Game 6: Kobe Time?
So Im picking a Laker win by 15 today, they are back home, the Celtics didnt really push the Lakers out of Boston as much as the Lakers had a horrible twin games in the middle. I mean LA is a number one seed, they went to Boston and won the pivotal game 3 giving them home court advantage back. Ray Allen has been dead pretty much all of the playoffs with the exclusion of game 2, which oddly enough was distinctly a one half affair, whereas Kobe has gotten his points with a low percentage or a high FG percentage. I think this game is almost a gimme for the Lakers and Boston would be stupid to accept that but they might end up just banking on the fact that they have a 1 game cushion as they have the 3-2 series lead. Anyway the bench could very well determine who wins game 6, the LA bench was awful in game 5. But so was every other player with a Laker jersey on. Boston’s bench came up huge when the starters didnt really show up in game 5. So we will just have to wait and see what happens in this elimination game for LA, the first they have faced in a while.
I think Gasol, Odom and Artest really are key to this game, the Laker bench will be there as they are at home, but I dont think they swing the game. Artest needs to find his confidence and return to his 2003 offensive prowess, he isnt in the right spots to be successful, I said how he wasnt a corner 3 point shooter, but at the weak side in the triangle that is the most open shot. He needs to drive to the hoop on anyone that is guarding him as his bulk and speed really give him the advantage when he wants to get to the rim. The Lakers have two main offensive threats in Kobe and Pau but they really need a reliable 3rd option that is in the form of someone who can create their own shot. Ariza never did this, but his baseline 3 point shooting was excellent and so was his spacing as a UCLA product. Artest just doesnt have that off the ball spacing intelligence that makes a good weak side shooter. He started his NBA career being a player that can create his own shoot as he always had the ball in his hands on those Indiana teams, nothing like the regimented Triangle offsense. So what Im trying to say is Artest is key to this game for the Lakers, Kobe will get his, Pau will come out with aggression (well the Euro style of aggression, ala Sasha Vujacic, please can we see the Gasol that was rookie of the year in 2001 with dunks and drives on Duncan, Robinson, and Garnett), and Artest needs to create when the Celtics nail their defense in stretches and Kobe or Pau cant get a shot.
The key for the Celtics is getting Allen and Pierce involved. Simple, no fancy gimmicks, the Celtics screens, which have been awesome up until game 2, have sucked ever since. Allen hits atleast two screens, which usually create atleast 3-4 feet spacing for Allen to launch his shot on the reverse. But lately this hasnt been happening, Allen gets maybe one screen and then tries to get a rescreen coming back to the same side. Is Allen out of energy? At times he has looked like a marathon runner on the last leg of the race, gasping for air and nearly falling over. He just isnt getting his legs under him for his shots, making Allen put it to the floor or try and create a 2nd shot, which he hasnt done since the Bucks.
Wow, that was maybe payback for the 2008 waxing that the Celtics gave the Lakers on the way to the title? Maybe a statement game? Whatever it was, the difference was no Pierce, and no Garnett, I dont think the Perkins injury really hurts them as the Lakers still only put up 89 points, as compared to 105 ppg in the first 3 rounds. I prefer Wallace and/or Davis over Perkins anyway, he doesnt have the length to go against the twin towers so why not go with players that can deliver on both ends? Artest was aggressive from the tip and showed some offense for the first time in a while, he hit two threes from not the baseline, which I called btw, which gave him the confidence to attack from then on. He was in on rebounds and had the drive to the basket more then any other Laker not named Kobe. Rebounds really were a telling difference in this game. Celtics didnt have any motivation to get to the hoop after shots, even the Rondo factor wasnt there. They just played flat, unmotivated and uninspired. Celtics better pick their s**t up for game 7 otherwise the Lakers and Kobe will blow them out of the water.
