NBA Finals Analysis & League News

Like I promised, I’m following up Saturday night’s blog entry with another one to review Game 2 of the NBA Finals as well as preview Game 3 on Tuesday night. I also have a few headlines around the association to touch on as well. So without further adieu..

Game 2: Celtics Prove Too Powe-rful For Lakers

This was another fun game to watch from a Boston perspective but terrible if you’re a fan of L.A.’s team. Again, the Lakers started the game out with a small lead following the second quarter and then proceeded to get blasted in the third quarter, resulting in a loss. Here are the main storylines stemming from Game 2 of the NBA Finals and the Celtics’ 108-102 win Sunday night:

1. Paul Pierce’s knee was just fine and I believe he had 16 points by the time halftime had rolled around. He was 9-for-16 shooting, including an impressing 4-for-4 night from behind the three-point line, leading to 28 points to lead the Celtics in scoring. Couple that with his 4 rebounds and 8 assists and the captain delivered yet another great performance that could add to his legend in these playoffs should Boston win the Championship. I think he was very good at putting pressure on the Lakers’ defence and his shot was on as it usually is.

2. Leon Powe was exceptional off the bench. I had no clue he had only played around 15 minutes in the game because it seemed like so much more when all of the big baskets seemed to come from him. Like Kendrick Perkins did in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Detroit when he had 18 points and 16 rebounds, Leon Powe provided the Celtics with an inside presence on a night where Kevin Garnett’s shot was off early. Powe got to all the right spots on the floor, had good post moves, attacked the glass and probably led the team in buckets that resulted in the fans getting on their feet. He was exceptional with his 21 points on 6-for-7 shooting, including 9-for-13 from the free throw line. Even if he doesn’t have another game like that for the rest of the series or even plays again, Boston fans can attribute a lot of Game 2’s success to him.

3. Now, I just mentioned Powe had 13 free throw attempts. How many did the MVP, Kobe Bryant, have? Try seven, all of which were made. How about the Lakers as a team? Well, that number is 10. How does it make sense that Leon Powe – a bench player who managed to get into the game for 14 minutes and 39 seconds – had more trips to the line than the Western Conference Champions? Powe was very aggressive and no one could really contain him on this night with his strength, aggression and speed but I find that a little outrageous. The Celtics had 38 free throw attempts, 28 more than the road team. That has got to change in L.A. because the Lakers are not being very successful with their penetration in the lane.

4. Kobe Bryant did drop 30 points but he did it on 11-for-23 shooting. That’s not as bad as the percentage he shot in Game 1 but he had to work very hard to attain those stats until the fourth quarter. He did a better job knocking down shots you would expect him to and even hit some that didn’t look makeable but unfortunately, the referees called him for two early fouls and he was taken out of the game for a stretch until there were about nine minutes left in the second quarter. He received his third foul in that quarter and sat until the third. Kobe is an aggressive defender and very good at it so being off the floor really hurt the Lakers. That’s not even mentioning the offensive repercussions of not having the MVP on the floor.

5. The Celtics had built up a 24-point lead by the time there were seven minutes and 40 seconds left in the game. Somehow, that massive lead managed to be whittled down to just two with a couple minutes to play. Boston got lackadaisical on offence, simply holding the ball and not being aggressive with it, leading to turnovers and bad shot opportunities. The Lakers, to their credit, capitalized on these mistakes and went on a massive run to almost steal the game. If people thought the Spurs’ 20-point collapse with 18 minutes left in Game 1 of the West Finals was bad, a 24-point collapse with less than eight minutes left on Sunday night would’ve been the ultimate choke job – something worthy of comparison to the New York Mets. Fortunately for the Celtics, Paul Pierce saved the day again by drawing a foul and hitting both free throws and James Posey repeated the task to bring the score to the final 108-102. Boston has to learn how to play with a huge lead because the Lakers have proven three times already against very good teams that they can come back from large deficits with Kobe Bryant leading the charge.

