Beat LA! One Down, Three to Go

Gotta love it. Very entertaining game - the subplots of Pierce going down and coming back. But the key as in almost any sport at a championship level was defense and (a little more basketball specific) rebounding.

Pierce/Posey and yes Ray Allen did a tremendous second half job on Kobe. He could not get to the rim - even when one of the two was guarding Kobe he couldn’t shake them most of the time and help was always there in the few instances the D was initially beat. Bryant to the tune of 9-26 shows that. In postgame, Kobe insisted he had lots of good looks. I’ll be happy to see him have those good looks for the second half.

Chris and I were pretty confident back in February when PJ and Cassell joined the fold that Brown would be the bigger acquisition. I know Cassell made some shots in the first half, but he still drives me crazy with those “I’ll take it up, dribble, dribble, then dribble then shoot” possessions that he still has. PJ was noticed by the announcing crew and found his way into the spotlight but again it wasn’t boxscore - it was intensity and being a part of moving the ball that worked for him.

I love the crowd - Boston doesn’t need ‘de-fense’ on the scoreboard every possession or noise meters constantly to have chants or loudness. Sure those things happen but not as much as in other NBA arenas. Lakers fans will be good as well - thank goodness it’s not San Antonio with 10 seconds of hip-hop, pop and drumbeats playing every time up the floor.

Shot of the game: Pierce’s (two) threes at the end of the third quarter. Momentum, 6 points, a lead, crowd intensity, a statement - these two had it all and they happened because the Celtics “RAN THE BALL!” Yes Tommy they ran and it worked twice…in a row. Awesome.

Check the site often thru the series - Chris has got interviews lined up for tomorrow and we’ll be back Saturday for our game 2 preview and game one thoughts via the audio platform.