NBA Finals - Celtics vs. Lakers

[Jake]

The Celts hold the Lakers under 90, again, but LA gets the win they had to have tonight. It's amazing what some defensive intensity can do for a team. LA got the message, and got back in the series.

Big game coming up Thursday night. Pierce sure as hell needs a better effort than he produced tonight.

 

[OCBucksFan]

Well the Lakers got lucky ...

My observations from game 3.

Well first off, I would like to point out that Best Buckeye has no balls what so ever, talks a lot, but he's afraid to back that talk up, anyways.

The Lakers were more agressive tonight and actually defended. Tonight was the Lakers playing the Celtics game. 87-81, that's very Celtics, the Lakers just did what they had to do.

Here was my thoughts before the game, they had to take chances, drive the paint and hope if they got blocked, they would get the calls. That's what they did tonight, VladRad and Odom got into foul trouble quickly but so did Pierce, I will make that trade.

Tonight showed me a few things, first off, no one is going to get blown out in this series. The Lakers had this game in hand and jumped out to a huge lead, but the Celtics showed that if you are down 11 they can turn that into 4 in under a minute.

We'll see if the Lakers have the energy for game 4. The thing is, the "selfish" play that everyone criticized Kobe for last year is what opened up the offense. He started taking over the game, so the Celtics started paying extra attention to him, then he used his teammates.

Overall, good performance, they didn't get out hustled, they didn't get out played, and they made everything the Celtics did tough, the same as the Celtics did in the first two games.

 

[SanAntonioBuck]

Fouls: Celtics 28 Lakers 23

Free throws Celtics 22, Lakers 34

Hardly the discrepancy we saw in Boston. What happened to the refs throwing this game for L.A?

Celtics had more boards, steals, assists, shots, blocks and only one more turnover.

Kobe Bryant kept L.A. in this game against a team that is clearly playing much better ball than they are.

 

[buckeyeinfla]

boston can't beat anyone when their best 2 players only score 19 points...lakers did what they had to do...i figured LA would get this one....surprising that boston was even in the game when garnett and pierce score 19....but this was no surprise..boston had a chance up 5 to pull away and couldn't seal the deal...on to thursday.....boston is in trouble if rondo is out thursday

only thing that would concern me if i were a laker fan is the fact kobe is doing it all himself...he got nothing from gasol, odom, fisher and you can't expect sasha to throw up 20 points again and again...sooner or later they are going to need those other guys...and fouls did play a role...pierce played only 16 minutes in the first half..never got into a flow and the rest is history....

 

[BuckeyeTillIDie]

Kobe and Sasha were the only ones who played well for the Lakers (offensively). Thank goodness they all decided to play better overall team defense.

It was nice to watch a fairly officiated game, too. I thought the refs did a great job, for the most part (and as far as NBA standards go )

 

[OCBucksFan]

Fouls: Celtics 28 Lakers 23

Free throws Celtics 22, Lakers 34

Hardly the discrepancy we saw in Boston. What happened to the refs throwing this game for L.A?

Let me start off by saying this, never once in this thread did I say anything about the free throw's, I made a joke about BuckeyeFla but that's it, I never complained.

Here's my view on this post:

The Lakers were aggressive tonight, they went to the basket, they took the chance and hoped to get the calls, some went their way, some didn't. In game 2, they took outside shots. Lakers fans, that is why there's a huge difference, we sat outside the paint instead of just driving and going for it.

This is one win, the Celtics are still up in the series, but it's a glimmer of hope, here's hoping we can even this up on Thursday. But it's going to take the same agressive play we saw tonight.

 

[buckeyeinfla]

Let me start off by saying this, never once in this thread did I say anything about the free throw's, I made a joke about BuckeyeFla but that's it, I never complained.

Here's my view on this post:

The Lakers were aggressive tonight, they went to the basket, they took the chance and hoped to get the calls, some went their way, some didn't. In game 2, they took outside shots. Lakers fans, that is why there's a huge difference, we sat outside the paint instead of just driving and going for it.

This is one win, the Celtics are still up in the series, but it's a glimmer of hope, here's hoping we can even this up on Thursday. But it's going to take the same agressive play we saw tonight.

i didn't say anything about fouls except the 3 on pierce hurt him.....but boston didnt play well enough to win this game...the sucked tonight

 

[OCBucksFan]

boston can't beat anyone when their best 2 players only score 19 points...lakers did what they had to do...i figured LA would get this one....surprising that boston was even in the game when garnett and pierce score 19....but this was no surprise..boston had a chance up 5 to pull away and couldn't seal the deal...on to thursday.....boston is in trouble if rondo is out thursday

only thing that would concern me if i were a laker fan is the fact kobe is doing it all himself...he got nothing from gasol, odom, fisher and you can't expect sasha to throw up 20 points again and again...sooner or later they are going to need those other guys...and fouls did play a role...pierce played only 16 minutes in the first half..never got into a flow and the rest is history....

No credit to the Lakers what so ever? And you wonder why I called you out in a previous post... I have watched Lakers games since I was 10, that's 25 years, and I gave credit in all my posts to Boston.

 

[OCBucksFan]

i didn't say anything about fouls except the 3 on pierce hurt him.....but boston didnt play well enough to win this game...the sucked tonight

Really? You said that the Lakers would win this game because of the refs:

i do think LA wins game 3 because the FT's will be slanted toward them but i think boston has a great shot at getting one of the 3 games...