6. I said in my Game 1 review that the Lakers’ frontcourt played like they were intimidated or scared. That wasn’t the case tonight. I don’t think Lamar Odom had a particularly good game but he did start out very aggressive. Whether or not he had the ball, Odom crashed the glass a lot more and stuck his nose in the paint. That isn’t something that happened in Game 1. He didn’t continue to do so later in the game but Pau Gasol started magnificently. He finished with 17 points on a good shooting percentage to go along with eight rebounds. I think his production dropped off in the second half – especially the third quarter – but every member of the Lakers could be accused of falling victim to that. He attacked Kevin Garnett early and often and actually won some of the battles so it bodes well for his confidence heading back to L.A.

7. To round out the Boston story, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett both had decent games at the very worst. Allen had 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting, including a 3-for-6 clip from behind the arc. KG’s shooting was way off in the first half but he still managed to get 17 on 7-for-19 shooting. I like the fact that he took the most shots but I don’t like that he actually took tough ones and passed up some easier looks to teammates. Rajon Rondo was exceptional at facilitating the offence and getting others involving, especially Powe. He finished with a stellar 16 assists with only two turnovers. The Celtics will need more of the same on the road.

Game 3 Outlook: Stage Takes Hollywood

It’s very important that the Celtics try as hard as they can to bring their defence on the road. They were successful in doing it against Detroit in Game 3 of the East Finals and it’ll have to happen again on Tuesday. The Lakers are a very young team and will be amped up to play in front of their home crowd at Staples Center. Every unanswered basket they score just adds more and more momentum – a mountain that wouldn’t be quite as steep to climb at home. Boston held serve at TD Banknorth Garden like they were supposed to but L.A. will be a different story. I’m sure Kobe Bryant will go off in at least one of the three games there – probably even two. By going off, I mean he’ll have something like 35 points but if he gets those points off high volume shooting, so be it. After Game 2, Phil Jackson was concerned with the fact the referees were only able to call fouls for the Celtics because the Lakers’ spacing was way off and in a crowd, it’s hard to see things. L.A. plays a game predicated on swinging the ball, getting good player movement and cutting. Their three-point shooting hasn’t been where it should be so far but that will change in L.A. because Kobe Bryant will eventually find ways to penetrate the Boston defence and find the seams. So far, it’s been almost impenetrable and he’s been shooting contested mid-range shots. Some of them have fallen, but so be it as long as they’re low percentage shots. From a Laker fan perspective, there’s a little to feel good about because the next three games are at home and you’ve got the MVP. For all we know, this could head back to Boston with the Celtics down 3-2 but I think that’s a very unlikely scenario. The one thing the Lakers have not proven they can do in these playoffs is beat a team that is talented on both ends of the court and the defence has really puzzled them. Paul Pierce has always played well when he goes home to California and he has had a very memorable Finals so far so who’s to say he won’t explode on the road as well? I think he will in at least one game, resulting in 30+ points. From a Celtic fan perspective, I’m hoping for one win in the first two games at the very least. In all likelihood, Game 3 will be the hardest to win because it’s the first one there and the Lakers will realize going down 3-0 would virtually spell the end of their season. The lower seed usually manages to win Game 3 if they’re going to win one at all. We’ve seen it countless times in this year’s playoffs, whether you’re talking about the Raptors, Mavericks or Magic. Game 4 will be key: will the Celtics be able to take the 3-1 lead and put all the pressure on the Lakers to fight for their lives every night or will they cough it up and risk going down 3-2, having lost momentum in the series? I am not willing to hang my hat on home court advantage against a player like Kobe Bryant because all it would take is one defensive off-game for the Celtics and he could torch them for more than 40 points. Defence is the key, and remaining calm on offence even if things don’t go your way. For a young team, the Lakers seem to have some poise to come back from large deficits in high-pressure situations – the Celtics have to be ready to do the same in a hostile environment on the road. My prediction for Game 3 is the Los Angeles Lakers will win the game by about 12 points. If they don’t, the Hollywood hype machine will definitely be over – and I sure won’t be shedding any tears over its demise.

