The Lakers just pulled out a sloppy Game Five win over the Celtics. The Celtics lead the series 3-2.
From what I saw, a.k.a. the second half, the Lakers were sort of lucky to win, but the Celtics certainly didn't play well enough to close out a championship series on the road.
I think it would be inaccurate to say the Celtics relaxed after their huge comeback a game ago. It was more that they just blew the opportunities they had in this game to take control. The biggest example came with 2:31 remaining, with the Lakers leading 95-93. Pau Gasol, going for an offensive rebound, went over the back on Kevin Garnett. So Garnett got two foul shots and a chance to tie the game, but he missed both. It was stuff like that. Boston's defense was solid enough, but their offense needed work.
The Lakers played solidly enough to defend their home court. Kobe Bryant had another poor shooting night, finishing 8-for-21. (And he made his last two shots, meaning at one point he was identical to the previous game's 6-for-19.) He did poke the ball away from Paul Pierce, then caught a long pass from Lamar Odom for a breakaway dunk, at a key point late in the game. Nevertheless Michele Tafoya was unashamed to praise him in the postgame interview for being the man who made the win possible.
The rest of the Lakers played all right, I suppose. Lamar Odom appeared ready to throw down with James Posey at one point in the fourth when Posey fouled him hard after a whistle; sort of reminded you which of the pair had had the focus to win a ring already. Pau Gasol did a terrific job maintaining his obnoxious, whiny look when he didn't like a call. So grating. Derek Fisher was solid and fills his role well, but he wasn't exactly shooting the lights out in the fourth quarter. If both teams give the same effort in the next game, which I sort of hope doesn't happen (this wasn't really a great game to watch), the change in venues could be enough to yield Boston the championship. While all I really want is a trophy presentation Tuesday night, hopefully Game Six is more entertaining.
P.S. It's friggin' hilarious in my book that "Knick" Bavetta reffed tonight's game and the Lakers won, but there was absolutely nothing fishy about the officiating.
4 comments:
I agree, last nights game was pretty boring. Even when Boston made it's comeback in the fourth quarter last night, it's not like they did it by playing championship basketball. Really, it just looked like the Lakers were playing terrible and not executing any type of offense.
After watching the last two games I feel like the Celtics just want to win more than the Lakers do. How else can you explain losing a 24 point lead, a 19 point lead, and then a 14 point lead in the forth quarter last night?
My take exactly. I watched the first quarter, which ended 39-22 in favor of the Lakers. My response was to think: "Oh, well, where have we seen this before?" I wouldn't have been surprised regardless of how the game turned out, mostly because I think it is difficult to win two road games in a row in the NBA finals. Again, the fact that the Celtics were even close in this game after playing so poorly (just like game 3) shows how much better they are than the Lakers.
Plus, having Perkins sitting out definitely hurt the Celtics' interior depth, which has been one of their biggest advantages in this series.
You know, that's an interesting question. I think L.A.'s problem isn't desire so much as reliance on guys who, outside of Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, don't have true crunch-time experience, and don't really know how to hold on to leads in games like this. Lamar Odom doesn't seem to play any differently regardless of game situation. Gasol, too, disappears for stretches. If only they had a coach who knew how to reach players in a time like this...
Neither team has been forged into a contender over years of playoff battles as Finals teams often are, but at least the Celtics have three guys who've each had to carry a team's playoff hopes in the past.
I'm with you, John, on the difficulty of winning road games like this. The Lakers' victory wasn't commanding enough to make me think anything has really changed in the series.
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