Boston Celtics @ LA Lakers, Thu, Dec 25, 2008

A brief scouting report:

Boston Celtics:

• Boston mainly relied on high screen pick-n-roll of Rondo and Perkins, and they were successful in generating open lanes for Rondo or back door passes to Perkins.


• Ray Allen still has the smoothest and quickest 3-pt shot in the league.


• Rondo got into early foul trouble. Eddie House or Tony Allen is not exactly the type of PG that pushes the ball and attack the basket. No wonder the Cs struggled early in Q2. That’s why even Rondo hit the 3rd foul with 6 mins left in Q2, Doc Rivers did not lift him off the court. Although not exactly The Fantastic Four, Rondo has been a very important player in the team.


• Rondo kept on finding open teammates to score in the low post, KG in particular. He was 6-for-6 and scored 12 pts in 1H.


• During a possession in 2H, there was a good hustle by Rondo, grabbing his own miss between two 7-footers, Gasol and Bynum, which turned out to be a 3 by PP to tie the game at 62.


• PP was quiet in 1H but took up the lead to score in 2H. Again, when PP's shots were off, he would lower his head and drive the lane, 80% of which would end up him going to the FT line.


• The bench is weak. Eddie House, Tony Allen, Glen Davis and Leon Powe was ineffective. I think they miss James Posey.


• Somehow, the Celtics failed to execute their famous suffocating defense. The Lakers kept on getting open looks in the perimeter. They even allowed a back-to-back 3-pter by Odom in Q4. OK, the Lakers made some perfect screen to get him open, but where’s the D?


• The worst is at the last 2 mins. The Cs focused too much on stopping Kobe, and played Gasol soft, who managed to score numerous clutch shots when the game was on the wire.

LA Lakers:

• The Lakers had a change of lineup for the Lakers, starting Luke Walton at SF, instead of Vladimir Radmanovic.


• The Lakers had some good basketball movement early on, as they managed to get open look after several passes.


• But there were some terrific defense loopholes. First, Bynum was confused in baseline rotation. The Lakers also had serious flaws in defending pick-n-roll, as the Speedy Rondo kept on getting to the rim and scored on layups.


• Poor in transition defense too.


• Lakers offense relied mainly on Kobe Bryant’s brilliance. Kobe was phenomenal tonight. This was helped by the fact that he was guarded by Ray Allen, who obviously couldn’t catch up with Kobe. Why didn’t the Cs double-team Kobe?


• Trevor Ariza is one of my favorite players. In one sequence in Q2, he hustled for a loose ball, threw the ball to the fast breaking Vujacic just when he was falling out of bound. Vjuacic his the shot. And 1! Another hustle play by Ariza in Q3, he stole the ball from the fast break Celtics, and managed to pass the ball to a teammate before falling out of bound. Ladies and Gentlemen, please meet Trevor "Mr. Hustle" Ariza!


• Fisher has been hitting some nice 3-pt this season. This game included.


• Lakers defense is getting better in 2H, aggressively double teaming PP and other Celtics. And instead of taking their advantage in the paint, the Celtics suddenly settled for outside shoot, which is not exactly their forte.


• Unlike in the past, Bynum remained on the court with 5 mins left. (usually it’s Odom finishing the games instead of him). You know my theory? I think Phil Jackson is trying to keep Bynum as a secret weapon. He wouldn’t use it on a daily basis, but to surprise people in critical games like this one, or in the playoffs.


• Bench difference is huge. Vujacic, Odom and Ariza easily outplay the Cs’ bench.

Here’s how the Lakers won the game:

• Gasol first hit a 20-ft J on the right wing. Next, Kobe dribbled for like 20 sec and then make a perfect lob pass to the rolling Gasol in the paint who made the running J. 85-81 Lakers. 2min left.


• After KG hit an open J. it’s Gasol again! Kobe dished to another rolling Gasol, this time he hit the leaning layups, got fouled, and hit the FTs. 88-83. 1.28 min. all 3 baskets were assisted by Kobe.


• Oh, Gasol again! This time, he blocked a 3-pt attempt by Ray Allen, which led to a breakaway dunk by Ariza. 90-83. 1 mins. Game over.

Verdict:

• Overall, the Lakers relied on outside shootings, while the Celtics managed to score in the paint with more success. But the Celtics failed to stop the Lakers, especially Gasol, who was aggressively attacking the basket. It is obvious that the Lakers are way more versatile in offense that the Celtics can no way match, that’s why the Celtics need to play top notch defense to beat the Lakers. They failed to do so terribly.


• As for the Lakers, seems like they managed to switch to their "A" game and come to the game focused with a killer instinct. They were able to play tough defense down the stretch and then execute on the other end to finish the Celtics. The stepping up of Gasol is somehwat surprising, but I think it's a very good development for the Lakers since they no longer rely on Kobe only at clutch time. At least for this game, they were the better team.