Game 1 thoughts
As much as the NBA coaches this season hated the microphones they had to wear for television, the interviews they had to conduct between quarters and the locker-room cameras they had to tolerate, I thought they provided unique insight Thursday.
You had Phil Jackson in the locker room at halftime, his team holding a 51-46 lead over the Celtics, instructing his players to play together and score first. Jackson clearly understood how important it was to set the tone in the second half.
What happened? After finishing the first half on the bench with three fouls, Paul Pierce hit a layup and banked in a three-pointer while being fouled by Vladimir Radmanovic. With the four-point play, the Lakers lead had been erased in a matter of 45 seconds.
Pierce went on to hit another jumper over Radmanovic, scoring eight points for Boston in just 1:15. Radmanovic's frustration was evident when he slammed a towel after going to the bench with his fourth foul; Pierce had completely worked him.
I thought it was the key stretch of the game. Boston went from five points down at the start of the third quarter to four points ahead by the end. Pierce scored 15 of Boston's 31 points in the quarter despite suffering a sprained knee.
(ABC had great audio of Boston coach Doc Rivers invoking Nelson Mandela - - he referred to him as the South African - - in talking to his players about adversity during a timeout after Pierce left the game.)
It didn't help the Lakers that Kobe Bryant struggled when Pierce went to the locker room with the knee injury. Bryant missed three shots before fouling Pierce to put the Lakers in the penalty and committing a turnover.
Pierce also got free for those back-to-back three-pointers in the last 1:26 of the third quarter. He finished with 22 points and made 7 of 10 shots while Bryant went 9-for-26 on the way to scoring 24 points.
Sometimes it's also only a matter of two plays that can turn a game. Garnett's save to prevent a backcourt violation led to a Sam Cassell jumper in the fourth quarter and James Posey followed with a three-pointer to give Boston a nine-point lead.
Watching the replay, Garnett definitely took off before he crossed the halfcourt line - - it was hard to tell with that giant Finals trophy logo on the parquet - - and Posey couldn't have picked a better time to hit his only shot of the night.
I wondered when the Lakers' lack of big-game experience would catch up with them. Sasha Vujacic went 2-for-7, Lamar Odom missed two free throws in the third quarter and Pau Gasol completely forgot about Kevin Garnett on that follow-up dunk with 1:32 left.
While Gasol was focused on Posey, who launched a three-pointer from the left side, Garnett took advantage of Gasol's missed box-out for the dunk that sealed Boston's victory.
We'll see whether the Lakers can come home with a split with a victory in Sunday's Game 2. The last time the Lakers were in the Finals, they lost Game 1 to Detroit in Los Angeles and were finished in five games.
--Ross Siler
You had Phil Jackson in the locker room at halftime, his team holding a 51-46 lead over the Celtics, instructing his players to play together and score first. Jackson clearly understood how important it was to set the tone in the second half.
What happened? After finishing the first half on the bench with three fouls, Paul Pierce hit a layup and banked in a three-pointer while being fouled by Vladimir Radmanovic. With the four-point play, the Lakers lead had been erased in a matter of 45 seconds.
Pierce went on to hit another jumper over Radmanovic, scoring eight points for Boston in just 1:15. Radmanovic's frustration was evident when he slammed a towel after going to the bench with his fourth foul; Pierce had completely worked him.
I thought it was the key stretch of the game. Boston went from five points down at the start of the third quarter to four points ahead by the end. Pierce scored 15 of Boston's 31 points in the quarter despite suffering a sprained knee.
(ABC had great audio of Boston coach Doc Rivers invoking Nelson Mandela - - he referred to him as the South African - - in talking to his players about adversity during a timeout after Pierce left the game.)
It didn't help the Lakers that Kobe Bryant struggled when Pierce went to the locker room with the knee injury. Bryant missed three shots before fouling Pierce to put the Lakers in the penalty and committing a turnover.
Pierce also got free for those back-to-back three-pointers in the last 1:26 of the third quarter. He finished with 22 points and made 7 of 10 shots while Bryant went 9-for-26 on the way to scoring 24 points.
Sometimes it's also only a matter of two plays that can turn a game. Garnett's save to prevent a backcourt violation led to a Sam Cassell jumper in the fourth quarter and James Posey followed with a three-pointer to give Boston a nine-point lead.
Watching the replay, Garnett definitely took off before he crossed the halfcourt line - - it was hard to tell with that giant Finals trophy logo on the parquet - - and Posey couldn't have picked a better time to hit his only shot of the night.
I wondered when the Lakers' lack of big-game experience would catch up with them. Sasha Vujacic went 2-for-7, Lamar Odom missed two free throws in the third quarter and Pau Gasol completely forgot about Kevin Garnett on that follow-up dunk with 1:32 left.
While Gasol was focused on Posey, who launched a three-pointer from the left side, Garnett took advantage of Gasol's missed box-out for the dunk that sealed Boston's victory.
We'll see whether the Lakers can come home with a split with a victory in Sunday's Game 2. The last time the Lakers were in the Finals, they lost Game 1 to Detroit in Los Angeles and were finished in five games.
--Ross Siler
10:39 PM
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