The NBA Finals will shift to the East Coast after the Boston Celtics managed a split of the first two games in Los Angeles against the Lakers eliminating home-court advantage for now. Kobe Bryant and the Lakers were effective in front of their fans in Games 1 earning a rather comfortable 102-89 victory. However guards Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo took control on Game 2 as the Celtics dominated the first half and pulled away late after the Lakers rallied. The first half was punctuated by Allen who hit the first 7 3-pointers he attempted (tying an NBA record for 3’s in a finals game, in the first game, and broke the record with his 8th early in the 3rd) and scored 27 first half points. Rondo posted his 5th career playoff triple-double and scored some huge buckets late to put the game out of reach.
As they series moves to Boston I think Lakers fans should be very worried. While they have gotten solid play out of Bryant and their other stars (most notably Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum) they have not yet seen the Celtics at their best. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were nowhere to be seen in Game 2 as the former battled serious foul-trouble (forcing coach Doc Rivers to play C Sheldon Williams far more than he would have wished) while Pierce struggled from the field early and focused more on getting the ball to Allen and Rondo as the game progressed. Garnett and Pierce were both tremendous on defense which generally doesn’t show up in the Box Score and I’m sure they’ll be energized offensively in the first Finals’ game in front of their home fans.
This is what makes the Celtics so good, two of their top players can be complete non-factors offensively and yet they still have enough weapons to out-gun Kobe Bryant and Company. I still stand firmly behind my belief that Paul Pierce will decide this series, probably even more so now. If Pierce can find that fire that fueled the Celtics to the title two years ago then this series could be over before it ever makes it back to LA. As I said before Pierce tends to save his best for the most important games of a series and if he can turn it on the C’s can seriously cripple the Lakers’ title hopes in Boston with the way the rest of the team has played. Needless to say this series has already proven to be very entertaining and I don’t think the Lakers will go quietly either.
Game 3 tips at 9 PM Eastern on ABC
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