Banner #17 in sight

[Kurn]

Celtics - Lakers final.

That has a nice ring to it, and I'm sure the network execs agree.

And, BTW, that's 4/5 of Boston sports teams that made it to the championship round.

[drewjax]

alas, the Bruins...........*sigh*
oh how I long for Cam Neely and Ray Bourque


GO GREEN

[Kurn]

I'd say I longed for the days of Orr, Esposito, "The Chief" and "Pie", but I was a Rangers fan back when the B's were great. People up here have forgotten that back when I first came to Beantown, the B's were hands-down the #1 team up here. It took him a while, but Jeremy Jacobs put an end to that.

[Wes]

anybody want to bet on the finals who will win the finals? i want lakers -150 (you get celts +150). just like 50 or something around there.

[melioris]

Jeremy Jacobs is the devil

[drewjax]

++1

[sjay2k]

good luck getting -150 (or 1.67) on the lakers. pretty sure the sportsbook consensus is about 1.5 (-200), or you can get slightly better on betfair.

i laid 1000 against the lakers on betfair, offering 1.55 (i'm risking 550 to win 1000). most of it has been snapped up already.

i think the celtics should actually be the favourites for this series. home court advantage is a huge factor, and i think that the home team should remain the favourite unless there is a significant reason otherwise.

additionally i think the celtics match up quite well against LA. the celtics are the best defensive team in the league. they have big swingmen who can play defence on Kobe (Posey and Pierce). Boston haven't played against the lakers with gasol, but had two convincing wins against the lakers this year when they had Bynum.

the lakers have definitely been more convincing in the playoffs and i was surprised that they crushed the spurs. however the celtics have slowly built some momentum and finished off a very tough Pistons team. if the celtics can maintain kobe (who was 15 of 46 in the two games against the celtics), LA will not win in boston.

[Wes]

lakers were -160 on pinnacle (probably the best sportsbook) when i said i wanted -150. the line has moved pretty dramatically to the lakers since then.

and doc rivers is likely the worst coach to make the finals in a LONG LONG while so I don't think the Celts win this without a superhuman effort from KG and Pierce.

[sjay2k]

Agree doc rivers sucks.

[Kurn]

I disagree that its up to KG and The Truth. My view is that as go Rondo and Perkins, so go the Celts. If they keep their heads in the game, the opponent can't load up on the two big stars. Also, Ray Allen needs to keep the hot hand.

The Lakers are a better offensive team than the Pistons, but nowhere near as good on defense.

I'm 2-minded on Doc. I think he's a great overall motivational type but lacking in the X's and O's area. He's also one of those coaches who can get the most out of his team in the long season, but slips a bit in the playoffs. What bothers me most though is that when the Celts get a lead and start getting too playground, he doesn't call timeout fast enough to get their heads back in the game.

Also, Home Court is less a factor in this series since it's a 2-3-2 format.

[sjay2k]

Intense.

Pierce's injury scared the crap out of me, but the four point play and then back-to-back threes were the two biggest momentum-shifting moments of the game. I was also impressed with Garnett, who was constantly looking for the ball instead of shying away like he has down in clutch situations earlier in the playoffs.

Boston's two vets, PJ Brown and Sam Cassell, both had some pretty huge plays (especially Brown's timely offensive rebound whilst getting molested by two Lakers in the 4th). PJ Brown also drew a great charge on Odom, but got a terrible and-one call instead.

The Celtics defence was amazing. Kobe did not get many open looks. 24 points from 26 shots (and 6 free throws) is a huge result for Boston. Ray Allen was able to keep up with Kobe and the Celtics team defence rarely left LA's shooters (Sasha, Radmanovic, Fisher) open for the threes on the wings.

Odom and Gasol both had some nice plays, but were never really able to create their own shots ala Pierce and Garnett. I felt like Gasol was relying on Kobe for most of his scores.

Sportsbetting: Boston were tremendous value at 1.72 before the game (I was able to get a decent amount matched at 1.78 a few days ago). I expect Boston will shorten to something like 1.65 for game 2, which I think represents only marginally good value and I will probably stay away.

