Lakers vs. Celtics prediction thread

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by pgardn

These are so much diff. than regular season games they are not comparable.
82 games... Guys have to take nights off. The regular season is way too long.
And the playoffs are played at such a diff. level of intensity.
Look at the Celtics playoff record and compare that to their regular season record if you want stats...

Having said this, the Celtics played better and won.
I think the Lakers will win more than one game in this series
without Kobe going off and getting high 30's or 40's.

Fiddling with the rim is ridiculous I agree.

I think that regular season and playoff games are comparable when certain trends can be seen. What the regular season showed is what matchups can and can't work. One that I think is in the Celtics favor is one I think they picked up on in the regular season and that's making Odom be more of a scorer than a playmaker. They back off of him and take away the passing lanes and make give him opportunities to shoot more. He's shot 28 times in the last two meetings, with two assists. I think that you learn how to play guys in the regular season so that if you meet in the playoffs, you have a blueprint of what you want to do. Some of the parts may change (ie Bynum was there earlier and now Gasol is and Tony Allen is not playing now and Rondo missed one of the games) but a basic idea is learned about how you want to attack certain matchups.

[Cannon Shell]

I thought the game came down to a few basic things
1. The Celtics kept the Lakers from playing at their pace (the Lakers only had 5 points off of turnovers)
2. The Lakers simply dont rebound very well and the refs were consistent in letting the play be a little physical under the boards which was key as the shooting %'s were so poor. Physical play absolutely favors Boston. When the game is fairly close and one team gets outrebounded 46 to 33 it kind of sticks out.
3. The Lakers shot 3's very poorly. Hitting those shots stretches the defense which is something LA needs to do to counter Boston's help defense.

[docicu3]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I thought the game came down to a few basic things
1. The Celtics kept the Lakers from playing at their pace (the Lakers only had 5 points off of turnovers)
2. The Lakers simply dont rebound very well and the refs were consistent in letting the play be a little physical under the boards which was key as the shooting %'s were so poor. Physical play absolutely favors Boston. When the game is fairly close and one team gets outrebounded 46 to 33 it kind of sticks out.
3. The Lakers shot 3's very poorly. Hitting those shots stretches the defense which is something LA needs to do to counter Boston's help defense.

The difference between winning and losing a championship is rebounding plain and simple. More rebounds = more shots = more points which is still how the game is won .

Since the NBA played double headers Boston has been about team defense as the key to winning 16 rings. Kobe will get his eventually but Boston wins the ring.

Kobe can be rattled into bad shooting as history has shown. The defense his wife played in Colorado left him limp and lifeless. It was months before Kobe got a shot off at all under the suffocating defense of the Mrs.

[alysheba4]

the lakers need to put the ball in the basket more

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I think that regular season and playoff games are comparable when certain trends can be seen. What the regular season showed is what matchups can and can't work. One that I think is in the Celtics favor is one I think they picked up on in the regular season and that's making Odom be more of a scorer than a playmaker. They back off of him and take away the passing lanes and make give him opportunities to shoot more. He's shot 28 times in the last two meetings, with two assists. I think that you learn how to play guys in the regular season so that if you meet in the playoffs, you have a blueprint of what you want to do. Some of the parts may change (ie Bynum was there earlier and now Gasol is and Tony Allen is not playing now and Rondo missed one of the games) but a basic idea is learned about how you want to attack certain matchups.

Could be.
But the Celtics had not a clue how to cover
Joe Johnson of the Hawks. They went 7 games
with an under .500 team, mainly due to Johnson.
And they played Atlanta more than they did the
Lakers in the regular season. Did not learn anything
about this matchup. (They had Ray Allen???on him most
of the series and then tried Pierce). Could not stop him.
And he aint Kobe.

Guys play at diff. levels during this time.
Some step up, others look like they want
to leave the building. The best way to find
this out is in the playoffs imo.

[horseofcourse]

The Celtics know how to win. The Hawks although it went 7 were never in the series...no game in Boston was within 20 points or remotely close to a loss. Although the road losses kept piling up against Cleveland, they played great defense on LeBron...he started to get untracked by game 5 and he went off in game 7...but Boston found a way to win the game when LeBron went off. They lost game 2 in the Detroit series...meaning they HAD to win a road game to get to the finals...they proceeded to win 2 of their next 3 in Detroit. Ray Allen was completely invisible all 7 games of the Cleveland series, and they found a way to win...they finally had to win a road game in the Detroit series and they did.

For some reason, this Boston team that won 66 games seems to be underestimated by most everyone. They're a darn good team though. Should be a really good series.