At some point in the halftime report of Sunday's Celtics/Lakers game, Mike Wilbon said something along the lines of the following:
"I hate the term 'statement game' - it's very cliche - but in the case
of this game, Celtics/Lakers, I think it's very appropriate."
But as the game went on, I had less and less to take away from it. In the first half, both teams played well at different times, the Celtics would take a sizeable lead then give up some ground to the Lakers as the 1st and 2nd quarters wound down. The game was shaping up to be a hotly contested battle with a lot of players playing truly incredible basketball, especially Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant.
Something happened late in the 3rd quarter and into the 4th with the Lakers that I can't really explain. It looked like Pau Gasol simply stopped trying. Andrew Bynum forgot that he was bigger than everyone else on the floor and decided to start giving up rebounds to Big Baby. Steve Blake simply forgot that he was guarding a guy named Ray Allen. Staples Center Security is still looking for Ron Artest.
There was a truly telling moment with around 7:20 left in the 4th quarter - Pau Gasol missed his second lazy 11-foot jumper in 30 seconds and apparently Kobe/Phil Jackson had had enough. The Lakers proceeded to run ELEVEN straight plays for Bryant, mostly just isolation drives and fade-aways that Allen guarded very well.
During this stretch, the score went from 89-80 Celtics to 105-91 Celtics; the clock went from 7:20 to about 1:29. Celtics players that scored in this span: Garnett, Ray Allen, Rondo and Big Baby - only one of these was unassisted. In other words, while Kobe was stutter-step, spin move, juke/shake and fade-away jumpshotting to keep his team in it, the Lakers defense was just downright lazy on the other end. Note that Paul Pierce didn't score during this stretch - he was guarded by Kobe Bryant.
For the record: Paul Pierce: 11-18, 32pts; Ray Allen: 8-12, 21pts; Kevin Garnett: 9-12, 18pts, 13reb; Rajon Rondo: 5-9, 10pts, 16ast. In other words, the "big four" shot 65% from the floor - sweet defense, LA.
Back to Wilbon's comment at half-time: what do we take away from this "statement" game? That Kobe Bryant is really good? That team basketball beats individual basketball 99.99999% of the time? That the Lakers look just like the Celtics did this time last year when they coasted the rest of the regular season? I don't really know.
I do know that the Lakers will not get far in the playoffs if Kobe is putting up 41pt losing efforts.
Something happened late in the 3rd quarter and into the 4th with the Lakers that I can't really explain. It looked like Pau Gasol simply stopped trying. Andrew Bynum forgot that he was bigger than everyone else on the floor and decided to start giving up rebounds to Big Baby. Steve Blake simply forgot that he was guarding a guy named Ray Allen. Staples Center Security is still looking for Ron Artest.
There was a truly telling moment with around 7:20 left in the 4th quarter - Pau Gasol missed his second lazy 11-foot jumper in 30 seconds and apparently Kobe/Phil Jackson had had enough. The Lakers proceeded to run ELEVEN straight plays for Bryant, mostly just isolation drives and fade-aways that Allen guarded very well.
During this stretch, the score went from 89-80 Celtics to 105-91 Celtics; the clock went from 7:20 to about 1:29. Celtics players that scored in this span: Garnett, Ray Allen, Rondo and Big Baby - only one of these was unassisted. In other words, while Kobe was stutter-step, spin move, juke/shake and fade-away jumpshotting to keep his team in it, the Lakers defense was just downright lazy on the other end. Note that Paul Pierce didn't score during this stretch - he was guarded by Kobe Bryant.
For the record: Paul Pierce: 11-18, 32pts; Ray Allen: 8-12, 21pts; Kevin Garnett: 9-12, 18pts, 13reb; Rajon Rondo: 5-9, 10pts, 16ast. In other words, the "big four" shot 65% from the floor - sweet defense, LA.
Back to Wilbon's comment at half-time: what do we take away from this "statement" game? That Kobe Bryant is really good? That team basketball beats individual basketball 99.99999% of the time? That the Lakers look just like the Celtics did this time last year when they coasted the rest of the regular season? I don't really know.
I do know that the Lakers will not get far in the playoffs if Kobe is putting up 41pt losing efforts.
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