NBA - Boston Celtics v Los Angeles Lakers

8 June 2008

Preview By Tipster ElCapitan

The Lakers were impressive in the 1st game at Boston but just for half of the game. The Celtics dominated the glass as was expected and kept their good defensive performance for the 2nd half. The Celtics' funs managed to see the big three in a descent night, and I say descent because I am convinced that there is much more to see in future games of these finals from KG, Pierce, and Allen. Hence The Celtics managed to beat LA by 10 as I predicted in my preview for game 1.

The true barometer of the Lakers is NOT Kobe Bryant as many would suspect, including a bunch of so called NBA specialists. Most of them probably forget that MJ was scoring anywhere from 40-60 points but the Bulls were still going down in the old Boston Garden. OK ok things are different in our days and Yes Kobe is probably the best player on NBA right now but him alone cannot win these finals.

What is missing from LA and truly will be the barometer of their chances to challenge this championship, as I already mentioned in my preview for game 1, is Gasolâ€™s contribution in the court. OK up to half time Gasol managed to do what everybody is expecting him to do in court, scoring well, playing smart, passing and fighting his lungs out, but during the second half he collapsed! He did collapse for the following reasons according to my opinion: he doesnâ€™t have the experience to stand in important games like this, he doesnâ€™t have the motivation or mental preparation for these kind of games and these leads to inconsistency, it is clear when you watch Gasol play that he canâ€™t last and be effective for longer than 25 minutes!!!

Another significan't factor to take into consideration, and I would say it is the normal thing to expect from European players, is that they show up emotionally charged in important games and if they donâ€™t have the experience they will overreact in a number of times like Vujachic did repeatedly in game 1.

So whatâ€™s left to remember from the Lakersâ€™ performance in game 1? They lost by far the battle for rebounds (46-33) and to be honest I donâ€™t see them having any luck in this domain for the rest of the games because you canâ€™t much KGâ€™s physical abilites and Perkinâ€™s strength with 4s and 5s on the Lakersâ€™ side. In game 1 we also watched descent games by Gasol and Odom and very good game by Fisher, the guy hit maximum performance by scoring 16 points. It is very unlikely that we will see fisher scoring that high on the road again. Another very important Lakersâ€™ trait that fully came into play in game 1 is bench immaturity from hard headed players like Vujachic and Farmar! No I donâ€™t see how Phil Jackson will manage to challenge a game on the road with those two unbelievable guys. Ray Allen made Vujachic look like the Muppet Show on Sunday night. Another important factor is Odomâ€™s â€œany given nightâ€ kind of performances that are characterized by complete inconsistency and low stats on the execution level.

On the other side, the Celtics, a team that is hungry for this championship, consists from players like T. Allen and E. House that didnâ€™t have a chance to contribute during game 1, but if Doc Rivers was to unleash them they would eat alive what was left from the second half Lakers. As I have said many times so far in my previews, Celtics really look like a team and even when they are down they will all together fight ferociously for the win.

Game 2 is coming up and I am still talking about game 1? Yes because I donâ€™t think that we will see dramatic changes other than that I expect the Celtics to start even stronger in the second game and keep the game under control. Game 1 was a good mirror to reflect and see clear differences between the final contestants for the NBA championship. I didnâ€™t say much about the Celtics big three because as I mentioned above I expect them to pull out even greater performances in the games to follow. I didn't say much about Kobe either but Kobe is Kobe and might easily score 40-50 points for game 2 but it is impossible for him to put some brains in his younger fellow teamates like vujachic and farmar.

Also last but not least remember that momentum clearly favors the Celtics right Now.

PS. I don't really understand all those bubble NBA specialists that advocate for the Lakers. 9 out of 10 still after game 1 see the Lakers winning the Championship!

PPS. What I like about it though is that the sportsbetting companies are getting carried away from what the truth really is and this results in better odds for us, the players!