Scanning the blogs and beats following the Celtics' 98-88 win over the visiting Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals ...

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: "Don't get cocky. Resist the urge to fire off that sarcastic e-mail to your old college roommate currently residing in Reseda. Just appreciate the fact that the championship of the world's greatest basketball league is once again being played in this town and that your Celtics are now one step closer to title No. 17."

Dan Shanoff, The Sporting Blog: "Paul Pierce is not Willis Reed. Everyone needs to stop forcing the nostalgia. Just stop it. It is getting out of freaking control. If you want to engage in Instant History, I would argue that the single biggest moment in Pierce's all-Celtics career — perhaps the biggest moment in Celtics franchise history since, say, 1986 — came with 1:25 remaining in the third quarter last night: The Celtics were down 2 to the Lakers, and Pierce had yet to make a field goal after returning to the game following a seeming oh-my-God-the-series-is-over knee injury just five minutes earlier. Then Pierce sank a huge 3, putting the Celtics up by 1, a lead they wouldn't give up."

Bill Plaschke, LA Times: "He lay in a heap on the parquet floor, visibly weeping into the silk-suited sleeve of his doctor. He was pushed in a wheelchair down a narrow back hallway, head down, season over. Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics captain, was carried from the opening game of the NBA Finals in the third quarter Thursday with an apparent serious knee injury that momentarily deadened and distracted the Lakers. At which point, Pierce came running back to finish them off. To nearly 50 years of delicious Celtics-Lakers lore, add a new apparent bit of chicanery. Call it the Fake N'Shake."

CelticsBlog.com: "PJ was tremendous filling in an injured Perk. Just heady play all over from PJ. When he first got some burn after joining the team, he looked largely like a 7 foot zombie. Now, he's making key plays in the Finals. Just a wacky and wonderful story. Doc was also tremendous. First off the Celtics made the adjustments and were crushing defensively in the second half holding the Lakers to only 37 points. But the speech he gave after Paul went down was perfect ... paraphrasing: 'remember the meaning of ubuntu, and that we have 12 players that are better than their 12 players.  We are the better team."  Awesome job, Doc."

Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: "Bryant experienced his worst shooting night since going an equally awkward nine for 26 in Game 1 of the first round against Denver. That night, he was able to get to the line, making 13 of 14 free throws. On Thursday, he took only six free throws, his familiar drives down the lane cut off by a slew of double teams and a daunting defense. His mid-range jumper wasn't falling, compounding the issue. He certainly wasn't thrilled with his effort. "I had some great looks. They just didn't stay down for me," he said. "It was just pile it in with the other bad shooting games I've had and flush it and come back in Game 2. Hopefully I get the same looks."

Lakers Blog: "Too often the Lakers became content to be a jumpshooting team, and spent long stretches of time outside the paint. The patience and ball movement characteristic of the team wasn't there for nearly enough of the game, and practically disappeared in the second half. "We had 14 assists in the first half and seven in the second. That was the difference. We did a lot of things off the dribble we didn't do in the first half," Phil Jackson said."

The Shamrock Headband: "Los Angeles is scary, as we all know. In the first half, which was a great half of basketball, we got to see how unstoppable they are when all the pieces are clicking. But the Celtics showed no signs of hesitancy tonight, and they couldn't afford to against such a powerhouse. Ultimately that was the most positive sign of the evening — Boston played rock solid, with none of the postseason jitters we've become all to accustomed to. Great game, great performances ..."

Steve Dilbeck, LA Daily News: "They couldn't make like a thief, couldn't go stealth and dangerous when the sweet opportunity was present itself. It was right there to be stolen, a game the Lakers could have pinched from the Boston Celtics like some deft pickpocket on the evening train. It was just one game, but a team only gets so many of these opportunities, so many chances to take away the homecourt advantage. This one was right there, in this almost typically odd opener where neither team was playing particularly well, right there for the Lakers to steal. And they couldn't do it."

Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe: "The pregame festivities were electric. Waiting 21 years will do that; the NBA is big on presentation and Boston was treated to all the trimmings in the Celtics' return to the Finals. It amounts to an audio/video assault of the senses, but nobody minds when the Celtics are being celebrated. Bill Russell and John Havlicek were among the Boston basketball royalty in the house. It was nice to have a championship game played on the Red Auerbach court."

Green Bandwagon: "That was one of the best all around games that Ray Allen has played in quite some time. He had 8 rebounds one other time all season — March 5th against Detroit."

SLAM Online: "As Pierce’s dramatic entrance back into the game was rudely interrupted by a Phil Jackson timeout, he was greeted by Eddie House’s kid as he made his way back to the bench. (I don’t mean to be cruel, but the first thought that came to my mind when I saw Eddie’s offspring on the Celtics’ bench was that of Dusty Baker’s son nearly getting trampled at home plate during a World Series game a few years ago. I suggest you find that kid a seat in the crowd before something terrible happens, Eddie.)"

TalkHoops.net: "The Lakers got away from everything in the second half that aided them to a halftime lead. They hardly ran at all and had a very slow pace. Maybe they were hoping Kobe could come through in the half-court sets or maybe Boston was just too good in getting back in transition. Either way, Phil Jackson needs to make those necessary adjustments in the third quarter to keep the pace fast and the Celtics on their heels."

Related: The Internets are alive, 2008 NBA Playoffs