I’m not a statistician, but I do know that going down 0-2 in a 7-game series can’t be a good thing. Such is the case with both the Celtics and the Lakers, the two Finalists from a season ago. The Celtics dropped both games in South Beach, while the Lakers failed to protect home court on both occasions this week. Luckily for the Celtics, they’re now headed to the comfy confines of eastern Massachusetts, while Los Angeles must board the team flight and head to the Lone Star state.
The way the Celtics ran the Knicks off the court in the final two games of their first round series, I thought that perhaps the team had dried their tears from the heartache that set in in the wake of the Kendrick Perkins trade and were finally playing inspired ball for the first time since the big man was dealt. They looked like the dominant team that they are in those two games. Clearly, that was simply because they were up against inferior competition.
Boston has looked old, lethargic and overmatched through the first two games of this series against Miami. While, Boston beat Miami 3 – 1 during the regular season, that doesn’t seem to matter. The funny thing is that those three regular season wins came without Perkins in the lineup. Above all, I think Miami is clicking at the right time. All season they had to endure heightened scrutiny and criticism which impacted their focus and play. That hasn’t happened in the postseason.
What worked so well for Boston in the first round was Rondo being a one-man fast break. If he caught the rebound, there was little doubt that he would take it coast to coast for a relatively uncontested lay up. Unfortunately for Rajon, Miami’s transition defense is stellar which has completely taken that dimension of his game away. But if he does somehow manage to get to the rim on a fast break, you have LeBron lurking in the shadows waiting to block the shot with has patented rundown.
The Celtics are getting beat in every facet of basketball this series. Not to mention the fact that Rondo has a bad back, Pierce has a bad achilles, Ray Allen has a bad chest and Garnett has a bruised ego as a result of LeBron blocking his shot at the basket on Tuesday night. Even though they’re headed home, will that matter?
The Lakers, on the other hand, haven’t exactly been outplayed in my opinion. Los Angeles was up by 16 points in the second half of Game 1 but failed to close the deal. Alot of the criticism following the Game 1 loss was placed on Kobe Bryant. People felt as if his 36 points on 29 shot attempts and zero assists were a detriment to his team. Kobe disagreed after the game when asked that very question. “It had nothing to do with me…” he told reporters. I completely agree. This is what Kobe does. He’s won five rings doing just that. This isn’t anything new. And if his 3-point attempt at the buzzer went down, he never would’ve had to answer those questions.
L.A. needs more out of Pau Gasol. While he has grabbed double-digit boards in both games, he’s only averaging 14ppg in this series. That needs to be much closer to 20ppg in order for the Lakers to win. He needs to be more aggressive offensively. He’s getting pushed around too much and that seems to be throwing him off.
Coming into the series, the big talk was “Nobody on the Lakers can matchup with Dirk.” Why is that news? No one in the history of the NBA could guard Dirk. I wouldn’t exactly classify one-legged fade away shooting 7-footers as commonplace. That isn’t breaking news. Unless you’re physical with Dirk, he’s going to have his way with you. You need to agitate him and get under his skin. You typically see that when he’s up against Kenyon Martin. Odom, Gasol and Bynum don’t have that in their games. Ron Artest does but he’s too short. Also, I fully expect the Lakers to be without Ron for Game 3 after the frustration elbow he inexplicably gave JJ Barea in the closing seconds of last night’s game. It was completely unwarranted and prompted me to think, “Ladies and gentlemen, your Citizenship award winner, Ron Artest.”
Game 2 was a bit different from Game 1 in that the Mavs didn’t have to come from behind. The Lakers were the ones playing catch-up. Unfortunately, they never were able to and must now try to make up ground in Dallas.
But to answer my own question, the Celtics are definitely in more trouble than the Lakers even though they’re headed home and the Lakers are going on the road. Boston is banged up and are simply overmatched. Personally, I think that series is over. Boston hasn’t shown me anything to think they can make this a series.Whereas the Lakers could’ve won Game 1 and there wouldn’t be as much cause for concern. The Lakers are still fully capable of winning this series. We’ve seen a Dirk-led Mavs take a 2-0 series lead in the playoffs and squander it. See the 2006 Finals. Granted that was a completely different Mavs team but he’s still the leader. So stick a fork in Boston keep an eye on the defending champs.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then go somewhere else, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