 

[buckeyeinfla]

Really? You said that the Lakers would win this game because of the refs:

and the fouls were slanted toward LA but that isn't the reason boston lost tonight...they were passive and LA wanted it more...what do you want me to say? it was a poorly played game on both ends but LA stepped up and won...great job by the lakers......congrats...enjoy!

 

[OCBucksFan]

and the fouls were slanted toward LA but that isn't the reason boston lost tonight...they were passive and LA wanted it more...what do you want me to say? it was a poorly played game on both ends but LA stepped up and won...great job by the lakers......congrats...enjoy!

Physical play wins this series. That's all there really is, it's not about the Celtics or the Lakers, it's about who's willing to drive and take that chance. That's all I have been saying, there are two questions for the Lakers: 1) can they hold up this energy for the next two games at home, and 2) can they do this in Boston.

Either way, this series is going to be a low scoring series.

 

[buckeyeinfla]

Physical play wins this series. That's all there really is, it's not about the Celtics or the Lakers, it's about who's willing to drive and take that chance. That's all I have been saying, there are two questions for the Lakers: 1) can they hold up this energy for the next two games at home, and 2) can they do this in Boston.

Either way, this series is going to be a low scoring series.

you are right..the lakers were the aggressive team that was physical tonight..they won...boston didn't deserve to win...i prefer it is low scoring...but for game four boston has to get their points from garnett and pierce and LA needs odom and gasol to play...overall...it was an ugly game on both ends for both teams..boston started shooting jumpers and that was their downfall...
Kobe attacked the rim..sasha was hot..game over

 

[CCI]

you are right..the lakers were the aggressive team that was physical tonight..they won...boston didn't deserve to win...i prefer it is low scoring...but for game four boston has to get their points from garnett and pierce and LA needs odom and gasol to play...overall...it was an ugly game on both ends for both teams..boston started shooting jumpers and that was their downfall...
Kobe attacked the rim..sasha was hot..game over

Game 3 was the season for LA , which LA wanted it more, because going down 0-3 was ALL Bad. They made adjustments from game 2 (4th quarter) almost comeback and how they played d.

Good win for the Lakers now Pau G and odom gotta get it together.

 

[OCBucksFan]

you are right..the lakers were the aggressive team that was physical tonight..they won...boston didn't deserve to win...i prefer it is low scoring...but for game four boston has to get their points from garnett and pierce and LA needs odom and gasol to play...overall...it was an ugly game on both ends for both teams..boston started shooting jumpers and that was their downfall...
Kobe attacked the rim..sasha was hot..game over

I agree, Odom and Vladrad getting into foul trouble right off the bat wasn't a good thing, I think that was why Kobe really moved into take over mode. The thing was, there were a lot of plays that the Lakers really played their game. The play where Sasha passed off and the ball worked through everyones hand back to an open Sasha was what the Triangle is about.

Overall, it was a pretty sloppy game, the third quarter adjustments the Celtics made helped them out a lot, but fortunately, Jackson actually made some of his own that worked.

Overall, both teams had to really work for their shots, and a lot of the Lakers points still came from outside, which is a plus if you are a Celtics fan, Odom and Gasol might have went to the game last night, but I didn't see them.

It was a great defensive game, every shot was contested, very few fast breaks, the difference really was just forcing the ball into the paint. It lead to a lot of sloppy turnovers, but it's what's going to need to happen for the Lakers. They tried playing their game in Boston, that didn't work, now they are going to have a fight on their hands, if they want to even this series up, they are going to have to bring defense and get rough in the middle.

The defensive strategy was obvious last night, Kobe stuck to Rondo and kept him from clogging up the defense and everyone was told just to stick to their guy, no moving off to double team, keep the middle blocked up and see what happens.

I will say this, if someone had walked up to me and said "The Lakers are only scoring 87 points tonight" I would have began to write my final post in the Lakers 07-08 thread congratulating the Celtics.

 

[buckeyeinfla]

I agree, Odom and Vladrad getting into foul trouble right off the bat wasn't a good thing, I think that was why Kobe really moved into take over mode. The thing was, there were a lot of plays that the Lakers really played their game. The play where Sasha passed off and the ball worked through everyones hand back to an open Sasha was what the Triangle is about.

Overall, it was a pretty sloppy game, the third quarter adjustments the Celtics made helped them out a lot, but fortunately, Jackson actually made some of his own that worked.

Overall, both teams had to really work for their shots, and a lot of the Lakers points still came from outside, which is a plus if you are a Celtics fan, Odom and Gasol might have went to the game last night, but I didn't see them.

It was a great defensive game, every shot was contested, very few fast breaks, the difference really was just forcing the ball into the paint. It lead to a lot of sloppy turnovers, but it's what's going to need to happen for the Lakers. They tried playing their game in Boston, that didn't work, now they are going to have a fight on their hands, if they want to even this series up, they are going to have to bring defense and get rough in the middle.

The defensive strategy was obvious last night, Kobe stuck to Rondo and kept him from clogging up the defense and everyone was told just to stick to their guy, no moving off to double team, keep the middle blocked up and see what happens.

I will say this, if someone had walked up to me and said "The Lakers are only scoring 87 points tonight" I would have began to write my final post in the Lakers 07-08 thread congratulating the Celtics.

yeah if you would have told me that boston would hold LA to 87 points in game 3 i would have said thanks for championship...i also anticipated paul pierce scoring more than 4 points too...it is what it is..boston needs to play gme four like it is game 7...