Filowitz's Friday Five

NBA Finals edition!


1) Sure, I didn't write a preview of the Lakers-Celtics Finals. Mostly because everyone and their mother wrote a preview, and what was I going to tell you that you didn't read elsewhere a thousand times? If you want to know what I thought before the series started, you can listen to the Disciples of Clyde NBA Podcast (which you should be doing anyway.) Basically, I picked the Lakers in 6, and thought that the various defensive matchups were going to be intriguing.


2) Game 1, Boston winning 98-88, was awesome. Played at an incredibly high level by both teams. If this is indicative of how the series is going to be, then we are in for one of the best Finals in a long time. They're evenly matched, they each have more than one star player, and they both play well on both sides of the court. This is what we've been waiting for all playoffs - for a series to live up to the promise of what we saw in the regular season. So far, so great.


3) Who played well in Game 1?

KG. He was unstoppable in the first half on offense. He was strong on the boards all game. His defense was impeccable, as always. And he came up with some huge plays down the stretch, most memorably the putback dunk over Gasol off the missed Posey three. Also that crazy save of the backcourt violation. KG came up huge.

Pierce. We'll get to the injury thing in a second. But after struggling with fouls in the first half, he was huge in the second half. He started out the third quarter with 8 points in 1:20. He also played fantastic defense on Kobe down the stretch, forcing Kobe to take tough, contested shots.

Ray Allen. 19 points, 8 (!) rebounds, 5 assists. This was not the washed-up-looking Ray Allen we saw for most of the playoffs. This was more like the man we know as Jesus Shuttleworth.

The Celtics defense. They kept Kobe out of the paint. He had only one dunk, and maybe one layup all game. If Kobe is forced to be a jump shooter, the Celtics are going to win the series.

Gasol. His numbers weren't huge, but he did what he was supposed to do. And his defense on Garnett was much better than I thought it could be.

PJ Brown. You won't see it in the numbers, but he played fantastic defense, and came up with some huge rebounds. Exactly what they needed out of him.


4) Who didn't play well in Game 1?

Sam Cassell. Don't be fooled by the shots he hit - most of those were shitty, selfish jumpers too early in the shot clock that happened to go in. Most of the time, those shitty jumpers aren't going to fall. He also played awful defense, and made some terrible decisions in the fourth quarter. If I was a Celtics fan, I'd want Cassell to have the DNP-CD in Game 2, not Eddie House.

Lamar Odom. He didn't rebound well, he didn't really assert himself on either end. He was pretty much a non-factor, which is not what the Lakers need.

I'm not going to say Kobe. Kobe played okay. But when the rest of the team isn't playing awesome, the Lakers can't win with only an "okay" game from Kobe. And keep in mind, his okay game means he scored 24 points to go with 6 assists and 3 rebounds.


5) So, the Pierce injury. For those that didn't watch the game, in the third quarter, Paul Pierce goes down after Kendrick Perkins collides with his leg as they both try to block a shot. Pierce has to be carried off the court, and put in a wheelchair to be taken back to the locker room.

At that moment, the entire Boston crowd went eerily quiet. Me, sitting at home, I immediately thought "if he's done, we're getting robbed of a great Finals." Because the game to that point had been incredible, but if Pierce is out, then the series is over. Boston doesn't win without Pierce.

A few minutes later, Pierce comes jogging back out of the locker room. As soon as the crowd sees him, they go crazy. Pierce immediately goes back in the game, and then hits two threes in a row not much longer after that.

Now, people might say "Willis Reed moment." Stop that. It had a parallel, in that a star player everyone thinks is injured comes back unexpectedly, and both happened against the Lakers. But this wasn't Game 7. It wasn't as serious an injury (sprained knee for Pierce.) Willis Reed had a torn muscle in his right thigh.

Regardless, it was a dramatic moment in this game, adding to what was already a competitive and compelling Game 1. Game 2 is on Sunday, and I can barely wait that long.