The sound of Mark Jackson reminds me of the fact that he actually said Kobe was as good as MJ in Game 1. Not only that but he said him and MJ were both like Muhammad Ali. I’m not exaggerating. Paraphrasing, but not exaggerating that’s how his point ended up. And how did his credibility not get executed like a criminal on death row? Seriously.
1st Quarter
-If I’m a C’s fan I’m not sweating Kendrick Perkins injury. You still have Big Baby in the bank and he could have 192 rebounds in this game. Speaking of Perkins he comes out with an illegal screen. Awesome. Odom should really go at him since he can’t really slide.
….and he just got a nasty little dunk. Lakers looked hyped right about now. Boston looked a little tentative…
…until Paul Pierce hits a three off a Kendrick Perkins rebound. How satisfying was that play for Celtics fans?
-Kobe is in attack mode again in this first quarter. Same results though. Also, torn meniscus or no torn meniscus Radmonovic still cannot guard Paul Pierce. Two quick fouls in a replay from Game 1. I like how Doc is going to Paul early when he’s warm, this is probably his best chance to really kill.
-Could be underrated move by Phil Jackson to go to Ariza to D up Pierce. Kobe with a runner which is one of the easiest buckets he’s gotten all series.
-Does anyone else hear those Laker fans? What the heck is up with that Boston? Come on now.
-Speaking of Pierce he’s either super tough but he looks fine. Unfortunately will support those who believe he’s acting. I really like Doc going to Pierce early because when he comes out there’s a good chance that knee is going to lock up.
-I swear if KG does one more ‘jump-pass’ where he is about to shoot and then decides to pass I will personnally find him and kick him in the shin.
-Number of ‘I’m disgusted with you’ looks that Kobe’s shot to his teammates: 1. Thanks for that Pau.
-…and thanks for that dunk too Pau. That was what I was talking about ealier Pau. Go at KG and DUNK ON HIM. Damn. If that doesn’t get KG in the post nothing will. Pau’s got his swagger back if you heard that yell.
-Well so far…15-12 Lakers. Lamar and Pau came ready to play, Kobe is still forcing it, KG won’t post up and Eddie House’s son continues to annoy me.
-Those cheers from Laker fans in Boston has killed any of the mystique I learned of this rivalry from the 80s through VHS tapes. I thought that’s what got people killed.
-KG decides to post up and he gets an easy bucket. I hope he has a memory and remembers to do this later.
-Kobe just picked up his second foul on a pretty lame call from Bob Delaney. He’s messing up right now. You can’t call that in the Finals, maybe he was sending a message or he owes Ray Allen a favor but you can’t do that. Very interesting
-Leon Powe: instant impact. He picks up two fouls on Odom.
-Farmar with a big three (WITH LAKER CHEERS! NO BEAT LA TONIGHT!) to put the Lakers up 22-20.
Going in to the second quarter it will be interesting to see if the Laker bench is up for the challenge now that Kobe will be out for an extended amount of time. Can Pierce’s knee hold up? And how many shots will Sam Cassell take? I say 4.
2nd Quarter
-Bench Time aka Sam Cassell shoots a lot of jumpers time. You can count on boobies being on Cinemax at 1 in the morning and you can count on Sam Cassell shooting the ball. Boston’s bench is still outplaying LA’s bench.
-Lakers want no part of Leon Powe right now. None. Everytime I look up he is at the free throw line.
-10-0 run to start the quarter as the Lakers bench again gets punched in the face. This time not by Sam Cassell, instead by Leon Powe and Paul Pierce with another open three.
-Kobe’s back and he nails a tough jumper over Posey. Yucky.
-Not sure what’s more annoying the Paul Pierce face or Van Gundy/Jackson side arguments/talking. We’ll be able to judge sooner or later.
-Leon Powe is a beast. He’s got 8 points, and 8 more free throw attempts than Kobe. Remember when I was talking about Unsung Heroes? Enter Leon Powe.
-Kobe is making the shots he missed last game. That’s about it. Also, could everyone on the Lakers be in foul trouble?
-Pau with his second tough finish over KG. He’s playing like a man instead of doing his best Margo Dydek impersonation.
-Unbelievable that ABC/ESPN started their ‘celebs’ with Antoine freakin’ Walker. Are. You. Kidding. Me.
-KG and Perkins just had the worst alley-oop exchange in the history of basketball. It’s like when you try to enter the ball to a 55 year old white guy and you foolishly throw a lob and he jumps .2 millimeters and it goes over his head. Kind of like that.
-Pau Gasol is in attack mode. KG meanwhile is settling for contested jumpers over a near 7 foot human being. I’m convinced he does not care about his legacy.
HALFTIME: Boston 54, LA 42
Huge 2nd quarter from Boston. Leon Powe gave them an amazing lift, their defense was tough and they are scoring. 34 points in a quarter? On pace to get 108? The Lakers are not making it hard. For Boston they are up 12 despite the fact that KG has played horrible. 8 points on 3/11 shooting and he’s still being stubborn. LA has to be worried. They are not stopping Boston so they can’t get any easy baskets. They are down double digits despite Pau playing as good as possible (13 points already). Kobe has 3 fouls but more importantly is 4/10 at half with 9 points. More shots than points is a bad sign. And the thing is you’re shooting 40+ percent, you only have one more turnover than Boston and you’re outrebounding them. Yet you’re down 12.
Boston has to come out in the first five minutes and stomp the Lakers. They can’t let the Lakers cut it to 5 or 6 and hope they can take their best shot. They can end it with a run to start the third. But we all know this Celtics team loves to let teams back in games so we’ll see what happens.
3rd Quarter
-More jumpers from KG as Kobe found his way to the paint…and got a layup? He was so shocked that he got a technical foul.
-Has Paul Pierce missed a three since getting hurt?
-Pau is back to being a wuss and Kobe sure is complaining a lot. Where is Mamba?
-KG…*GASP* goes to the basket. And he gets fouled. Guaranteed he won’t do this again for the rest of the night.
-Gotta love Breen saying “Farmar in to put pressure on Rondo” except Rondo is at halfcourt and Farmar is at the three point line. Good job Mike!
-Van Gundy likes putting it all on Kobe right now. The scoreboard disagrees.
-Boston is good enough to keep it at 10-12, Kobe is good enough to get it to 6 or 8 but they just keep going back and forth. Boston is on a run, just pushed it to 15 to make me look dumb.
-Kobe is gunning now. PJ Brown’s “I said what the hell is going on?” is the quote of the day. This needs to be YouTube’d.
-Ray Allen three puts it to 18. Kobe turns it over trying to alley oop with Pau…leads to a Rondo to Powe alley oop. 20 point Boston lead.
-Two words. Leon. Powe. He just took whatever’s left of Turiaf’s heart.
4th Quarter
-Uhhhhh Leon. Powe. Continued.