Headlines

“Could Bulls Target Jermaine?”

Link: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/52898/20080608/could_bulls_target_jermaine/#

Jermaine O’Neal has two years and roughly $44 million left on his current contract with the Indiana Pacers. Now, it doesn’t really matter who the Bulls draft first overall on June 26. Either way, they’ll still have a void in the low post. I don’t know if I’d want to fill it with a guy who is injured every single season in some way or another. I like J.O. and I think he’s a warrior but the Bulls have too many good pieces right now to throw away on damaged goods like O’Neal. I’m sure they want to bring Luol Deng back to play small forward. If they draft Derrick Rose, they’ll have extra guards like Larry Hughes, Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon. I’d probably look at moving the latter two to get some other big man that’s out there on the block – perhaps a guy like Zach Randolph from the New York Knicks. That organization didn’t know how to use him but he’s still extremely talented and would probably fit just what they need over in Chicago. Derrick Rose, Larry Hughes, Luol Deng, Drew Gooden and Zach Randolph as the starting line-up? That seems good to me. There’s still other players like Andres Nocioni out there as well but they need scoring.

“Artest Has Eyes On Knicks Stint”

Link: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/52901/20080609/artest_has_eyes_on_knicks_stint/

Ron Artest is a player I know a lot of Toronto Raptors fans would love to have north of the border. He’s always talked about playing for the Knicks and what it would mean to him. I’m sure Donnie Walsh would consider it since he worked with him in Indiana previously and Artest could be a good defender for Mike D’Antoni, although I’m not sure if he’s interested in that for his system. It seems to be based on getting down the floor as quickly as possible while playing absolutely no defence. Anyway, Artest has $7.4 million left on the deal for next season and has an opt-out so he could be a free agent come July 1. The Knicks probably don’t have any money to offer him other than the mid-level exception so we’ll have to see how that plays out.

“Pistons Eyeing Carmelo?”

Link: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/52893/20080608/pistons_eye_carmelo_source_says/

I don’t know if this is true because “sources” can sometimes turn out to be a writer’s way of making up his own rumours. Anyway, I don’t see any deal being made because the Pistons have pieces to trade but what would make the Nuggets better off if they dealt Melo to Motown? Rasheed Wallace is too old, Chauncey Billups would be a good fit but then they’d need a new frontcourt player, Tayshaun Prince would be good but they they lose a ton of offence, Richard Hamilton would be excellent but again they lose size up front and scoring ability. I wouldn’t hang my hat on Marcus Camby and Nene to score the basketball on a consistent basis. Melo would be a fine piece to retool the Pistons with but I just don’t see it happening.

“Curry Gets Three-Year Deal To Coach Detroit”

Link: http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/52910/20080609/curry_gets_three_year_deal_to_coach_detroit/

Michael Curry – who has been an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons for a few years now – has officially gotten the head coaching job in Motown. He’s reportedly being paid $2.5 million per year and he’s definitely put his time in as an assistant. He’s familiar with what Joe Dumars wants, as well as the personnel on the team so I think it’s a pretty good fit and a logical step. Detroit is only looking to retool – not rebuild – so it makes sense to promote from within and make minor changes to the core of the team rather than blow it up completely.

Raptors Draft Update

According to Doug Smith’s blog (which you can find in my blogroll, to the right), the Raptors don’t have any pre-draft workouts until later in the week. This isn’t much of an update at all but here’s what the Raptors’ brass is up to:

1. Maurizio Gherardini, Masai Ujiri and Jay Triano are in Treviso for the Reebok Euro Camp

2. Jim Kelly is on the West coast watching group workouts with various players

3. The rest of the scouting staff is scattered around the East coast watching workouts as well

4. Bryan Colangelo is still in Toronto, probably working the phones from his office

That’s it for today’s entry. I’ll probably be back with something on Wednesday, following Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Until next time..

-Mark R.

[The Raptor Core]