I think the correct line in the series should now be something like Boston 1.88, Lakers 2.11. Though I expect Boston will still be the underdogs when the dust settles tomorrow (even though it's pretty silly to expect the Lakers to win 4/6 more than half the time), so I'll be letting my series bet ride for the moment.

Look forward to game 2.

[lightfungus]

The game was great, and frankly one of the better games of the entire playoffs. I have watched probably 75% of the games and I got a little bored with all the blow outs. Boston was by far the underdog before the detroit series, but the last couple of games against detroit showed the Celtics were regaining their form (and Ray his shot, which helps). I think this is going to go the distance (I want it too), and I hope Boston wins game 2 because the Lakers aren't losing one at home. All of those statements are based solely on the fact that KG started playing like a superstar...he passed the ball off WAY too much in the rest of the postseason and never looked like he wanted to carry his team. She he has passion for the rest of the game, but if you are dumping it off to Posey under 2 minutes to play, then you aren't confident.

Either way, I'm glad that the Championship series is going to be fun to watch.

[Kurn]

A couple of observations, and obviously, I'm biased.

I read an article on ESPN.com by an NBA scout where he made a very key point regarding the Celts' postseason performance. Because of how their rotation worked in the regular season, their starters were not logging heavy minutes throughout the regular season (and even less down the stretch), and in the Atlanta series, they tended to look a bit gassed late in the 3rd period. Now they seem to have adjusted to the extended minutes.

Second, their bench matches up much better against the Lakers than against the more physical Eastern teams. I expect more out of leon Powe in this series than vs Detroit, and guys like Cassell and House won't face they kind of relentless ball pressure they faced in the EC finals.

Third, while Kobe is the best player in the league and almost unstoppable, he will have to work harder at both ends of the floor, and the Lakers do not have a pure scorer like Rip Hamilton or a big physical guard off the bench like Stuckey. Maybe Gasol won't be as spotty as 'Sheed, but so far (and I haven't seen him play much) he doesn't worry me as much as Ilgauskas did.

Bottom line, Pierce and Perkins have to be able to play close to their top form, but in the end I think the Celtics are the better team 2-12, and Kobe isn't as much the better player than Pierce as he is vs any other oppponent.

[sjay2k]

You can get Celtics at 2.02 for game 2 right now on BetFair. Pretty huge value. The Celtics were 1.72 before game one, won with a great defensive effort and now you can get an extra 42% for them to do it again in game 2. Won't be betting too much at all on this since I have a lot on the series bet, but getting better than even money on the Celtics at home is pretty crazy. Maybe people are skeptical about Pierce's fitness (and to a lesser extent, Perkins), but I don't think it will set him back at all.

Should be another dog fight and hopefully the Celtics will pull it out again.

[sjay2k]

leon powe for president

[sjay2k]

Hahahah Paul pierce you are the greatest.

Too bad I only had the Celtics to beat the spread this game.

I'd like to thank Sasha Vujacic for letting Ray Allen stroll to the hoop to put the Celtics up by 5 and then taking (and missing!) a dumb two-point attempt after the timeout.

[Robbie Robb]

Rumour online is Phil Ivey has $2M on the Lakers...

[Kurn]

Doc said it in the post-game press conference. LA cannot play championship-caliber defense.

[Kurn]

I'd like to thank Sasha Vujacic for letting Ray Allen stroll to the hoop

In the replay, saha is clearly looking for help, but in the the post-game interview, Jackson says he told the team to NOT leave their man.

[drewjax]

ooh ooh ooh, I know what I want for fathers day!!

[sjay2k]

Vujacic jersey?

[sjay2k]

Nice job by the Lakers today. I think the commentators on TV were overly critical of their performance. Boston will finish this off in game 6.

[sjay2k]

Wow what a closeout game. Great stuff Boston.

[drewjax]

sure was......oh god what I would have given to have been at the (new) Gaahhden last night. Oh I wish I was a balla!

Great job Celts you make me

[Kurn]

The best quote the commentators made during game 5 was this:

(paraphrased, may not be exact)

"You can the difference in these teams by their bench. One never sits down and the other rarely stands up."