Lakers' advantage evaporates into Boston air

BOSTON – For the better part of a week, Kobe Bryant and his young Los Angeles Lakers soaked up the praise. They were the favorites in these NBA Finals, and they knew it. They had swept the Denver Nuggets, closed out the Utah Jazz on the road and taken down the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, marching through the treacherous Western Conference with barely a misstep.

Damn home-court advantage. The Lakers didn't need it. They had the league's best player, as well as its best coach.

So when the Lakers strutted into their locker room Thursday night, leading the Boston Celtics at halftime, they had every reason to feel good about themselves. And that was the problem.

"Sometimes," Lamar Odom later said, "you fool yourself."

The Lakers shouldn't have to worry about that anymore. The Celtics' 98-88 victory has left the Lakers in an unfamiliar position in these playoffs: For the first time, they're looking up at their opponent. For the first time they're having to shovel their way out of a hole.

Great players, great teams are defined by how they handle adversity. Now we get to see whether these Lakers are grown-up, after all. Maybe that's why Bryant was still smiling as Thursday night gave way to Friday morning.

"It's a good experience for us," he said. "Nice little kick in the ass."

The Lakers have been front-running through much of these playoffs, and that's a testament to how well they've played. Prior to Thursday the stiffest test they faced came in the second round when they lost back-to-back games in Utah. Even then they never trailed in the series. After spotting the Spurs a 20-point head start in the opener of the conference finals, they needed all of six minutes to swallow it up.

Shortly before the start of Thursday's game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson admitted he might not have given his young players enough credit. "They've always surprised me with their ability to get ready," he said.

The bright lights and big stage didn't seem to fluster the Lakers as much as the Celtics did. Boston picked up its energy defensively in the second half and the Lakers succumbed to the pressure and physicality. By the time Paul Pierce limped back onto the court after suffering a strained knee injury, the Lakers had already begun to unravel. Jackson burned a timeout, he said, "just to settle our guys down."

"A couple of times it was a four- or six-point lead, we were playing like we were down 10 or 15," Odom said. "I don't think we did a good job at staying poised."

The Celtics respect the Lakers, but they certainly don't fear them. Kevin Garnett and Pierce have waited too long for this opportunity to let it pass. That's why Pierce left his wheelchair in the locker room and why Garnett drove hard to the rim to throw down a thundering dunk in the first quarter.

"This is not the time," Garnett said, "to be holding anything back."

Among the Lakers only Bryant and Derek Fisher understood that urgency. Their teammates, for all their preparation, were too young or too naïve to realize the same. Matched against the Celtics' aggressiveness, they resorted to fouling or … nothing.

With Boston clinging to a six-point lead in the closing minutes, James Posey missed a jump shot hard off the rim. All Pau Gasol or Sasha Vujacic had to do was put a body on Garnett to secure the rebound. Neither did, and Garnett was instantly at the rim, flushing a dunk, along with the Lakers' last hopes.

Bryant spent part of the night, encouraging his teammates to be stronger with the ball, to play tougher, but he, too, must shoulder some of the blame for the Lakers' second-half struggles. The Celtics funneled him into a crowd time and again, and the Lakers – Bryant included – did a poor job of passing the ball and trying to shift Boston's defense. Jackson told Bryant he might want to look for some of his open teammates. Bryant's reply? He told Jackson his own shots were open enough – even though he missed 17 of the 26 he attempted.

"He's so great at breaking down defenses," Fisher said. "The Celtics' defense just doesn't allow that type of play."

The Lakers aren't in trouble just yet. Losing the opening game of the Finals doesn't spell instant doom. The Lakers still have Bryant, and he doesn't typically follow a poor-shooting game with another.

But the Celtics aren't going away, either, and Thursday provided an important lesson for Bryant's less-experienced teammates. The Lakers' success had bred too much comfort.

Sometimes you can fool even yourself.