'Net reaction - 2010 NBA Finals Game 1
Big ups to the Lakers for casting the first stone in this series with a commanding Game 1 win. Looks like we're in for a good series. What up with that, Internet?
John Krolik, ProBasketballTalk: On Thursday night, the Celtics got a taste of their own medicine. The Lakers played a high-energy, low-risk, mistake-free game, and they forced Rondo and the rest of the Celtics out of their comfort zone. Without a supply of mistakes to feed off of, Rondo was thrown to the Lakers' half-court defense and left to starve. Rondo loves to grab long rebounds and start the break; the Lakers only missed six three-pointers all game, and 72 of their 102 points came on points in the paint or free throws. When the Celtics did get the ball in a possible transition situation, the Laker bigs sprinted back to seal off the paint. Thanks to all of those factors, the Celtics only managed five fast-break points in game one. With the Lakers failing to give Rondo any opportunities to run, he was forced to try and score points against the Lakers' half-court defense. Things did not work out well for him. Rondo went 6-14 from the field, which isn't good news for Celtics fans. The worse news is that Rondo went 6-14 while making three of his five shots from outside the paint. When Rondo tried to drive, the Lakers were waiting for him. His behind-the-back fakes drew no reaction. His reverses didn't stop his layups from getting turned away. When he looked to drive and dish, the Lakers anticipated the pass. When he looked to go all the way to the basket, a Laker defender was there to draw the charge. Everyone knows Rondo has some very significant weaknesses; the Lakers were finally able to exploit them.
Darius, Forum Blue and Gold: Especially impressive to these eyes was Ron Artest(notes) — especially on defense. Sure, Paul Pierce(notes) ended the night with 24 points on only 13 shots (making 12 of 13 from the FT line). But he never found a rhythm on offense and never really threatened to change the tenor of the game with his ability to score the ball. Ron just did an excellent job of deny Pierce his sweet spots and making him work to even catch the ball. But Ron was also solid on offense, going 5-10 from the field for 15 points and making 3 of his 5 three pointers.
Jeff Clark, Celtics Blog: Here's a theory, and you can discredit it if you like. As much as I love having him on my team, Garnett is a bit of a bully. Sure, he's got tremendous skill and he outworks most players in the league, but when push comes to shove, he's usually the one shoving and yapping. It drives him and intimidates opponents. See Gasol in 2008. Now, what happens when you punch a bully in the mouth? If after-school specials and Disney movies have taught us anything, it is that bullies tend to recoil and stand there in a daze, unable to believe what just happened. Well, Gasol threw the first punch last night. He took the ball to the hoop and when it didn't go in the first time he didn't give up on the play the way a Dwight Howard(notes) or Antawn Jamison(notes) might have in the previous couple rounds. He kept right after the ball and put it back in on the second effort. As painful as it is to say, the effort was McHale-like in quality. So I guess my theory is that Garnett was just a little dazed and confused to see "Soft" Gasol beating him to the loose balls and out-working him on the boards. Of course that doesn't explain the lack of lift and inability to hit point blank bunny baskets, but I'm much less concerned about Garnett's offense than I am about his defense and rebounding. So hopefully this loss angers Garnett in a good way. I want him fired up for the next game (but not so much that he does something stupid). I want him hyper-focused on stopping Gasol and making the right defensive rotations. I want him boxing out when the ball goes up. I want the Garnett that makes opponents look bad because they can't get anything going offensively. in short, I want the bully back.
Sean Deveny, The Baseline: The numbers reveal just how thoroughly the Lakers controlled the guts of the game. The Lakers simply crushed the Celtics on the boards, outscrapping a Boston team that came in with a rebounding advantage over playoff opponents of 39.6-38.6. In Game 1, the Lakers outrebounded the Celtics, 42-31. Points in the paint went much the same way. The Celtics had trouble getting inside, and once there, they had even more trouble navigating the wave of long-armed Laker defenders. The Celtics shot 15-for-32 from inside the paint, for 30 points, while the Lakers scored 48 points in the paint. There was more ugly math for the Celtics. The Lakers outscored the Celtics 16-0 on second-chance points, and held Boston to a measly five fast-break points. The Celtics shot just 43.3 percent from the field, and took only 67 shots, to 76 for the Lakers.
Brian Robb, Celtics Hub: Not a blowout, just the Lakers remaining in complete control throughout, imposing their will on the C's for the majority of the 48 minutes tonight. Altogether, it was a thoroughly impressive effort by the defending champs, dominating the C's on the board, in the paint and on the defensive end. A line has been drawn in the sand and as of tonight, it was the Lakers that looked like the tougher team. They were the ones making the hustle plays and playing the tough physical D needed to be Champions. The good news is there are still plenty of games to be played, the C's just need to answer the call. The Lakers won't make that easy.
