers, and I predict he will do so in this series, Artest notwithstanding. To me, it is a simple matter of mental will. Artest is great defensively, but I do not for the moment believe he can match Pierce’s mental intensity for an entire series.

The Gasol-Garnett matchup is tricky because KG has obviously lost some hops while Gasol has gotten better offensively (and he was pretty good back in 08), but more importantly, he has gotten stronger and tougher. Vowing never to be roughed up again like the last time, I look for Gasol to be much better, but the key is if he’ll be able to maintain that level of intensity for the entire series. On the flip side, that will not be an issue for KG, who has always been known mostly for his unrivaled intensity and now has to view this as possibly the last time to win a championship to cement his own legacy for a player already considered a shoe-in for the NBA hall of fame. Look for Gasol to win the early rounds with KG coming back strong to win the fight in the middle and late rounds.

But it is the greatest understatement of all to state that the key to this whole series is Kobe Bryant. He is the best player, the most physically gifted, the best prepared mentally, the most difficult matchup. And he has been simply on fire, playing his greatest basketball in the past two series.

He is, without doubt, with no offense to LeBron James, the best basketball player playing today. He’s going for his 5^th championship in a chase with immortality in the form of the gold standard: Jordan’s 6 titles. And he is aware of the history between the two franchises, and you can bet that he doesn’t want to end up joining Baylor, West, and Chamberlain as a great Laker player that could never beat the Celtics for the championship.

To me this is simple: this is Kobe’s championship to lose.