Don Landrigan, With Malice: For all the talk of the Celtics much-vaunted physicality, it was the Lakers who out-muscled their opponents in game 1 of the NBA Finals, winning in a trot - 102-89. Really, the end result flattered the Celtics. That it wasn't 2008 became abundantly apparent with Gasol taking the game right to KG, finishing with 23 points, 14 boards, and 3 blocks. Kobe continued where he left off against Phoenix, well... to a degree - 30 points, 7 boards, 6 assists (shooting in the high 40s %-wise) - a pretty damn good effort in a climate far more defensively intense than that which LA faced vs PHX. No denying that Kobe - and the Lakers - were not the wide-eyed neophytes in this game.
Brett Pollakoff, FanHouse: The Celtics need Ray Allen's(notes) offense if they're going to have any chance at all in this series. Not to overreact too much to what we saw in Game 1, but with the Lakers holding huge advantages in points in the paint (48-30), rebounding (42-31), and second-chance points (16-0), it's clear that for Boston to win, they're going to need all of their offensive weapons on the floor for as many minutes as possible — and productive minutes, at that. Ray Allen needs to stay on the floor for more than the 27 minutes he managed in Game 1 — he averaged 39.5 minutes per game against Cleveland and Orlando over the last two rounds of the playoffs — and he needs to be more involved offensively, especially from three-point range. The Celtics were just 1 for 10 from three in Game 1, and Allen by himself was 13 for 31 from beyond the arc in the Eastern Conference finals against the Magic. They'll need that type of offensive infusion in this series, because Boston is likely to slow the Lakers' offense only so much — at some point, the Celtics are going to need to get to a minimum threshold of points scored to have any chance at winning. And whatever that magic number is, they simply cannot get there without any help from Ray Allen.
John Karalis, Red's Army: Everyone on the Celtics was pretty much terrible. I have no earthly idea how Paul Pierce ended with 24 and 9. Those numbers look good, but he book-ended a decent start and decent finish around a big hole where he disappeared. Rajon Rondo(notes) didn't seem to have his normal energy. Ray was taken out of it with foul trouble. Perk barely mattered. And KG ... oh ... KG. He missed 2 point blank bunnies that summed up his night perfectly. He was just awful. He looked bad out there. There's something about long layoffs. The C's have come out like total crap after long layoffs in these playoffs. The good thing is, the Celtics have responded well this postseason after being blown out... and they've won a series against a great team after losing game 1. So it sucks losing game 1, but the Celtics didn't play their game at all tonight. Credit the Lakers for some fo that... but fault the Celtics for a lot of it.
DexterFishmore, Silver Screen and Roll: The Lakers sparkled tonight on both ends of the floor. Facing a Celtics D that had allowed playoff opponents to score only 1.02 points per possession (PPP), the Lakers ripped off a sterling 1.16 PPP. They earned (in a few cases, "earned") 31 free-throw attempts, a great total in a game that had merely 88 possessions per team. Fifteen of those FTAs came in the third quarter, when the Lakers scored 34 points to blow the game open. Their offensive approach was, except for a brief stretch at the beginning of the fourth, intelligent and disciplined. Eschewing the quick outside shot, they combined zippy inside passing with decisive dribble-drive penetration. As a result, their looks at the hoop were solid, and when those looks didn't fall, players were in good position to recover the caroms. The Lakers tonight rebounded an awesome 36% of their own misses, leading to 16 second-chance points. Boston looked almost nothing like the defensive menace that throttled both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic.
Mark Travis, But the Game is On: The Lakers were the aggressor in this game. They were more physical, they were bigger, they were longer and it was clear that they wanted it more than the Celtics did. Kobe Bryant(notes) skying for rebounds, Pau Gasol(notes) was going after loose balls, Ron Artest was straight up shutting down Paul Pierce, Shannon Brown(notes) and Jordan Farmar(notes) were attacking the basket relentlessly, Derek Fisher(notes) was just being a man all together, doing whatever it took to win as always, and the Celtics were the ones who didn't know how to respond.
Rey-Rey, The No-Look Pass: The Laker defense was simply better today and outmuscled them on the boards (42-31). Plus they actually stayed on the inside. The Lakers only took 10 shots behind the arc, which is far fewer than the 30-something threes we saw in games against the Thunder and the Suns. It felt like they were in total control of this ballgame, save for one Boston run early in the fourth. Kobe Bryant was brilliant with 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists (including a three-pointer filled with douchebaggery with seconds left in the game to give the Staples Center fans tacos and every Laker fan not at Staples some virtual tacos). Pau toughened up for this game and had a 23-14 night. He and Bynum absolutely diced the Celtics frontline inside. But it's just one game. As I've said before, one game can easily change the complexion of the series. If Boston wins Game 2, everyone will overreact and say that the Lakers are in trouble. Lakers have to take care of business in Game 2 or else they might have that cloud of doubt hovering over their heads when they go back to TD Banknorth Gah-den.
